San Francisco Giants right-hander Tim Lincecum made history of two kinds in winning his second consecutive National League Cy Young Award. Lincecum's 15 wins marked the fewest ever for a Cy Young-winning starting pitcher in a non-strike-shortened season, and he also became just the second pitcher in history to win the award without receiving the most first-place votes. Lincecum received only 11 of the possible 32 first-place votes in balloting by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, or one fewer than St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright. Lincecum, though, received 12 second-place votes and nine third-place votes, for a total of 100 points (based on a 5-3-1 tabulation system). Wainwright, meantime, got five second-place and 15 third-place votes, for a total of 90 points -- and he didn't even finish as the runner-up. That honor went to Wainwright's Cardinals teammate Chris Carpenter, who received nine firsts, 14 seconds
Mike Scioscia, who led the Los Angeles Angels to the American League Championship Series after a season marked by tragedy and numerous injuries, was named American League Manager of the Year on Wednesday, the second such honor of his career. In the National League, Colorado's Jim Tracy won the award, after taking over an 18-28 Rockies team in May following the firing of Clint Hurdle and leading them to the playoffs as the NL wild card. Under Tracy, the Rockies went 74-42, the NL's best record in that stretch. Scioscia steered the Angels through a harrowing year that began with the automobile-accident death of phenom right-hander Nick Adenhart and also included significant injuries to pitchers John Lackey, Ervin Santana and Kelvim Escobar, and designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero. Scioscia received 15 of a possible 28 first-place votes in balloting by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Minnesota's Ron Gardenhire
Kansas City Royals right-hander Zack Greinke, who put together an historic pitching season in relative obscurity for the second-worst team in the American League, was voted the winner of the AL Cy Young Award on Tuesday by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Greinke, 26, won only 16 games in 2009 -- fewest by an AL Cy Young winner since David Cone (16) in the strike-shortened 1994 -- but his sparkling ERA of 2.16 was about a third of a run lower than anyone else in the league and represented the lowest ERA by an AL pitcher since Boston's Pedro Martinez had a 1.74 in 2000. His ERA+ (adjusted for park and league effects, with 100 representing league-average) of 205 was the best since Martinez posted a 210 in 2003. Formerly the Royals' top pitching prospect, Greinke missed all of the 2006 season due to social anxiety disorder
Oakland Athletics closer Andrew Bailey and Florida Marlins outfielder Chris Coghlan were named the winners of the Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year awards in the American and National Leagues, respectively, in voting by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Texas Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus in the AL and Philadelphia Phillies lefty J.A. Happ in the NL were the runners-up. A recap and the full voting totals can be found here.
