Lincecum saw one of his last opportunities to lock up the Cy Young Award go by last night, as he was unable to control his awesome array of pitches in a demoralizing 9-4 loss to the Rockies.
“To be honest, I couldn’t care less right now,” Lincecum said. “Everybody makes a big deal out of it. … I’m not pitching for the Cy Young or any award. I’m pitching for myself. I’m pitching for my team.”
At least he’s sounding all the right notes. Nonetheless, Webb has gotten to 22 wins, and most –if not the majority– of sportswriters rarely see beyond the player who leads the league in wins. If Lincecum had managed to get himself to 18 or 19 wins, I think it would have been enough to push him to the award. Now, he’s looking at the very real chance that Webb wins 23 games, and he’s finished with a 17-5 record.
Regardless of whether you think he’s been the best pitcher in the league all season long, 6 more wins than the number two guy will make it very easy for the voters to ignore the domination he’s shown across the stats page.
Tough loss.
4 Backtalkers
Johan Santana ought to get Cy votes as well. His win totals are “low” but he has pitched brilliantly down the stretch and has more K’s and fewer walks than Webb, with a chance to pass Tim for league ERA title.
I’m fed up with the Giants’ handling of “The Franchise.” He is the best thing to happen to this team since Bonds, and Bonehead and the Anti-Brain Trust (to borrow a phrase from Big D) are doing their best to f— it up. I just have to remind myself that he has been a stellar performer and will likely continue to be next year and beyond. I want to enjoy every inning the guy puts on a Giants jersey. The hardware would have been nice, though. I turned it off after Tim was pulled–I think a lot of us did.
I did, too. I was so aggravated by the four or five check swing strikeouts that weren’t called, as well as how badly Tim was missing his pitches, that, once they pulled the plug, I turned off the TV.
Radnich made a great point on KNBR yesterday… So what? Now the Giants can sign him long term for a little less money than if he had won it…
I say shut him, Cain and Sanchez down and skip their last starts… they’ve all set personal innings records.
The only way I’d pitch Lincecum on Sunday is if, god help us, the Dodgers haven’t clinched.