The Sommer Frieze

You knew it would be close.

How close was it?

Consider this: Only 10 points separated the winner, Tim Lincecum of SF from the 3rd place finisher, Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals.

Consider this, too: Wainwright, who finished 3rd, got the most first-place votes of any of the top three. (Chris Carpenter finished 2nd).

From the LoHud blog and Sam Borden, 1st-2nd and 3rd place votes:

Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants — 11 – 12 – 9 — 100 points
Chris Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals — 9 – 14 – 7 — 94 points
Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals — 12 – 5 – 15 — 90 points
Javier Vazquez, Atlanta Braves — 0 – 1 – 0 — 3 points
Dan Haren, Arizona Diamondbacks — 0 – 0 – 1 – 1 point

From MLB.com:

Lincecum became the only pitcher to capture the Cy Young Award in each of his first two full Major League seasons.

 

Lincecum received 11 first-place votes, 12 seconds and nine thirds for 100 points in balloting released by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Carpenter had nine firsts, 14 seconds and seven thirds to take second with 94.

Wainwright, who led the NL with 19 wins and 233 innings, had 12 first-place votes, five seconds and 15 thirds for 90 points. Trevor Hoffman, who finished behind Tom Glavine in 1998, is the only other player to get the most firsts and not win the award.

Two voters, Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus and Keith Law of ESPN.com, did not include Carpenter on their ballots. Carroll had Wainwright in the top spot, Lincecum second and Arizona’s Dan Haren third. Law voted for Lincecum, Atlanta’s Javier Vazquez and Wainwright in third. Those were the only votes for Haren and Vazquez.

 UPDATE, 2:53 p.m.: Chad here. Didn’t want to start a new post just yet, but USA Today’s Bob Nightengale has posted on Twitter that the Yankees are making Nick Swisher available. That’s not the same as trying to trade Swisher, it could simply mean the Yankees are willing to include him in a deal that brings another right fielder. Or it could mean his name was brought up and the Yankees didn’t label him as untouchable.