Giants ace Tim Lincecum has won the NL Cy Young Award, becoming the first repeat winner in the major leagues since Randy Johnson was voted the prize four straight times from 1999-2002.
I've pieced together a post elsewhere about Tim Lincecum's success as a high school pitcher at Liberty High, located south of Seattle, in 2002 and 2003 from Seattle Times reports. To celebrate Lincecum's repeat Cy Young award today, here's an excerpt from the Times of May 30, 2003. It describes the story of Lincecum proving himself to Liberty coach Glen Walker in spring 2002:
Coming into the 2009 season, many people wondered what exactly Tim Lincecum could do following a first full year in the bigs where he won the National League Cy Young Award.
Like most sports fans, I take a lot of pride in my predictions that come true. I said the Red Sox would win the 2004 ALCS even when they went down 3-0. I predicted Kurt Warner would be a great NFL QB before he ever took a snap in the league (and I was only nine at the time). I've made a number of other far-fetched predictions that came true in different sports.
Andrew Bailey was voted American League Rookie of the Year, the culmination of a storybook season and also an indication that Oakland's youth trend is producing some successes
A lot of rookie pitchers got experience with the A's this year, including several who look to be potential stars, such as LHP Brett Anderson and closer Andrew Bailey.
