Timmay!

In a mild upset, San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum has won his second consecutive Cy Young award, in one of the closest votes ever. In his first two years of pitching in the majors, Lincecum has won two Cy Young awards -- nice start to a career. And an even better value: his first contract pays him $650,000 per year, without any award bonuses, perhaps a third of what his value would be on the open market.

It is not overstating the case to say that Lincecum has saved Giants baseball. The organization had no idea how to emerge from the roiling shadow cast by Barry Bonds. After a short call-up at the end of the 2007 season, Lincecum turned every one of his starts through the summer of 2008 into must-see viewing. (That coincided with my return to the Bay Area after 20 years away; my TV was tuned to the Giants broadcast every time Timmy was on the mound.) Everything he did was exciting: his crazy motion, the tons of strikeouts, the push for his first complete game and shutout, and lots of wins on a lousy team stuck in an otherwise moribund season. He was the focal point of the 2009 team, which did much better than expected, giving Giants fans something to cheer about until deep into September. We managed to see one of his best games of the year in person late in that first summer, and we saw him pitch another gem (against the mighty Phillies) this season. Giants radio announcer Mike Krukow calls Lincecum starts "win days" that fire up both the fans and the team itself. Absolutely true.

Sports fans outside the area probably do not appreciate how much we love this guy. There is no sports figure more beloved in the Bay Area right now than Tim Lincecum, and there has not been someone followed with as much fervor since the glory days of the 49ers. His recent pot bust is hardly a blip on the radar. There will now be intense pressure on the organization to sign Lincecum to a long-term deal before he becomes eligible for free agency, or even before he goes through arbitration prior to next season. Either way, Lincecum is looking at a big, big raise. Giants fans won't begrudge him what he has earned as the most exciting young pitcher in a generation. We just hope we get to watch The Freak do his thing in a Giants uniform for long, long time.