A baby face and a grown-up arm

At 5-11, Tim Lincecum isn't the shortest winner of the Cy Young Award. Pedro Martinez is the same height, Greg Maddux is just an inch taller and Yankees legend Whitey Ford is actually an inch shorter.

But Lincecum's height stands out because of the way he pitches. Because while it's easy to see why Randy Johnson could throw 97 mph at 6-10 because of simple physics, it's amazing to watch Lincecum throw 97 mph. And the fact that Lincecum is 24 and has the baby face of a 14-year-old has an effect as well. I've seen older-looking pitchers throwing in Willamsport, Pa., every August.

As Ann Killion of the San Jose Mercury News pointed out:

He stands out: He's too little, too lithe, too young to be throwing his wicked pitches and owning major league hitters. "He's certainly not the profile scouts are looking for in a major league pitcher," said Mike McCormick, the only other Cy Young winner in Giants history.

Lincecum has grown-up stats - 18-5 with a 2.62 ERA and a big-league-best 265 strikeouts for a team that went 72-90. Only Steve Carlton of the Phillies (27-10, 1.97 ERA in 1972) won the Cy Young while pitching for a worse team. The 1972 Phillies were 59-97.

"I don't remember anybody in my time who had that style of pitching, who put that kind of torque on his body," said McCormick, the 1967 Cy Young winner, to the Associated Press. "I think that article in Sports Illustrated that called him a freak probably sums it up."

Check out the voting here, and a summary of the awards season.