Tim Lincecum did something Juan Marichal never did.

Or Ron Bryant or Billy Swift or Jason Schmidt.

Or Gaylord Perry—at least with the Giants.

Lincecum won the Cy Young Award, only the second Giant in history to do so. The first was Mike McCormick in 1967—a season in which Marichal was hurt and Sandy Koufax was a year into retirement.

"I thought it was going to be a lot closer," said Lincecum, who won in a landslide, receiving 23 of 32 first-place ballots. "I definitely don't want to say I had it in the bag. I was thinking somebody else would have it, Johan Santana, CC (Sabathia) or (Brandon) Webb. Those guys are all great players. I think they're all three Cy Young winners previously.

Jeremy Affeldt had considered looking for a job as a closer this offseason. Then San Francisco offered a contract the reliever couldn't pass up. Affeldt became the first of the 171 players who filed for free agency to agree to a contract, striking an $8 million, two-year deal Monday with the Giants -- a team that has wanted him for two years.

Tim Lincecum hung up the phone after learning the good news he'd been waiting more than a month to hear. "My reaction was 'Whoo hoo!"' the newly crowned NL Cy Young Award winner hollered for a news conference bigger than any the San Francisco Giants had seen since the days of home run king Barry Bonds.