On the season, Lincecum pitched 225.1 innings over 32 starts. He finished with a 2.48 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP and 261 strikeouts while allowing only 168 hits. Despite his fantastic stats, he only had a record of 15-7. His 15 wins were the least in baseball history for a Cy Young Award winner in a full length season.

Wainwright actually had the most first place votes with 12, while Carpenter finished second in the balloting. The other two pitchers to receive votes were Dan Haren of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Javier Vazquez of the Atlanta Braves.

The balloting was so close because great cases could be made for both Carpenter and Wainwright. Carpenter had a lower ERA (2.24) and more wins (17) than Lincecum. Wainwright, on the other hand, led the NL in wins with 19 and had a comparable ERA at 2.63. But when it came down to it, Carpenter and Wainwright being on the same team didn’t help and opened the door for Lincecum.

Tim Lincecum won the Cy Young Award again (Image: Zuma Press)

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As a result, Tracy was awarded the 2009 National League Manager of the Year award. He received 29 first place votes, with Tony La Russa of the St. Louis Cardinals finishing second with two first place votes.

To reward Tracy for a job well done, the Rockies announced a few hours after the Manager of the Year award that Tracy and the team had agreed on a new three-year contract. Tracy will now have a chance to build off the great play of the 2009 season.

Over in the American League, Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels won the American League Manager of the Year award. He got 15 first place votes, while Ron Gardenhire of the Minnesota Twins got six and Joe Girardi of the New York Yankees got four.

Scioscia led the Angels to the playoffs even though the team dealt with a number of injuries in addition to the death of starting pitcher Nick Adenhart early in the season.

Jim Tracy - Colorado Rockies (Image: Zuma Press)

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Greinke made 33 starts at went 16-8 with a 2.16 ERA and a WHIP of 1.07. In 229.1 innings, the 26-year-old gave up 195 hits, walked 51 batters and struck out 242.

Finishing second in the 2009 CY Young Award balloting was Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners. Justin Verlander, the star hurler for the Detroit Tigers, finished third. CC Sabathia and Roy Halladay also received votes.

This Cy Young Award illustrates how far Greinke has come. Early in his baseball career, scouts loved his potential. However, he led the AL in losses in 2005 when he went 5-17. Then he missed nearly the entire 2006 season to deal with social anxiety disorder. Now, just a few years later, Greinke is at the top of his profession.

To read more on the Kansas City Royals star pitcher, read the Zack Greinke feature we did on him more than a year ago.

Zack Greinke won the 2009 Cy Young Award (Image: Zuma Press)

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With Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira on base, Rodriguez hit a homer to put the Yankees up 2-0. Later in the same inning, Rodriguez came to bat with the bases loaded and hit a grand slam. One inning. Two homers. Seven RBIs. Not a bad way to end regular season play.

For the 2009 baseball season, Rodriguez finished with 30 homers, 100 RBIs and a batting average of .286. While Rodriguez has had better numbers, those stats are impressive considering he missed the first month of the season due to hip surgery.

After scoring ten runs in the sixth inning, the Yankees went on to beat the Rays by a final count of 10-2. New York finished with a record of 103-59 and will take on the winner of the tiebreaker game between the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins to begin the playoffs.

Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees finished the season in style (Image: Zuma Press)

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In the second inning, Carpenter came to the plate with the bases loaded. The result? Carpenter hit a grand slam to put the Cardinals up 5-0. But he wasn’t done. In the fifth inning, Carpenter hit a two-run double. He finished the contest 2-for-3 with six RBIs.

On the mound, Carpenter went five scoreless innings and gave up only three hits and one walk while striking out six batters. St. Louis ended up winning the ballgame by a final count of 13-0. Carpenter’s outing upped his record to 17-4 and lowered his ERA to 2.24.

Commented Carpenter: “That was one of the funner days I’ve ever had.”

This extra publicity might give Carpenter an edge in the NL Cy Young Award race. He currently leads the NL in ERA and his wins are second to teammate Adam Wainwright. If he wins it, it’d be the second Cy Young Award of Carpenter’s career.

Chris Carpenter - St. Louis Cardinals (Image: Zuma Press)

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On Tuesday, they were officially eliminated after losing to the Los Angeles Angels by a final count of 5-2. Bobby Abreu homered in the first inning and the Angels never trailed again. Angels starter Sean O’Sullivan pitched five innings to improve his record on the season to 4-2.

With the Rangers out of the picture, that means that the Boston Red Sox have clinched the wild card. With a record of 91-66, the Red Sox are considered by many to be the favorite in the American League — even though they will be the wild card.

The only race in the American League that is still up for grabs is the AL Central. Currently, the Detroit Tigers lead the Minnesota Twins by two games.

There will be no playoffs for Josh Hamilton and the Rangers (Image: Zuma Press)

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In seven innings, Greinke gave up only one earned run while striking out eight batters. The win improved his record to 16-8 and lowered his ERA to 2.06. His ERA is the lowest by any starting pitcher in the majors. And his record is impressive considering that the Royals are 64-92 on the season.

In the month of September, Greinke has allowed only two earned runs in 33 innings of work. Going back to the end of August, Greinke has given up only two earned runs in his last 42 innings.

For the Twins, this was a big loss. They trail the Detroit Tigers by only two games in the AL Central. But beating Greinke — as many teams can attest — is no simple task.

Zack Greinke - 2009 American League Cy Young Award (Image: Zuma Press)

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Plate umpire Brian Runge made an obviously mistake on a called strike three. Ichiro responded by drawing a line in the dirt to show that the ball was outside. Runge responded by immediately ejecting Ichiro. After a short verbal confrontation, Ichiro left the field.

Not only has Ichiro never been ejected from a Major League Baseball game, he was never ejected for a game in the Japanese leagues. You can watch the video below to see Ichiro get ejected.

On the season, the 35-year-old Ichiro is having another great year. He’s hitting .353 with 11 homers, 46 RBIs and 216 hits. He has 200 hits in each of his first nine seasons — an all-time record.

Here is the Ichiro getting ejected video:

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Although it wasn’t exactly a shocking development, the New York Yankees officially cemented a spot in the 2009 Major League Baseball playoffs with a victory on Monday. After a 6-5 victory of the Los Angeles Angels, the Yankees had an extremely mild celebration and continued on their goal to finish with the best record in baseball.

After starting the season slowly, the Yankees are now 95-56. They have a six-game lead over the Boston Red Sox in the AL East. Not only do they have the best record in either league, the Yankees’ run differential of +149 is also best mark.

On Monday, the Yankees got up 5-0 on the Angels, however Los Angeles was able to battle back to tie the game at five. In the top of the ninth, Alex Rodriguez hit a game-winning sac fly that scored Brett Gardner. In the bottom of the ninth, Mariano Rivera finished off the game to pick up his 41st save on the season.

While the Yankees weren’t too overtly thrilled with simply making the playoffs, star first baseman Mark Teixeira said that the team will celebrate more once they clinch the AL East.

“You don’t see any champagne tonight,” said Teixeira, “but hopefully in a couple of days you will.”

Derek Jeter and the Yankees are headed to the playoffs (Image: Zuma Press)

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In the third inning, Scott Podsednik hit an inside the park home run to put the White Sox up 2-0. In the tenth inning, Podsednik was able to score on a wild pitch to break a 3-3 tie.

“What I bring to the table is my ability to run,” said Podsednik, “so it’s always nice to round the bases like that.”

On the season, Podsednik is hitting .307 with six homers, 45 RBIs and 68 runs. His speed has also helped him swipe 27 steals this season.

The win by the White Sox brought them to one game of .500. They trail the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central by five games and would need a great finish to make the 2009 playoffs.

The Angels, on the other hand, lead the Texas Rangers by 5.5 games in the AL West. At 85-56, only the New York Yankees have a better record in all of the MLB.

Scott Podsednik - Chicago White Sox (Image: Zuma Press)

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