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'''Denton True "Cy" Young''' (], ] – ], ]) was an ] ] player who ] for five different ] teams from ] to ]. He established numerous professional ] records during his 22-year career in ], some of which have stood for a century. Young retired with 511 career wins, the ] and 94 more wins than ], who is second on the list.
'''Denton True Young''' (], ] – ], ]) was an ] ] pitcher during the 1890s and 1900s. The ] inducted Young in 1937 and he won one ] in ] as a member of the ]. An accomplished ], Young won the ] ] for Pitchers. The annual award given for the pitcher of the year in each league is named the ]. Young played twenty-two years of professional baseball. He set the records for most ] all-time, most ] all-time, most games started all-time, and most ]s all-time. His longevity also allowed him to set the record for the most career losses, despite winning 62% of his decisions. (He was one of two pitchers to lose 300 games; the other was Jim "Pud" Galvin, a 19th-Century pitcher.) His nickname Cy, shortened from Cyclone, was a reference to the speed of his fastball.


In honor of Young's contributions to ], MLB created the ], an annual award given to the pitcher voted the most effective in each of the two leagues. The ] elected Young in ]. During his professional career, Young won at least 30 games in a season five times, with ten other seasons of 20+ wins. He also pitched three ]s, including the first ] of baseball's "modern era."<ref name=perfect>{{citeweb| title=Cy Young's Perfect Game | work=columbia.edu | url=http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/studentwork/cns/2004-05-03/782.asp | accessdate-2007-06-23}}</ref><ref>Although listed as a perfect game as early as Ernest J. Lanigan's 1922 work, ''The Cyclopedia of Baseball'' (p.83-84), and listed as a perfect game in record books since, Major League Baseball did not formalize the definition of a "perfect game" until 1991.</ref>
== Later life & baseball career ==
]


In addition to wins, Young holds the MLB records for most career ] (7,355), for most career games started (815), and for most ]s (749). He also retired with 316 ] the most in MLB history. The only other pitcher with more than 300 career losses was ]. Young had 76 career shutouts, fourth most in history.
Cy Young began his major league career in 1890 with the ] after grauduating from Marian Central Catholic High School in Woodstock,IL. He allowed three hits in his debut. In ], the pitching mound was placed 60 feet 6 inches from home plate.<ref>This is the current distance from home plate to the pitching mound.</ref> He was one of the few pitchers whose statistical performance did not suffer as a consequence of the move.


In ], 88 years after his final major league appearance and 44 years after his death, ] at '']'' ranked Cy Young 14th on their list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players". That same year, baseball fans named Young to the ].
In ], the Spiders and the ] essentially swapped teams by trading rosters.<ref>See the ] article for details.</ref> He played for St. Louis in 1899 and ], although by 1900, they were renamed and became the Cardinals.


== Early life ==
In 1901, he left St. Louis and moved to the ], which was elevated to ] status that year. He joined the ] and spent the next seven seasons with the franchise. In his first season with the Americans, Young earned the ] for Pitchers when he lead the league with 33 wins, 158 strike outs, and a 1.62 ERA.
Denton Young was born in ], a ]ing community located in the eastern portion of ]. Raised on one of these local farms, Young went by the name Dent Young in his early years.<ref name=bio>{{citeweb | title=Cy Young Biography | work=cmgworldwide.com | url=http://www.cmgworldwide.com/baseball/young/biography.htm | accessdate=2007-06-14}}</ref>
Also known from time to time as "Farmer Young" or "Farmboy Young", Young stopped his ] after he completed the ].
<ref name=dugout>{{citeweb | title=BA Dugout | work=baseball-almanac.com | url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/dugout0e.shtml | accessdate=2007-06-23}}</ref>


== Professional career ==
In ], the Americans played the ] in the ]. Young pitched in the first game on October 1, 1903. He lost the game 7-3, but Boston won the series five games to three. Young finished the series with a 2-1 record and a 1.83 ERA.
]
Young began his professional career in ] with the ] team of the ], a professional minor league. Young impressed during his tryout; years later, he recalled, "I almost tore the boards off the grandstand with my fast ball."<ref> http://www.baseball-almanac.com/deaths/cy_young_obituary.shtml </ref> The ] who ] Young gave him the nickname "Cyclone" in reference to the speed of his fastball. ]s then shortened the name to "Cy" and that was the nickname he used the rest of his life.<ref name=bl>{{cite web | title=The Ballplayers - Cy Young | work=baseballlibrary.com | url=http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Cy_Young_1867 | accessdate=2007-06-19}}</ref>


Franchises in the ], a major professional sports league, wanted the best players available to them. Therefor, in ], Young signed for $500 with the ], who'd moved up from the ] to the National League the previous year. In Young's one year with the Canton team, he won 15 games and lost 15 games.<ref name=bio/>
Young pitched a ] on ], ] in Boston, against the ]. It was the first perfect game in ] history. <ref>, ''baseball-almanac.com''</ref> It was the centerpiece of a sterling pitching streak. During that streak Young set records for the most consecutive scoreless innings pitched and for the most consecutive innings without allowing a hit; the latter record still stands at twenty-four innings. He also had two other no-hitters in his career. Between 1891 and 1896, Young averaged 415 innings per season and he still holds the record for complete games with 749.


On ], 1890, in his first major league start, Young pitched a three-hit ].<ref name=1890chron>{{citeweb | title=1890 Chronology | work=baseballlibrary.com | url=http://www.baseballlibrary.com/chronology/byyear.php?year=1890#August | accessdate=2007-07-21}}</ref>. While Young was on the Spiders, ] was his catcher more often than any other player. ], a noted baseball ], estimated that the Young-Zimmer ] appeared more times than any other battery in baseball history.<ref name=abstract>The New Bill James Historical Abstract, Simon & Schuster, 2001, pgs. 410-411</ref>
Young was honored on ], ]. No American League games were played on that day and a group of All-Stars from the league's other teams gathered in Boston to play against Young and the Red Sox.<ref>{{cite web| title = Cy Young Day | work = brainyhistory.com | url=http://www.brainyhistory.com/events/1908/august_13_1908_72365.html | accessdate = 2006-11-11 }}</ref>


Early on, Young established himself as one of the harder throwing pitchers in the sport. In the abscense of ]s, it is difficult to say just how hard Young actually threw. However, James wrote that Zimmer often put a piece of beefsteak inside his ] to protect his catching hand from Young's fastball.<ref name=abstract/> Young continued to perform at a high level and on the last day of the 1890 season, he won both games of a doubleheader.<ref name=dugout/> By the end of his rookie season, Young was one of the teams best pitchers.
Young spent his penultimate year with the ] in ]. He split ], his final year, between the Naps and the ]. In his final game, the last seven batters Young faced hit combined to hit one ], three ] and three ]. He retired after the season with 511 career wins. This was 147 more wins than then runner-up, ]. Currently, ] is second on the list with 417 wins. His unreachable total was echoed one day when, as he told a reporter many years after his retirement, a man walked up to him, seemed to recognize him, and asked, "Did you used to play baseball?" Young told the reporter that he told the man, "Mister, I won more games than you'll ever see."


Two-years after his debut in the National League, the league moved the ] from fifty feet (where it had been since 1881) to sixty feet and six inches.
When ] was presented with the Cy Young Award, he commented that he had never heard of Cy Young, but said that Young had to have been quite famous himself to have an award named for him.
In an excerpt from the book ], ] ] wrote that the speed with which pitchers like Cy Young, ], and ] threw was the impetus that caused the move.<ref name=guide>{{cite book | last=Neyer | first=Rob | coauthors=Bill James | title=] | publisher=Fireside | date=2004 | pages=496 | month=June | isbn=0-7432-6158-5 }}</ref>
{| style="float:right;position:relative"

|{{MLB HoF}}
In ], the Spiders faced the ] in the ], a precursor to the ]. Young won three games in the series; consequently, Cleveland won the Temple Cup four games to one.
|}

Young was immortalized in the poem "Lineup for Yesterday" by ] thus:
In July, ], Young lost a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning when ] of the ] hit a single.<ref name=1896chron>{{citeweb| title=1896 Chronology | work=baseballlibrary.com | url=http://www.baseballlibrary.com/chronology/byyear.php?year=1896#July | accessdate=2007-06-23}}</ref> On ], ], Young pitched the first no-hitter of his career in a game against the ]. Although Young did not walk a batter, the Spiders committed four ] while on defense. One of the errors had originally been ruled a ], but the Cleveland ] sent a note to the press box after the eighth inning, saying he had made an error, and the ruling was changed. Young later said that despite his teammate's gesture, he considered the game to be a one-hitter.<ref name=1897chron>{{citeweb| title=1897 Chronology | work=baseballlibrary.com | url=http://www.baseballlibrary.com/chronology/byyear.php?year=1897#September | accessdate=2007-06-23}}</ref>

In ], Frank Robison, the Spiders owner, bought the ].<ref>The Browns were also renamed the Perfectos prior to the 1899 Season</ref>. He then transfered most of the Spiders players to the Browns, and vice versa.<ref name=perfectos>{{cite web| title=The Perfectos |work=wcnet.org |url=
http://www.wcnet.org/~dlfleitz/cleve.htm | accessdate=2007-06-23}}</ref> Cy Young was one of the players transfered to the Perfectos and he spent the 1899 and ] seasons in St. Louis.

In ], Young left St. Louis and joined the ]'s ], the team he would be with until ]. In his first year in the American League, Young led the league in wins, strikeouts and ERA.<ref>Although not an actual award, many baseball fans and experts call a pitcher who leads his league in wins, strikeouts, and ERA the ] winner.</ref> That season, he also pitched the first perfect game in American League history.<ref name=bbhof>{{citeweb| title=HofF profile | work=baseballhalloffame.org | url=http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/young_cy.htm | accessdate=2007-06-23}}</ref>

In ], ], before the start of the baseball season, Young served as a pitching coach at ].<ref name=dugout/>

In ] the Boston Americans played the ] in the first modern ]. Young, who started ], threw the first pitch in World Series history. In that game, the Pirates scored 4 runs in the first inning and Young lost the game. Young preformed better in subsequent games and won his next two starts. He also drove in three runs in ]. Young finished the series with a 2-1 record and a 1.85 ERA in four appearances. Young's two wins helped the Americans defeat the Pirates five games to three games.

On ], ], the Americans faced the Philadelphia Athletics. The game was notable for at least two reasons. First, the starting pitchers for the game were Cy Young and ]; both pitchers are now members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Second, Cy Young retired every batter he faced. Before Young, only two pitchers before completed what is now known as a Perfect Game. During the ] season, and before the start of the MLB's modern era, ] and ] pitched perfect games within five days of each other. However, between 1880 and 1901, baseball made significant changes in the rules. In 1880, the ] was 15 feet closer to the batter, eight ] equaled a walk, and pitchers were required to throw side-armed.<ref name=perfect /> One year later, on ], ], Waddell got a measure of revenge when he and beat Young and the Americans 4-2 in a 20-inning matchup. Young pitched 13 consecutive scoreless innings before he gave up a of unearned runs in the final inning. Throughout the entire game, Young did not walk any batter. He was later quoted: "For my part, I think it was the greatest game of ball I ever took part in."<ref name=waddell>{{citeweb| title=Waddell vs Young | work=philadelphiaathletics.org | url=http://www.philadelphiaathletics.org/history/rubevscy.htm | accessdate=2007-06-23}}</ref>

On ], ], Young pitched the third no-hitter of his career. Two months later, on ], ], the league named the day "Cy Young Day". No American League games were played on that day and a group of All-Stars from the league's other teams gathered in Boston to play against Young and the Red Sox.<ref>{{cite web| title = Cy Young Day | work = brainyhistory.com | url=http://www.brainyhistory.com/events/1908/august_13_1908_72365.html | accessdate = 2006-11-11 }}</ref>

Young was traded back to Cleveland before the 1909 season, this time to the ] of the American League. He split ], his final year, between the Naps and the ].

On ], ], Young shut out the Pittsburgh Pirates and their pitcher ] 1-0, for his last career victory. Two weeks later, Young pitched his 906th and final game. He faced eight batters and gave up one ], four ] and three ].

For fourteen consecutive years, from 1893 through 1906, Young led his league in fewest walks per nine innings thirteen times, and finished second the other season. Only twice in his 22-year career did Young finish lower than 6th in the category.

For nineteen consecutive years, from 1891 through 1909, Cy Young was in his leagues' top ten for innings pitched; in fourteen of the seasons, he was in the top five. Not until 1900, a decade into his career, did Young pitch two consecutive incomplete games.<ref name=1897chron />

==Young's legacy==
Young retired after the 1911 season with 511 career wins. His win total set the record for most career wins by a pitcher. At the time, ] had the second most career wins with 364. ], then in his fourth season, finished his career with 417 wins and is now second on the list. However, Johnson broke Young's career record for strikeouts.

Cy Young's career spanned several decades and is seen as a bridge from baseball's earliest days to its modern era; he pitched against stars such as ], already an established player when the ] was first formed in ], as well as against ], who played until ]. In fact, Young did not wear a glove until his sixth.<ref name=dugout/>

Young led his leagues in wins five times (1892, 1895, and 1901-1903), finishing second twice. His career high was 36 in 1892. He had fifteen seasons with twenty or more wins, two more than the runners-up, ] and ]. Young won two ] titles during his career, in 1892 (1.93) and in 1901 (1.62), and was three times the runner-up. Young's earned run average was below 2.00 six times, but this was not uncommon during the ]. Young threw over 400 innings in each of his first four full seasons, but did not lead his league until 1902. He had over 40 complete games in nine seasons. Young also led his league in strikeouts twice (with 140 in 1896, and 158 in 1901), and in shutouts nine times.


Although the ] ratio was not calculated until well after Young's death, his control was well-known during his lifetime; Young was the retroactive league leader in this category seven times, and was second or third another seven times.
Y is for Young, <br>
The magnificent Cy; <br>
People batted against him, <br>
But I never knew why. <br>


The first Cy Young Award was voted on in 1956, and was given to Brooklyn's ]. Originally, it was a single award covering the whole of baseball. The honor was divided into two Cy Young Awards in 1967, one for each league.
In ], ] unveiled a statue of Young outside the Cabot Center, one of its athletic complexes. The statue stands near the spot of the pitcher's mound from ], the home field of the Red Sox in Young's time.
In 1999, 88 years after his final major league appearance and 44 years after his death, he ranked Number 14 on '']''' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected to the ], even though half of his career took place in the 19th century. A memorial to Cy Young was erected in 1955 in Newcomerstown, Ohio just off ].


Cy Young is tied with ] for the most career wins by a Boston Red Sox pitcher. They each won 192 games while with the franchise.<ref name=redsoxleaders>{{citeweb| title=Boston Red Sox All-Time Leaders | work=mlb.com | url=http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/stats/historical/player_stats.jsp?c_id=bos&baseballScope=BOS&teamPosCode=all&statType=2&sitSplit=&venueID=&timeFrame=3&timeSubFrame2=0&Submit=Submit&timeSubFrame=0&&sortByStat=W | accessdate=2007-06-25}}</ref>
== Career statistics==


Young was saluted in the poem "Lineup for Yesterday" by ]:<br/>
Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BFP IBB BK ERA *lgERA *ERA+ WHIP
Y is for Young, <br/>
1890 23 CLV NL 9 7 17 16 16 0 1 0 147.7 145 87 57 6 30 39 5 7 607 0 3.47 3.56 103 1.185
The magnificent Cy; <br/>
1891 24 CLV NL 27 22 55 46 43 0 8 2 423.7 431 244 134 4 140 147 11 12 1830 0 2.85 3.44 121 1.348
People batted against him, <br/>
1892 25 CLV NL 36 12 53 49 48 9 4 0 453.0 363 158 97 8 118 168 8 13 1826 0 1.93 3.38 176 1.062
But I never knew why.
1893 26 CLV NL 34 16 53 46 42 1 7 1 422.7 442 230 158 10 103 102 10 14 1774 0 3.36 4.89 145 1.289
1894 27 CLV NL 26 21 52 47 44 2 5 1 408.7 488 265 179 19 106 108 6 4 1825 0 3.94 5.47 139 1.454
1895 28 CLV NL 35 10 47 40 36 4 7 0 369.7 363 177 134 10 75 121 8 6 1563 0 3.26 4.97 152 1.185
1896 29 CLV NL 28 15 51 46 42 5 4 3 414.3 477 214 149 7 62 140 10 10 1781 0 3.24 4.53 140 1.301
1897 30 CLV NL 21 19 46 38 35 2 7 0 333.7 391 189 141 7 49 88 9 14 1423 0 3.80 4.48 118 1.319
1898 31 CLV NL 25 13 46 41 40 1 5 0 377.7 387 167 106 6 41 101 9 9 1554 0 2.53 3.60 143 1.133
1899 32 STL NL 26 16 44 42 40 4 2 1 369.3 368 173 106 10 44 111 6 6 1541 1 2.58 3.96 153 1.116
1900 33 STL NL 19 19 41 35 32 4 6 0 321.3 337 144 107 7 36 115 4 7 1325 1 3.00 3.62 121 1.161
1901 34 BOS AL 33 10 43 41 38 5 2 0 371.3 324 112 67 6 37 158 8 2 1466 0 1.62 3.52 216 0.972
1902 35 BOS AL 32 11 45 43 41 3 1 0 384.7 350 136 92 6 53 160 13 3 1527 0 2.15 3.57 166 1.048
1903 36 BOS AL 28 9 40 35 34 7 5 2 341.7 294 115 79 6 37 176 9 5 1335 0 2.08 3.02 145 0.969
1904 37 BOS AL 26 16 43 41 40 10 2 1 380.0 327 104 83 6 29 200 4 4 1475 0 1.97 2.67 136 0.937
1905 38 BOS AL 18 19 38 33 31 4 5 0 320.7 248 99 65 3 30 210 10 6 1238 0 1.82 2.70 148 0.867
1906 39 BOS AL 13 21 39 34 28 0 4 2 287.7 288 137 102 3 25 140 8 5 1150 1 3.19 2.74 86 1.088
1907 40 BOS AL 21 15 43 37 33 6 5 2 343.3 286 101 76 3 51 147 7 6 1328 0 1.99 2.57 129 0.982
1908 41 BOS AL 21 11 36 33 30 3 3 2 299.0 230 68 42 1 37 150 2 4 1143 0 1.26 2.46 194 0.893
1909 42 CLE AL 19 15 35 34 30 3 1 0 295.0 267 110 74 4 59 109 8 6 1172 0 2.26 2.54 113 1.105
1910 43 CLE AL 7 10 21 20 14 1 0 0 163.3 149 62 46 0 27 58 4 7 638 0 2.53 2.59 102 1.078
1911 44 TOT 7 9 18 18 12 2 0 0 126.3 137 75 53 6 28 55 4 6 537 0 3.78 3.68 97 1.306
22 Yr WL% .618 511 316 906 815 749 76 84 17 7354.7 7092 3167 2147 138 1217 2803 163 156 30058 3 2.63 3.62 138 1.130


== See also == == See also ==
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
*]


== References == == References and notes ==
<references/> <div class="references-small">
<references />
</div>


== External links == == External links ==
* {{baseball-reference|id=y/youngcy01}}
*
*{{baseball-reference|id=y/youngcy01}} * {{baseball-reference manager|id=youngcy01}}
* {{bbhof|id=young_cy}}
* official homepage


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Revision as of 11:46, 26 June 2007

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For the Disney animator, see Cy Young (animator). For the Major League Baseball award, see Cy Young Award.

Template:Mlbretired

Denton True "Cy" Young (March 29, 1867 – November 4, 1955) was an American baseball player who pitched for five different major league teams from 1890 to 1911. He established numerous professional pitching records during his 22-year career in the majors, some of which have stood for a century. Young retired with 511 career wins, the most wins in MLB history and 94 more wins than Walter Johnson, who is second on the list.

In honor of Young's contributions to Major League Baseball, MLB created the Cy Young Award, an annual award given to the pitcher voted the most effective in each of the two leagues. The Baseball Hall of Fame elected Young in 1937. During his professional career, Young won at least 30 games in a season five times, with ten other seasons of 20+ wins. He also pitched three no-hitters, including the first perfect game of baseball's "modern era."

In addition to wins, Young holds the MLB records for most career innings pitched (7,355), for most career games started (815), and for most complete games (749). He also retired with 316 losses the most in MLB history. The only other pitcher with more than 300 career losses was Pud Galvin. Young had 76 career shutouts, fourth most in history.

In 1999, 88 years after his final major league appearance and 44 years after his death, editors at The Sporting News ranked Cy Young 14th on their list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players". That same year, baseball fans named Young to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

Early life

Denton Young was born in Gilmore, Ohio, a farming community located in the eastern portion of Ohio. Raised on one of these local farms, Young went by the name Dent Young in his early years. Also known from time to time as "Farmer Young" or "Farmboy Young", Young stopped his formal education after he completed the sixth grade.

Professional career

Young began his professional career in 1889 with the Canton, Ohio team of the Tri-State League, a professional minor league. Young impressed during his tryout; years later, he recalled, "I almost tore the boards off the grandstand with my fast ball." The catcher who warmed up Young gave him the nickname "Cyclone" in reference to the speed of his fastball. Reporters then shortened the name to "Cy" and that was the nickname he used the rest of his life.

Franchises in the National League, a major professional sports league, wanted the best players available to them. Therefor, in 1890, Young signed for $500 with the Cleveland Spiders, who'd moved up from the American Association to the National League the previous year. In Young's one year with the Canton team, he won 15 games and lost 15 games.

On August 6, 1890, in his first major league start, Young pitched a three-hit shutout.. While Young was on the Spiders, Chief Zimmer was his catcher more often than any other player. Bill James, a noted baseball statistician, estimated that the Young-Zimmer battery appeared more times than any other battery in baseball history.

Early on, Young established himself as one of the harder throwing pitchers in the sport. In the abscense of radar guns, it is difficult to say just how hard Young actually threw. However, James wrote that Zimmer often put a piece of beefsteak inside his baseball glove to protect his catching hand from Young's fastball. Young continued to perform at a high level and on the last day of the 1890 season, he won both games of a doubleheader. By the end of his rookie season, Young was one of the teams best pitchers.

Two-years after his debut in the National League, the league moved the pitcher's mound from fifty feet (where it had been since 1881) to sixty feet and six inches. In an excerpt from the book The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers, sports journalist Rob Neyer wrote that the speed with which pitchers like Cy Young, Amos Rusie, and Jouett Meekin threw was the impetus that caused the move.

In 1895, the Spiders faced the Baltimore Orioles in the Temple Cup, a precursor to the World Series. Young won three games in the series; consequently, Cleveland won the Temple Cup four games to one.

In July, 1896, Young lost a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning when Ed Delahanty of the Philadelphia Athletics hit a single. On September 18, 1897, Young pitched the first no-hitter of his career in a game against the Cincinatti Reds. Although Young did not walk a batter, the Spiders committed four errors while on defense. One of the errors had originally been ruled a hit, but the Cleveland third baseman sent a note to the press box after the eighth inning, saying he had made an error, and the ruling was changed. Young later said that despite his teammate's gesture, he considered the game to be a one-hitter.

In 1899, Frank Robison, the Spiders owner, bought the St. Louis Browns.. He then transfered most of the Spiders players to the Browns, and vice versa. Cy Young was one of the players transfered to the Perfectos and he spent the 1899 and 1900 seasons in St. Louis.

In 1901, Young left St. Louis and joined the American League's Boston Americans, the team he would be with until 1909. In his first year in the American League, Young led the league in wins, strikeouts and ERA. That season, he also pitched the first perfect game in American League history.

In February, 1902, before the start of the baseball season, Young served as a pitching coach at Harvard University.

In 1903 the Boston Americans played the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first modern World Series. Young, who started Game One, threw the first pitch in World Series history. In that game, the Pirates scored 4 runs in the first inning and Young lost the game. Young preformed better in subsequent games and won his next two starts. He also drove in three runs in Game Five. Young finished the series with a 2-1 record and a 1.85 ERA in four appearances. Young's two wins helped the Americans defeat the Pirates five games to three games.

On May 5, 1904, the Americans faced the Philadelphia Athletics. The game was notable for at least two reasons. First, the starting pitchers for the game were Cy Young and Rube Waddell; both pitchers are now members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Second, Cy Young retired every batter he faced. Before Young, only two pitchers before completed what is now known as a Perfect Game. During the 1880 season, and before the start of the MLB's modern era, Lee Richmond and John Ward pitched perfect games within five days of each other. However, between 1880 and 1901, baseball made significant changes in the rules. In 1880, the pitcher's mound was 15 feet closer to the batter, eight balls equaled a walk, and pitchers were required to throw side-armed. One year later, on July 4, 1905, Waddell got a measure of revenge when he and beat Young and the Americans 4-2 in a 20-inning matchup. Young pitched 13 consecutive scoreless innings before he gave up a of unearned runs in the final inning. Throughout the entire game, Young did not walk any batter. He was later quoted: "For my part, I think it was the greatest game of ball I ever took part in."

On June 30, 1908, Young pitched the third no-hitter of his career. Two months later, on August 13, 1908, the league named the day "Cy Young Day". No American League games were played on that day and a group of All-Stars from the league's other teams gathered in Boston to play against Young and the Red Sox.

Young was traded back to Cleveland before the 1909 season, this time to the Cleveland Naps of the American League. He split 1911, his final year, between the Naps and the Boston Rustlers.

On September 22, 1911, Young shut out the Pittsburgh Pirates and their pitcher Babe Adams 1-0, for his last career victory. Two weeks later, Young pitched his 906th and final game. He faced eight batters and gave up one triple, four singles and three doubles.

For fourteen consecutive years, from 1893 through 1906, Young led his league in fewest walks per nine innings thirteen times, and finished second the other season. Only twice in his 22-year career did Young finish lower than 6th in the category.

For nineteen consecutive years, from 1891 through 1909, Cy Young was in his leagues' top ten for innings pitched; in fourteen of the seasons, he was in the top five. Not until 1900, a decade into his career, did Young pitch two consecutive incomplete games.

Young's legacy

Young retired after the 1911 season with 511 career wins. His win total set the record for most career wins by a pitcher. At the time, Pud Galvin had the second most career wins with 364. Walter Johnson, then in his fourth season, finished his career with 417 wins and is now second on the list. However, Johnson broke Young's career record for strikeouts.

Cy Young's career spanned several decades and is seen as a bridge from baseball's earliest days to its modern era; he pitched against stars such as Cap Anson, already an established player when the National League was first formed in 1876, as well as against Eddie Collins, who played until 1930. In fact, Young did not wear a glove until his sixth.

Young led his leagues in wins five times (1892, 1895, and 1901-1903), finishing second twice. His career high was 36 in 1892. He had fifteen seasons with twenty or more wins, two more than the runners-up, Christy Mathewson and Warren Spahn. Young won two ERA titles during his career, in 1892 (1.93) and in 1901 (1.62), and was three times the runner-up. Young's earned run average was below 2.00 six times, but this was not uncommon during the dead ball era. Young threw over 400 innings in each of his first four full seasons, but did not lead his league until 1902. He had over 40 complete games in nine seasons. Young also led his league in strikeouts twice (with 140 in 1896, and 158 in 1901), and in shutouts nine times.

Although the WHIP ratio was not calculated until well after Young's death, his control was well-known during his lifetime; Young was the retroactive league leader in this category seven times, and was second or third another seven times.

The first Cy Young Award was voted on in 1956, and was given to Brooklyn's Don Newcombe. Originally, it was a single award covering the whole of baseball. The honor was divided into two Cy Young Awards in 1967, one for each league.

Cy Young is tied with Roger Clemens for the most career wins by a Boston Red Sox pitcher. They each won 192 games while with the franchise.

Young was saluted in the poem "Lineup for Yesterday" by Ogden Nash:
Y is for Young,
The magnificent Cy;
People batted against him,
But I never knew why.

See also

References and notes

  1. ^ "Cy Young's Perfect Game". columbia.edu. {{cite web}}: Text "accessdate-2007-06-23" ignored (help)
  2. Although listed as a perfect game as early as Ernest J. Lanigan's 1922 work, The Cyclopedia of Baseball (p.83-84), and listed as a perfect game in record books since, Major League Baseball did not formalize the definition of a "perfect game" until 1991.
  3. ^ "Cy Young Biography". cmgworldwide.com. Retrieved 2007-06-14.
  4. ^ "BA Dugout". baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
  5. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/deaths/cy_young_obituary.shtml
  6. "The Ballplayers - Cy Young". baseballlibrary.com. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
  7. "1890 Chronology". baseballlibrary.com. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
  8. ^ The New Bill James Historical Abstract, Simon & Schuster, 2001, pgs. 410-411
  9. Neyer, Rob (2004). The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers. Fireside. p. 496. ISBN 0-7432-6158-5. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  10. "1896 Chronology". baseballlibrary.com. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
  11. ^ "1897 Chronology". baseballlibrary.com. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
  12. The Browns were also renamed the Perfectos prior to the 1899 Season
  13. "The Perfectos". wcnet.org. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
  14. Although not an actual award, many baseball fans and experts call a pitcher who leads his league in wins, strikeouts, and ERA the Triple Crown winner.
  15. "HofF profile". baseballhalloffame.org. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
  16. "Waddell vs Young". philadelphiaathletics.org. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
  17. "Cy Young Day". brainyhistory.com. Retrieved 2006-11-11.
  18. "Boston Red Sox All-Time Leaders". mlb.com. Retrieved 2007-06-25.

External links

Accomplishments
Preceded byJohn Ewing National League ERA Champion
1892 		Succeeded byTed Breitenstein
Preceded byAmos Rusie National League Strikeout Champion
1896 		Succeeded byDoc McJames
Preceded byFirst Triple Crown Winner American League Pitching Triple Crown
1901 		Succeeded byRube Waddell
Preceded byFirst Champion American League ERA Champion
1901 		Succeeded byEd Siever
Preceded byFirst Champion American League Strikeout Champion
1901 		Succeeded byRube Waddell
Preceded byJohn Montgomery Ward Perfect game pitcher
May 5, 1904 		Succeeded byAddie Joss
Preceded byChick Stahl Boston Red Sox manager
1907 		Succeeded byGeorge Huff
Major League Baseball All-Century Team
Pitchers
Catchers
Infielders
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