Cy Young

From SoSH

Denton True "Cy" Young was born on March 29, 1867 in Gilmore, Ohio, a tiny village near Newcomerstown, Ohio where Young was later raised. He also died in Newcomerstown (November 4, 1955), where the local park bears his name and a memorial to the pitcher. He was a pre-eminent baseball pitcher during the 1890s and 1900s. And was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937

Contents 1 Overall Career 2 Cy's Moments in the Sun 3 Awards 4 Major League Records 5 Red Sox Career Records 6 Achievements 7 Trivia 8 Managerial Record 9 External Links

Overall Career

Young is generally considered one of the best pitchers of all time. Not only is he a member of the Hall of Fame (elected in 1937), but the Cy Young Award, the annual award given to the best major league pitcher in each league, is named in his honor.

Young set career records for wins and complete games, 511 and 749 respectively, which will almost certainly never be matched under current conditions. Today, most seasons produce few pitchers with more than 20 wins, at which pace a pitcher would have to pitch for more than 25 years to surpass the record. His complete games record will probably never be broken due to the development of relief pitching. Young's great longevity means he also holds the record for the most losses, despite winning 62% of his decisions.

Cy Young was pitching for Canton in the Tri-State League when he began his major league career in 1890 with the Cleveland Spiders, who had purchased him for $300 and a suit of clothes for Canton's manager. He threw a three-hitter in his debut. He achieved stardom rapidly. Young was one of the few star hurlers to maintain his level of success after the pitching mound was moved back to its present 60 feet 6 inches in 1893. He maintained that level for over two decades, playing for the St. Louis Perfectos in 1899 and 1900 (by which time they had become the Cardinals). The Cleveland and St. Louis ownership had essentially swapped teams by trading all the players and neither Cy nor his wife were comfortable in St Louis. In 1901, already having won 286 games in his career, Young jumped to the new American League and joined the Boston Americans, for whom he played through 1908. In his first AL season, Young won the pitching Triple Crown.

He retired after the 1911 season, following 2 seasons with the Cleveland Naps and a year split between the Naps and the Boston Rustlers. He retired with 511 wins, which was then 147 more wins than the runner-up, Pud Galvin, and today remains almost 100 more than any other pitcher ever.

He pitched a perfect game on May 5, 1904, against Philadelphia. In later years, he considered this game his greatest day in baseball. It was the centerpiece of a sterling pitching streak that resulted in the records for most consecutive scoreless innings, and for most consecutive no-hit innings (24); the latter record still stands. Young also had two other no-hitters in his career.

Cy's Moments in the Sun

• Won two games in the first World Series

• Young pitched the first perfect game in American League history when he led the Boston Red Sox to victory over Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics on May 5, 1904

Awards

• Elected to Hall of Fame by Baseball Writers in 1937 (76.12%)

• 1901 American League Triple Crown

Major League Records

• 511 Career Wins
• 7354.7 Career Innings
• 815 Games Started
• 749 Complete Games
• 30,058 Batters Faced
• 316 Losses
• 2,147 Earned Runs Allowed
• 7,092 Hits Allowed

Red Sox Career Records

• 275 Complete Games
• 112 Games Lost
• 192 Games Won (Tied with Clemens)
• 38 Shutouts (Tied with Clemens)
• 0.99 BB/9
• 0.970 WHIP

Achievements

• Member of the 300 Win Club (511 Wins - Record Holder)

• 5-Time League Leader in Wins (1892, 1895, 1901, 1902, 1903)
• 2-Time League Leader in ERA (1892 & 1901)
• 2-Time League Leader in Strikeouts (1896 & 1901)
• 3-Time League Leader in Complete Games (1899, 1902, 1903)
• 7-Time League Leader in Shutouts (1892, 1895, 1896, 1900, 1901, 1903, 1904)

Trivia

• His nickname "Cy" is short for "Cyclone" (as he himself stated, since barns and fences supposedly showed tornadic damage after encountering one of his pitches) and because his fastball was reported to be blindingly fast. It was given to him when he tried out for a minor league team in Canton, OH by the team's catcher.

• Between 1891 and 1896, Young averaged 415 innings per season.

• His record 749 complete games is essentially unapproachable.

• On August 20, 1901, Young shuts out Milwaukee 6-0 in a game that takes an hour 20 minutes to play.

• Has pitched the only perfect game in Boston Red Sox history 5/5/1904.

Managerial Record

Year    League   Team     Age    G     W    L    WP  Finish
1907 American Lg BostonRS  40     6    3    3   .500      7  Player/Manager
     TOTAL                        6    3    3   .500

External Links

• Baseball-Reference.com - Career Statistics and Analysis
• Cy Young: Hall of Fame Page
• 1937 Hall of Fame Class