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Cy Young

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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.

During his 22-year career, Young recorded numerous professional pitching records in the majors, some of which have stood for a century. Young retired with 511 career wins, 94 wins ahead of Walter Johnson, who is second on the list of most wins in Major League history. In honor of Young's contributions to Major League Baseball, the Cy Young Award, an annual award given to the pitcher voted the most effective in each of the two leagues, was created in 1956. Young was also elected to The Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937.

In addition to wins, Young currently holds the Major Leagues records for most career innings pitched (7,355), most career games started (815), and most complete games (749). He also retired with 316 losses, the most in MLB history. Over the span of his career, Young had 76 career shutouts, which is the fourth most in history. He also won at least 30 games in a season five times, with ten other seasons of 20+ wins. In addition, Young pitched three no-hitters, including the first perfect game of baseball's "modern era". 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.

Young's career started in 1890 with the Cleveland Spiders. After eight years with the Spiders, Young was moved to St. Louis in 1899. After two years there, Young jumped to the newly-created American League, joining the Boston franchise. He was traded back to the city of Cleveland in 1909, before spending the final two months of his career in Boston. After his retirement, Young went back to his farm in Ohio, where he stayed until his death at age 88 in 1955.

Early life

Cy Young was the oldest child born to McKinzie Young Jr. and Nancy Miller. The couple also had four more children: Carl, Lon, Ella, and Otto. When the couple married, McKinzie's father gave him the 54 acres of farm land he owned. Young was born in Gilmore, a tiny farming community located in Washington Township, Tuscarawas County, Ohio. He was raised on one of the local farms and went by the name Dent Young in his early years. Young was also known as "Farmer Young" and "Farmboy Young". Young stopped his formal education after he completed the sixth grade, so he could help out on the family's farm. In 1885, Young moved with his father to Nebraska, and in the summer of 1887, they returned to Gilmore. Cy Young played for many amateur baseball leagues during his youth, including a "semi-pro" Carrollton team in 1888. Young pitched and played second base. The first box score known containing the name Young came from the season. In that game, Young played second base and had two hits in three at bats. After the season, Young received an offer to play for the minor league Canton team, which started Young's professional career.

Professional career

Career before Major League Baseball

Young began his professional career in with the Canton, Ohio team of the Tri-State League, a professional minor league. Although a farm boy, that fact was not the source of his nickname, "Cyclone". During his tryout, Young impressed the scouts, recalling years later, "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 later shortened the name to "Cy", which became the nickname Young used for the rest of his life. During Young's one year with the Canton team, he won 15 games and lost 15 games.

Franchises in the National League, the major professional sports league at the time, wanted the best players available to them. Therefore, in , Young signed with the Cleveland Spiders, a team which had moved up from the American Association to the National League the previous year.

Cleveland Spiders

On August 6, 1890, Young's major league debut, he 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 baseball statistician, estimated that Zimmer caught Young in more games than any other battery in baseball history.

Early on, Young established himself as one of the harder-throwing pitchers in the game. Bill James wrote that Zimmer often put a piece of beefsteak inside his baseball glove to protect his catching hand from Young's fastball. In the absence of radar guns, however, it is difficult to say just how hard Young actually threw. Young continued to perform at a high level during the 1890 season. On the last day of the season, Young won both games of a doubleheader. In the first weeks of Young's career, Cap Anson, the player-manager of the Chicago Colts spotted Young's ability. Anson told Spiders' manager Gus Schmelz, "He's too green to do your club much good, but I believe if I taught him what I know, I might make a pitcher out of him in a couple of years. He's not worth it now, but I'm willing to give you $1,000 for him." Schmelz replied, "Cap, you can keep your thousand and we'll keep the rube."

Two years after Young's debut, the National League moved the pitcher's position back by five feet. Since , pitchers had pitched within a "box" whose front line was 50 feet from home base, and since they had been compelled to toe the back line of the box when delivering the ball. The back line was 55 feet, six inches away from home. In 1893, five feet was added to the back line, yielding the modern pitching distance of 60 feet, six inches. In 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.

The regular season was a success for Young, who led the National League in wins (36), ERA (1.93), and shutouts (9). Just as many contemporary Minor League Baseball leagues operate today, the National League was using a split season format during the 1892 season. The Boston Beaneaters won the first-half title, and the Spiders won the second-half title, with a best-of-nine series determining the league champion. Despite the Spiders' second half run, the Beaneaters swept the series, five games to none. Young pitched three complete games in the series, but lost two decisions. He also threw a complete game shutout, but the game ended in a 0–0 tie.

The Spiders faced the Baltimore Orioles in the Temple Cup, a precursor to the World Series, in . Young won three games in the series and Cleveland won the Cup, four games to one. It was around this time that Young added what he called a "slow ball" to his pitching repertoire, to reduce stress on his arm. The pitch today is called a changeup.

In , Young lost a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning when Ed Delahanty of the Philadelphia Phillies hit a single. On September 18, 1897, Young pitched the first no-hitter of his career in a game against the Cincinnati 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.

Shift to St. Louis

Prior to the season, Frank Robison, the Spiders owner, bought the St. Louis Browns, thus owning two clubs at the same time. The Browns were renamed the "Perfectos," and restocked with Cleveland talent. Just weeks before the season opener, most of the better Spiders players were transferred to St. Louis, including three future Hall of Famers: Young, Jesse Burkett and Bobby Wallace. The roster maneuvers failed to create a powerhouse Perfectos team, as St. Louis finished fifth in both 1899 and . Meanwhile, the depleted Spiders lost 134 games, the most in MLB history, before folding. Young spent two years with St. Louis, which is where he found his favorite catcher, Lou Criger. The two men were teammates for a decade.

Move to the American League

In , the rival American League declared major league status and set about raiding National League rosters. Young left St. Louis and joined the American League's Boston Americans for a $3,500 contract. Young would remain with the Boston team until . In his first year in the American League, Young was dominant. Pitching to Criger, who had also jumped to Boston, Young led the league in wins, strikeouts and ERA, thus earning the colloquial AL Triple Crown for Pitchers. That season, he also pitched the first perfect game in American League history. Young won almost 42% of his team's games in 1901, a record which would stand for over seventy years until broken by Steve Carlton. In February , before the start of the baseball season, Young served as a pitching coach at Harvard University. The sixth-grade graduate instructing Harvard students delighted Boston newspapers.

The Boston Americans played the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first modern World Series in . Young, who started Game One against the visiting Pirates, thus threw the first pitch in modern World Series history. The Pirates scored four runs in that first inning and Young lost the game. Young performed better in subsequent games, winning 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, and the Boston Americans defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates, five games to three games.

After one-hitting Boston on May 2, 1904, Philadelphia Athletics pitcher Rube Waddell taunted Young to face him so that he could repeat his performance against Boston's ace. Three days later, Young pitched a perfect game against Waddell and the Athletics. It was the first perfect game in American League history. Waddell was the 27th and last batter, and when he flied out, Young shouted, "How do you like that, you hayseed?" Waddell had picked an inauspicious time to issue his challenge. Young's perfect game was the centerpiece of a pitching streak. Young set major league records for the most consecutive scoreless innings pitched and the most consecutive innings without allowing a hit; the latter record still stands at 24.1 innings, or 73 hitless batters. Even after allowing a hit, Young's scoreless streak reached a then-record 45 shutout innings. Before Young, only two pitchers had thrown perfect games. This occurred in , when Lee Richmond and John Ward pitched perfect games within five days of each other, although under somewhat different rules: the front edge of the pitcher's box was only 45 feet from home base (the modern release point is about 10 feet farther away); walks required eight balls; and pitchers were obliged to throw side-armed. Young's perfect game was the first under the modern rules established in 1893. One year later, on July 4, 1905, Rube Waddell beat Young and the Americans, 4–2, in a 20-inning matchup. Young pitched 13 consecutive scoreless innings before he gave up a pair of unearned runs in the final inning. Young did not walk a batter and was later quoted: "For my part, I think it was the greatest game of ball I ever took part in." In 1907, Young and Waddell faced off in a scoreless 13-inning tie.

In , Young pitched the third no-hitter of his career. Three months past his 41st birthday, Cy Young was the oldest pitcher to record a no-hitter, a record which would stand 82 years until 43-year-old Nolan Ryan surpassed the feat. Only a walk kept Young from his second perfect game. After that runner was caught stealing, no other batter reached base. At this time, Young was the second-oldest player in either league. In another game one month before his no-hitter, he allowed just one single while facing 28 batters. On August 13, 1908, the league celebrated "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.

Cleveland Naps and retirement

Young was traded back to Cleveland, the place where he played over half his career, before the 1909 season, to the Cleveland Naps of the American League. He split , his final year, between the Naps and the Boston Rustlers.

On September 22, 1911, Young shut out the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1–0, for his last career victory. In his final start two weeks later, the last eight batters of Young's career combined to hit a triple, four singles and three doubles.

After baseball

From 1912 until his death in 1955, Cy Young lived and worked on his farm. His wife, Robba, whom he had known since childhood, died in 1933. After she died, Young tried several jobs. He, however, eventually moved in with friends John and Ruth Benedum and did odd jobs for them. Young took part in many baseball events after his retirement. In 1937, 26 years after he retired from baseball, Cy Young was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was among the first to donate mementos to the Hall. On November 4, 1955, Cy Young died at the age of 88, in Newcomerstown, Ohio, on his farm. He was buried in Peoli, Ohio.

Baseball legacy

Young retired 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, as of 2008, is second on the list. In 1921, Johnson broke Young's career record for strikeouts.

Cy Young's career 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. When Young's career began, pitchers delivered the baseball underhand and fouls were not counted as strikes. The pitcher's mound was not moved back to its present position of 60 feet, six inches until Young's fourth season; he did not wear a glove until his sixth season.

Young led his league 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. Although Young threw over 400 innings in each of his first four full seasons, he did not lead his league until 1902. He had 40 or more complete games nine times. Young also led his league in strikeouts twice (with 140 in 1896, and 158 in 1901), and in shutouts seven times. Young led his league in fewest walks per nine innings thirteen times and finished second one season. Only twice in his 22-year career did Young finish lower than 5th in the category. Although the WHIP ratio was not calculated until well after Young's death, Young was the retroactive league leader in this category seven times and was second or third another seven times. 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.

Particularly after his fastball slowed, Young relied upon his control. Young once quoted as saying, "Some may have thought it was essential to know how to curve a ball before anything else. Experience, to my mind, teaches to the contrary. Any young player who has good control will become a successful curve pitcher long before the pitcher who is endeavoring to master both curves and control at the same time. The curve is merely an accessory to control." In addition to his exceptional control, Young was also a workhorse who avoided injury. 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. By habit, Young restricted his practice throws in spring training. Young quoted on this,"I figured the old arm had just so many throws in it," said Young, "and there wasn't any use wasting them." Young once described his approach before a game:

"I never warmed up ten, fifteen minutes before a game like most pitchers do. I'd loosen up, three, four minutes. Five at the outside. And I never went to the bullpen. Oh, I'd relieve all right, plenty of times, but I went right from the bench to the box, and I'd take a few warm-up pitches and be ready. Then I had good control. I aimed to make the batter hit the ball, and I threw as few pitches as possible. That's why I was able to work every other day."

By the time of his retirement, Young's control had slipped. Young had also gained weight. In three of his last four years, he was the oldest player in the league.

Cy Young was also mentioned in the poem "Lineup for Yesterday" by Ogden Nash, which was published in Sport magazine in January 1949. The poem paid tribute to baseball players, as well as Nash's own fanaticism, and was formatted in an alphabetical list.

In 1956, about one year after Young's death, The Cy Young Award was created. The first award 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.

Statistics

Career statistics:
Hitting

G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
918	2,960	623	87	35	18	325	290	81	142	.210	.234	.282	44

Pitching

W	L	WP	GP	GS	CG	Sh	SV	IP	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP
511	316	.618	906	815	749	76	17	7354.7	1,217	2,803	2.63	1.130

Notes

a. Although the phrase "perfect game" appeared in record books as early as 1922, and was a common expression years before that, Major League Baseball did not formalize the definition of a "perfect game" until 1991, long after Young's death. Nonetheless, Young's 1955 obituary also used the phrase.

"An official perfect game occurs when a pitcher (or pitchers) retires each batter on the opposing team during the entire course of a game, which consists of at least nine innings. In a perfect game, no batter reaches any base during the course of the game."

b.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.