[Home]Cy Young

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Denton True Young was the pre-eminent baseball pitcher during the 1890s and 1900s, nicknamed "Cyclone" or just "Cy" due to his pitching velocity. He is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Cy Young Award, given to the best major league pitchers every year, is named in his honor.

Born: March 29, 1867, Gilmore, Ohio
Died: November 4, 1955, Newcomerstown, Ohio
Gravesite: (place)
Elected to Hall of Fame in 1937.
[Link to Cy Young's page on the Baseball Hall of Fame website]

Young set a career record for wins, 511, which will probably never be beaten under current game conditions -- current seasons produce only a 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. He began his major league career in 1890 and achieved stardom rapidly. He 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, retiring after the 1911 season; his arm was as strong as ever, but, he noted to an interviewer, he couldn't field bunts as well as he once could, and "when the third baseman has to do my work for me, it's time to quit." At the time his longevity was considered unique -- the injury rate caused by pitching conditions at the turn of the century resulted in even the most talented having pitching careers that rarely lasted one decade, let alone two.


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Edited October 20, 2001 2:34 am by Paul Drye (diff)
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