Cy Young

Lore & Background

Cy Young was the oldest child born to Nancy (Mottmiller) and McKinzie Young Jr., and was christened Denton True Young. He was of part German descent. The couple had four more children: Jesse Carlton, Alonzo, Ella, and Anthony. When the couple married, McKinzie's father gave him the 54 acre 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. Young played for many amateur baseball leagues during his youth, including a semi-professional Carrollton team in 1888. Young pitched and played second base. The first box score known containing the name Young came from that season. In that game, Young played first base and had three 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.

Reader's Guide

Young began his professional career in 1890 with the Canton, Ohio-based Canton Nadjys, team of the Tri-State League, a professional minor league. During his tryout, Young impressed the scouts, recalling years later, "I almost tore the boards off the grandstand with my fast ball." Cy Young's nickname came from the fences that he had destroyed using his fastball. The fences looked like a cyclone had hit them. Reporters later shortened the name to "Cy", which became the nickname Young used for the rest of his life. During his one year with Canton, he was 15-15. In 1890, Young signed with the Cleveland Spiders. On August 6, 1890, Young's major league debut, he pitched a three-hit 8–1 victory over the Chicago Colts. While Young was with 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 impossible 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 $1,000 ($ today) 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 5 ft. Since 1881, pitchers had pitched within a "box" whose front line was 50 ft from home base, and since 1887 they had been compelled to toe the back line of the box when delivering the ball. The back line was 55 ft away from home. In 1893, 5 ft was added to the back line, yielding the modern pitching distance of 60 ft.

Did You Know?

• Young holds MLB records for the most career wins, with 511, along with most career losses, earned runs, hits allowed, innings pitched, games started, batters faced, complete games and pitching WAR.
• He pitched three no-hitters, including a perfect game in 1904.
• In 1956, one year after his death, the Cy Young Award was created to annually honor the best pitcher in the Major Leagues.