1867
Born March 29, 1867
Gilmore, OH, USA
Cy Young Marquee Hall of Fame 1937
b. March 29, 1867 · Cleveland Spiders 1890–1898, St. Louis Perfectos 1899, St. Louis Cardinals 1900, Boston Americans 1901–1907, Boston Red Sox 1908, Cleveland Naps 1909–1911, Boston Rustlers 1911
For his first three seasons pitchers threw from 50 feet, and from 1893 the distance was 60 feet 6 inches. The change barely touched him. He won 20 games sixteen times, fourteen of them in a row from 1891 through 1904, and reached 30 wins in five seasons, topping out at 36 for the Cleveland Spiders in 1892.
Cleveland sold him to St. Louis in 1899, and in 1901 he jumped to the new American League. He went 33-10 with a 1.62 ERA for Boston that first year and took the pitching Triple Crown. In 1903 he started the first game of the first modern World Series, which Boston won, and the next season he led the league with 10 shutouts.
He finished with 511 wins, 749 complete games, and 7,356 innings, and nobody has come close to any of the three. He also lost 315 games, more than any other pitcher, because he stayed on the mound long enough to do both. His 76 shutouts and 2,803 strikeouts spanned 22 seasons. The award for each league's best pitcher carries his name.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Baseball Magazine All-Star | 1 | 1908 |
| Triple Crown (pitching) | 1 | 1901 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1890 | CLV | 17 | 65 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 1 | .123 |
| 1891 | CLV | 55 | 174 | 23 | 29 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 11 | 30 | 2 | .167 |
| 1892 | CLV | 53 | 196 | 14 | 31 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 7 | 35 | 3 | .158 |
| 1893 | CLV | 53 | 187 | 23 | 44 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 4 | 15 | 2 | .235 |
| 1894 | CLV | 52 | 186 | 24 | 40 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 26 | 2 | 20 | 4 | .215 |
| 1895 | CLV | 47 | 140 | 20 | 30 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 11 | 20 | 0 | .214 |
| 1896 | CLV | 53 | 180 | 31 | 52 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 28 | 4 | 15 | 1 | .289 |
| 1897 | CLV | 48 | 153 | 14 | 34 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 22 | 4 | .222 |
| 1898 | CLV | 47 | 154 | 20 | 39 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 8 | 12 | 2 | .253 |
| 1899 | STL | 44 | 148 | 22 | 32 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 2 | 12 | 1 | .216 |
| 1900 | STL | 41 | 124 | 13 | 22 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 3 | 7 | 1 | .177 |
| 1901 | BOS | 45 | 153 | 20 | 32 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 6 | 16 | 1 | .209 |
| 1902 | BOS | 45 | 148 | 17 | 34 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 20 | 0 | .230 |
| 1903 | BOS | 41 | 137 | 21 | 44 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 4 | 20 | 2 | .321 |
| 1904 | BOS | 43 | 148 | 14 | 33 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 25 | 1 | .223 |
| 1905 | BOS | 38 | 120 | 8 | 18 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 29 | 0 | .150 |
| 1906 | BOS | 40 | 104 | 9 | 16 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 21 | 0 | .154 |
| 1907 | BOS | 46 | 125 | 10 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 3 | .216 |
| 1908 | BOS | 36 | 115 | 9 | 26 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 0 | .226 |
| 1909 | CLE | 35 | 107 | 6 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 1 | .196 |
| 1910 | CLE | 21 | 55 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 0 | .145 |
| 1911 | BSN/CLE | 18 | 41 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | .073 |
| Career | — | 918 | 2960 | 325 | 623 | 87 | 35 | 18 | 290 | 81 | 381 | 29 | .210 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1890 | CLV | 9 | 7 | 17 | 16 | 0 | 147.2 | 145 | 57 | 30 | 39 | 3.47 |
| 1891 | CLV | 27 | 22 | 55 | 46 | 2 | 423.2 | 431 | 134 | 140 | 147 | 2.85 |
| 1892 | CLV | 36 | 12 | 53 | 49 | 0 | 453.0 | 363 | 97 | 118 | 168 | 1.93 |
| 1893 | CLV | 33 | 16 | 53 | 46 | 2 | 422.2 | 442 | 158 | 103 | 102 | 3.36 |
| 1894 | CLV | 26 | 21 | 52 | 47 | 1 | 408.2 | 488 | 179 | 106 | 108 | 3.94 |
| 1895 | CLV | 35 | 10 | 47 | 40 | 0 | 369.2 | 363 | 134 | 75 | 121 | 3.26 |
| 1896 | CLV | 28 | 15 | 51 | 46 | 3 | 414.1 | 477 | 149 | 62 | 140 | 3.24 |
| 1897 | CLV | 21 | 19 | 46 | 38 | 0 | 335.2 | 391 | 141 | 49 | 88 | 3.78 |
| 1898 | CLV | 25 | 13 | 46 | 41 | 0 | 377.2 | 387 | 106 | 41 | 101 | 2.53 |
| 1899 | STL | 26 | 16 | 44 | 42 | 1 | 369.1 | 368 | 106 | 44 | 111 | 2.58 |
| 1900 | STL | 20 | 18 | 41 | 35 | 0 | 321.1 | 337 | 107 | 36 | 115 | 3.00 |
| 1901 | BOS | 33 | 10 | 43 | 41 | 0 | 371.1 | 324 | 67 | 37 | 158 | 1.62 |
| 1902 | BOS | 32 | 11 | 45 | 43 | 0 | 384.2 | 350 | 92 | 53 | 160 | 2.15 |
| 1903 | BOS | 28 | 9 | 40 | 35 | 2 | 341.2 | 294 | 79 | 37 | 176 | 2.08 |
| 1904 | BOS | 26 | 16 | 43 | 41 | 1 | 380.0 | 327 | 83 | 29 | 200 | 1.97 |
| 1905 | BOS | 18 | 19 | 38 | 33 | 0 | 320.2 | 248 | 65 | 30 | 210 | 1.82 |
| 1906 | BOS | 13 | 21 | 39 | 34 | 2 | 287.2 | 288 | 102 | 25 | 140 | 3.19 |
| 1907 | BOS | 21 | 15 | 43 | 37 | 2 | 343.1 | 286 | 76 | 51 | 147 | 1.99 |
| 1908 | BOS | 21 | 11 | 36 | 33 | 2 | 299.0 | 230 | 42 | 37 | 150 | 1.26 |
| 1909 | CLE | 19 | 15 | 35 | 34 | 0 | 294.1 | 267 | 74 | 59 | 109 | 2.26 |
| 1910 | CLE | 7 | 10 | 21 | 20 | 0 | 163.1 | 149 | 46 | 27 | 58 | 2.53 |
| 1911 | BSN/CLE | 7 | 9 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 126.1 | 137 | 53 | 28 | 55 | 3.78 |
| Career | — | 511 | 315 | 906 | 815 | 18 | 7356.0 | 7092 | 2147 | 1217 | 2803 | 2.63 |
On this day & linked events
1955
Died November 4, 1955
1890
Major-league debut: Cy Young
Cy Young made a major-league debut on August 6, 1890.
1903
The First Modern World Series Game
The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Americans 7–3 in the first game of the first modern World Series, a best-of-nine matchup between the champions of the National and American Leagues.
1903
The First World Series Champions
The Boston Americans beat the Pittsburgh Pirates in the eighth game of the best-of-nine 1903 World Series, becoming the first champions of the modern World Series.
1904
Cy Young's Perfect Game
Young retires all twenty-seven Philadelphia batters at the Huntington Avenue Grounds, the first perfect game of the modern era.
1908
Cy Young's No-Hitter
Cy Young started as the Boston Red Sox held the New York Highlanders without a hit on June 30, 1908, winning 8–0.
1911
Final major-league game: Cy Young
Cy Young played a final major-league game on October 6, 1911.
1982
Rollie Fingers Becomes the First 300-Save Closer
Milwaukee Brewers reliever Rollie Fingers records his 300th career save, the first pitcher in Major League history to reach the mark.
1984
Dwight Gooden's Rookie Strikeout Record
New York Mets rookie Dwight Gooden finishes the 1984 season with 276 strikeouts, breaking the rookie strikeout record set thirty years earlier by Herb Score.
Image: Mears Auctions, public domain