THE FARM BOY

Author

Matthew Garringer
November 06, 2023

Good evening. This is Dead Legends. The baseball newsletter that floats into your inbox like a Wade Boggs knuckleball.

Let’s dive in.

Today’s story is about a kid from nowhere who ended up changing baseball history forever.

Denton True Young, aka “Cy Young,” was born on March 29, 1867, in Newcomerstown, Ohio.

Growing up on a farm, he spent his childhood working hard, building up his strength and developing a strong arm from hours spent throwing hay bales and tending to the land.

Ironically, those early days helped him become the most legendary workhorse in MLB history.

In ’89, Young began his pro career with Canton of the Tri-State League.

In his rookie season, he went 15-15, but Canton didn't see his potential.

As a result, they made one of the worst trades in baseball history: Cy Young in exchange for $300 and a suit for the manager.

There’s one thing we know for sure - someone got the best of that trade, and it wasn’t Canton.

Ain’t a suit on Earth that could justify that trade.

The next year, Denton picked up the name "Cy" from his teammates; short for "Cyclone," because of the speed of his pitches. 

He had an outstanding year, posting 27 wins and a 2.85 ERA for the Spiders.

They raised his salary to $1,400.

Over the next few years, Young became known as a control expert, walking only one batter per game on average during the late 1890s.

In 1900, he was offered $3,000 by Ban Johnson to play for Boston, and he jumped at the chance.

Over the next three years, he went 93-30 and led the league in wins every season with 33, 32, and 28.

He also picked up his first-and-only World Series title in 1903.

However, his career wasn't without its ups and downs.

In 1906, at 39 years old, Young’s performance started to dip, and fans wondered if his career was over.

But Cy wasn’t going out like that.

At 41, he no-hit the Giants, the third no-no of his career, and compiled another 20-win season.

The next year, his contract was sold to the Cleveland Naps for $12,500.

In 1910 and 1911, he only won seven games per season and decided to retire.

Years later, Cy Young became the third pitcher in baseball history to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The first two were Walter Johnson and Christy Mathewson.

He retired to his farm, but lost tons of cash in the stock market and was forced to crash with his neighbors.

He died in ’55, a year before the award bearing his name was introduced to the league.

Overall, he won 511 games - a record that will never be broken.

The best deal in baseball is back again.

Our friends at Dugout Mugs are giving away Knob Shots - all you gotta do is cover the shipping & handling ($8.95).

All 30 big league teams are available.

BASEBALL TRIVIA

Find the answer in the bottom of this email!

STRANGE NAMES

If you're just joining us, we play this game every day where we try to find the weirdest names throughout baseball history.

Why?

Don't ask us, it's just something we like to do.

If you've been rocking with us for awhile now, you know what time it is.

Today's winner is:

It's no surprise Stubby had a short career; 25 AB's and out. 

At least he can say he has a bobblehead on display in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

THE DEAD LEGENDS ARCHIVE

If you like this story, check out some of our past favorites:

BASEBALL TRIVIA ANSWER: George Brett