Cy Young

Denton True "Cy" Young (pronounced /saɪ jʌŋ/ "sigh young"; March 29, 1867 – November 4, 1955) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher renowned for his durability and dominance, holding MLB records for most career wins with 511, most career losses with 316, and most career innings pitched with 7,356. Over a 22-season career from 1890 to 1911, he played for five teams, primarily in the National League's Cleveland Spiders and later the American League's Boston Red Sox, amassing a 2.63 career ERA and 2,803 strikeouts while pioneering the role of the workhorse starter in baseball's early professional era. Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937 as one of its inaugural members, Young's legacy endures through the Cy Young Award, MLB's highest pitching honor established in 1956 shortly after his death to recognize the league's top pitcher annually.

Born on a farm in Gilmore, Ohio, Young grew up hurling rocks at a barn silo, honing the powerful fastball that defined his pitching style. During a minor league tryout in 1889 with the Canton, Ohio team, his throws shattered wooden grandstand boards, prompting onlookers to remark that it looked like a cyclone had struck; this earned him the nickname "Cyclone," soon shortened to "Cy" (pronounced like the "cy" in "cyclone," i.e., "sigh"), which stuck throughout his career. At 6 feet 2 inches and 210 pounds, Young debuted in the majors on August 6, 1890, for the Cleveland Spiders, quickly establishing himself as a star and leading the league in wins five times during his tenure there from 1890 to 1898.