On November 4, 1955, Denton True “Cy” Young died, leaving the Earth as the greatest major league baseball pitcher in history, so great in fact, that the annual award for the best pitcher in each major league is named in his honor. (Why is he the greatest of all time? Well, 511 wins say he is!)
Digging Deeper
Born in 1867 in Gilmore, Ohio (Tuscarawas County), Young picked up the nickname Cy, short for “Cyclone,” because of his devastating fastball that would break up boards when an errant pitch hit them “like a cyclone.” Prior to starting his pro career in 1889, he was usually called “Dent” or “Farmboy.” Later, when Cy was sometimes called “Chief,” the mistaken belief that the “T” for his middle initial stood for Tecumseh became widespread. (It stood for True.) Young moved to Nebraska in 1887, and his first stop on the minor league professional circuit was in Canton, Ohio. After 1 season (1889) in Canton, Cy moved up to the National League Cleveland Spiders, a team that had switched from the American Association the year before.
