Anthony Wayne Young (January 19, 1966 – June 27, 2017) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

. He played all or parts of six seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

(MLB) with the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major leagu ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

and

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

. He is best known for having lost 27 consecutive games in which he had a

decision Decision may refer to: Law and politics * Judgment (law), as the outcome of a legal case *Landmark decision, the outcome of a case that sets a legal precedent * ''Per curiam'' decision, by a court with multiple judges Books * ''Decision'' (nove ...

, setting an MLB record.

Career

Young attended

Furr High School Ebbert L. Furr High School is a secondary school located in Houston, Texas, United States. Furr, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Houston Independent School District. Furr is adjacent to Hermann Brown Park and the Songwood s ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, and the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

and college football for the

Houston Cougars The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education inst ...

. The

selected Young in the 38th round of the

1987 Major League Baseball draft The Major League Baseball Draft is the process by which Major League Baseball (MLB) teams select athletes to play for their organization. High school seniors, college juniors and seniors, and anyone who had never played under a professional cont ...

. He worked his way up through their minor league system, making his major league debut as a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather d ...

on August 5, 1991. While with the Mets, from May 6, 1992, to July 24, 1993, he lost 27 consecutive decisions. This

losing streak ''Losing Streak'' is the second studio album by ska punk band Less Than Jake, released on November 12, 1996 on Capitol Records. The album was recorded at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida and Mirror Image Studios in Gainesville, Florida, both ...

is the longest in MLB history, breaking the mark of 23 set by

Cliff Curtis Clifford Vivian Devon Curtis (born 27 July 1968) is a New Zealand actor. His film credits include '' Once Were Warriors'' (1994), ''Three Kings'' (1999), '' Training Day'' (2001), '' Whale Rider'' (2002), ''Collateral Damage'' (2002), ''Sunshin ...

in 1910–11. During the losing streak, Young converted 12 straight save opportunities and threw consecutive scoreless innings while filling in for Mets closer

John Franco John Anthony Franco (born September 17, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed relief pitcher between and . Franco established himself as an All-Star player with the Cinc ...

. During the streak, Young was 0–14 as a starter and 0–13 as a reliever. The streak ended on July 28, 1993, when he earned his first win since April 19, 1992. Over roughly the same time period from April 14, 1992, to May 1, 1994, Young—as a Met and later a Cub—made 27 consecutive starts without a

win Win or WIN may refer to: * A victory Arts and entertainment Film * '' Win!'', a 2016 American film Literature * ''Win'' (Coben novel), a 2121 novel by Harlan Coben * WIN (pacifist magazine), published by the War Resisters League * WIN (wrest ...

. He made 13 quality starts among those 27, but his teams went 4–23 in those games. Before the 1994 season, the Mets traded Young and minor leaguer Ottis Smith to the

for

José Vizcaíno José Luis Vizcaíno Pimental (born March 26, 1968) is a Dominican former professional baseball player. He was a backup infielder for most of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career. He, along with Darryl Strawberry and Ricky Ledée, are the on ...

. He signed with the

for the 1996 season. For his career, he finished with a record of 15 wins and 48 losses for a

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

of .238.

Personal life

After retiring, Young worked for eight years in a

chemical plant A chemical plant is an industrial process plant that manufactures (or otherwise processes) chemicals, usually on a large scale. The general objective of a chemical plant is to create new material wealth via the chemical or biological transfor ...

. He also coached youth leagues and offered pitching lessons in

Kingwood, Texas Kingwood is a 14,000 acre (57 km²) master-planned community located in northeast Houston, Texas, United States. The majority of the community is located in Harris County with a small portion in Montgomery County. Known as the "Livable F ...

. He was the father of three. In January 2017, Young revealed that he had been diagnosed with an inoperable

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secon ...

. Doctors were unsure at the time if the tumor was malignant. He underwent

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemothe ...

and reported in February that the tumor had shrunk. On June 27, 2017, his ex-teammate, Lenny Harris, reported on social media that Young was in a coma. Later that day, Young died at the age of 51.

References

External links

BaseballLibrary.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Anthony 1966 births 2017 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers New York Mets players Chicago Cubs players Houston Astros players Little Falls Mets players Columbia Mets players Jackson Mets players Tidewater Tides players Norfolk Tides players Daytona Cubs players Orlando Cubs players Iowa Cubs players Tucson Toros players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Houston Cougars baseball players Houston Cougars football players Baseball players from Houston African-American baseball players Deaths from brain cancer in the United States 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people