David Cone

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David Cone
Retired — No. –
Starting Pitcher
Bats: Left Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
June 8, 1986 for the Kansas City Royals
Selected MLB statistics
(through Career)
Record     194-126
ERA     3.46
K     2668
Former teams

David Brian Cone (born January 2, 1963 in Kansas City, Missouri) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. With a sharp fastball but a soft-spoken demeanor, Cone earned a number of devoted fans, dubbed "Coneheads", who seemed to follow him no matter which team he played for. Cone, a right-hander, was regarded as one of the top strikeout pitchers in the majors during the late 1980s and early 1990s and won the American League Cy Young Award in 1994 as the ace of the Kansas City Royals.

He lives in Greenwich, Connecticut.[1]

Contents

[edit] Early career

David was drafted by the Royals in the 3rd round of the 1981 amateur draft and made his Major League debut on June 8, 1986. Prior to the 1987 season, however, he was traded with Chris Jelic to the New York Mets for Ed Hearn, Rick Anderson and Mauro Gozzo. The following season, David split time between the bullpen and the starting rotation and enjoyed marginal success, going 5-6.

[edit] Best years

Cone's first exceptional year came in 1988 when he went 20-3 with a 2.22 ERA, leading the Mets to the postseason, where they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers (despite the fact that the Mets came in as heavy favorites) and the man who won the Cy Young over Cone, Orel Hershiser. Over the next dozen years, Cone became accustomed to leading teams to the postseason and became known as a "big game" pitcher.

It was this reputation which led to Cone's becoming a popular trade commodity during deadline deals as his pitching down the stretch was highly sought by contending teams. He was twice a part of mid-year deals, being shipped from a losing team to a contending team in 1992 and 1995. Cone compiled an 8-3 postseason record over 21 postseason starts and was a part of five World Series championship teams (1992 with the Toronto Blue Jays and 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000 with the New York Yankees). He had a career postseason ERA of 3.80.

In addition to the 1988 campaign, Cone also enjoyed a 20-win season in 1998, setting a Major League record for the longest span between 20-win seasons. He led the National League in strikeouts in 1990 and 1991, but his 261 strikeouts in 1992, split between the two leagues, were a personal best. On August 30, 1991, Cone struck out three batters on nine pitches in the fifth inning of a 3-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds; Cone became the 16th National League pitcher and the 25th pitcher in Major League history to accomplish the nine-strike/three-strikeout half-inning. He won the American League Cy Young Award in the strike-shortened 1994 season, going 16-5 with a 2.94 ERA.

Cone was diagnosed with an aneurysm in his arm in 1996 and was on the disabled list for the majority of the year. In his comeback start that September against the Oakland Athletics, Cone pitched a no-hitter through seven innings before he had to leave due to pitch count restrictions. Mariano Rivera allowed a single which broke the no-hitter up.

Cone's performance faded dramatically in his final years. After pitching a perfect game on July 18, 1999, against the Montreal Expos, he seemed to suddenly lose effectiveness, and in 2000 he posted the worst record of his career, 4-14, while seeing his ERA balloon to 6.91, more than double his mark the previous year. In spite of his ineffectiveness, Cone was brought in during Game 4 of the 2000 World Series to face the Mets' Mike Piazza, a controversial decision at the time -- Denny Neagle had given up a home run to Piazza in his previous at-bat, but was pitching with a lead and only needed to retire Piazza to go the minimum five innings to be eligible for a win. Cone induced a pop-up to end the inning.

Cone pitched for the rival Boston Red Sox in 2001. He sat out the 2002 season, but attempted a comeback in 2003 . Pitching again for the New York Mets, the results were no better - he went 1-3 in 4 starts with a 6.50 ERA. He announced his retirement soon after his last appearance for the Mets on May 28, citing a chronic hip problem.

[edit] Pitch selection

Early career:

  • Fastball (95 mph)
  • Slider
  • Sharp curve
  • Change

Late career:

  • Fastball (92 mph)
  • Splitter
  • Slider
  • Overhand curve
  • Sidearm (laredo) curve
  • Change

"He's got a better-than-average fastball and a real hard slider. Those two pitches help set up one of the best change-ups in either league." (Durwood Merrill)

"David Cone has one of the best repertoires I've ever seen a pitcher possess. He had phenomenal natural stuff...he had a mid-90s fastball with about eight different arm angles. He threw a Frisbee slider that started out behind right-handed hitters, yet he could paint the outside corner with it." (Tom Candiotti)

Source: James, Bill and Rob Neyer. The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers. Fireside, NY: 2004.

[edit] Accomplishments

Cone (left) reacting to the completion of his perfect game with catcher Joe Girardi on July 18, 1999.
Cone (left) reacting to the completion of his perfect game with catcher Joe Girardi on July 18, 1999.
  • All-Star (1988, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999)
  • American League Cy Young Award winner (1994)
  • Finished 9th in American League MVP voting (1994)
  • Finished 10th in National League MVP voting (1988)
  • Finished 3rd in National League Cy Young Award voting (1988)
  • Finished 4th in American League Cy Young Award voting (1995, 1998)
  • Finished 6th in American League Cy Young Award voting (1999)
  • Pitched 16th perfect game in history (for New York Yankees, 18 July 1999 vs. Montreal Expos)
  • .606 Won-Loss % ranks 96th on MLB All-Time List
  • 7.77 Hits Allowed per 9 Innings Pitched ranks 59th on MLB All-Time List.
  • 8.28 Strikeouts per 9 Innings Pitched ranks 15th on MLB All-Time List.
  • 2,668 Strikeouts ranks 20th on MLB All-Time List.
  • 419 Games Started ranks 95th on MLB All-Time List.
  • 258 Home Runs Allowed ranks 74th on MLB All-Time List.
  • 1,137 Walks Allowed ranks 63rd on MLB All-Time List.
  • 149 Wild Pitches ranks 26th on MLB All-Time List.
  • 106 Hit Batsmen ranks 48th on MLB All-Time List.
  • New York Yankees All-Time Leader in Strikeouts per 9 Innings Pitched (8.67).
  • Holds New York Yankees single season record for most Strikeouts per 9 Innings Pitched (10.25 in 1997).
  • Hutch Award 1998

[edit] Teams

[edit] Career statistics

W L PCT ERA G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER R HR BB SO WP HBP
194 126 .606 3.46 450 419 56 22 1 2898.2 2504 1115 1222 258 1137 2668 149 106

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Costaregni, Susie, "Director grabs a coffee before daughter's wedding", June 24, 2006, "The Dish with susie" column in The Advocate page A2

[edit] External links

[edit] Further reading

The 2001 book A Pitcher's Story: Innings With David Cone by Roger Angell (ISBN 0-446-67846-5) is a revealing glimpse of Cone's career. Instead of a stock "as told to" sports autobiography, the book interweaves a biography of the pitcher with an inside look at his most disheartening season.

Preceded by
Jack McDowell		 American League Cy Young Award
1994		 Succeeded by
Randy Johnson
Preceded by
David Wells		 Perfect game pitcher
July 18, 1999		 Succeeded by
Randy Johnson
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