Donald Young (baseball player)

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Donald Wayne Young (born October 18, 1945 in Houston, Texas) is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball. Young was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent in 1963. In his first major league at-bat, he popped up to become the first out in Sandy Koufax's 1965 perfect game. He played only 11 games in 1965, and then spent three years in the minors before coming up to the Cubs again, playing 101 games in the tumultuous 1969 season.

Young was considered an average center fielder as well as a quiet, introspective man. He found himself in the public eye when he made some crucial errors in a mid-summer series against the New York Mets in 1969. Teammate Ron Santo, often an emotional sort, loudly criticized Young in the clubhouse for his mistakes, and reporters took Santo's rant to the press. Santo drew considerable criticism for his outburst, and later apologized to Young. However, Young left baseball after the season.

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference