User:Indrian/Chris Young

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This article is about the Major League Baseball pitcher. For the Major League Baseball outfielder, see Chris Young (outfielder). For other persons of the same name, see Chris Young.
Chris Young

Young throwing a four-seam fastball during pregame warmup.
San Diego Padres — No. 32
Starting Pitcher
Born: May 25, 1979 (1979-05-25) (age 29)
Bats: Right Throws: Right 
Major League Baseball debut
August 24, 2004 for the Texas Rangers
Selected MLB statistics
(through July 29, 2007)
Win-Loss     35-17
Earned run average     3.43
Strikeouts     442
Teams

Christopher Ryan Young (born May 25, 1979 in Dallas, Texas, United States) is an American Major League Baseball player who debuted on August 24, 2004 for the Texas Rangers of the American League. Young, a 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) right-handed starting pitcher, is currently in his fourth Major League season and second season with the San Diego Padres of the National League. He was elected to the 2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game as a first time All-Star via the All-Star Final Vote.[1]

After an outstanding high school career as an athlete and scholar at Highland Park High School in University Park, Texas, Young excelled in both baseball and basketball for Princeton University and became the Ivy League's first male two-sport Rookie of the Year. Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the August 2000 Draft, he bounced around in the Pirates, Montreal Expos and Texas Rangers minor league systems before debuting with the Rangers in August of 2004. Young's professional baseball career took off in the 2006 season, when he was the Major League leader in opponent batting average, hits per nine innings and road earned run average and was named the National League Pitcher of the Month for the month of June. Additionally, he extended his consecutive undefeated road games started streak to twenty-four, and he secured the only Padres win in the team's 3-1 series loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2006 National League Division Series.[2]

Contents

[edit] High school career

Young attended Highland Park High School where he excelled in both basketball and baseball. He lettered three times in basketball in a career in which he scored over a thousand career points, accumulated five hundred career rebounds and two hundred career blocked shots. He was a two-year letterman in baseball, compiling a 14–3 record with 180 strikeouts. During his senior year, he was first-team All-State selection in basketball and baseball. In basketball, he averaged sixteen points, twelve rebounds and three blocked shots a game, and in baseball, he had an 8–3 record, with a 1.70 ERA and 95 strikeouts in 80 innings pitched. He was District Most Valuable Player in basketball as a senior and he led his baseball team to win the state championship the same year.[3]

[edit] Collegiate career

In his freshman season, Young was the first male athlete to be named Ivy League Rookie of the Year in two sports—basketball and baseball — and was a unanimous selection for both awards.[4][5] In addition to being named Rookie of the Year, Young was named second-team All-Ivy in basketball and was basketball Rookie of the Week each of the final six weeks. He was named Ivy League Player of the Year and a freshman All-America by Basketball Weekly. He was a seven-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week.[5] During the season he set Princeton freshman records for points (387) and rebounds (160) by averaging 12.9 points and 5.3 rebounds a game. He also had thirty-nine points, nineteen rebounds and fifteen assists in three games at the Rainbow Classic basketball tournament.[5][6][7][8]In baseball, Young led Princeton and the Ivy League with a 2.38 ERA. During this performance he allowed only one home run over the course of 150 batters faced. He was twice named Ivy League Rookie of the Week.[5]

Young concluded his college basketball career by starting every game of the 1999-2000 season.[9] Among his accomplishments that season were twenty-two double-digit scoring games, breaking his own single-season school record for blocked shots with eighty-seven, and leading the team with 13.8 points per game, 6.3 rebounds per game, eighty-seven blocked shots and forty steals.[9] He was also second on the team with 105 assists. Young had the highest rebounding average of any Princeton player since 1978 and he was the thirteenth player in school history to reach one hundred assists in a season.[9] He finished his college basketball career with 801 points, 350 rebounds and 142 blocks.[9]

During his sophomore baseball season in 2000, Young was the Ivy League's leading pitcher with a 1.82 ERA overall and 1.05 figure in conference games.[9] He compiled a perfect record of 5-0 in eight appearances, with 52 strikeouts in 49⅓ innings.[9] Young was a unanimous first-team All-Ivy League baseball selection, and he led the Tigers to their first Ivy League title since 1996.[10] Young pitched a complete game and struck out seven batters in the 5–2 win in the championship series opener against Dartmouth.[10]

[edit] Professional status

Young was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the third round of the 2000 amateur draft and signed a $1.65 million contract with Pittsburgh on September 6 after holding out until he gained assurances that he would be able to complete his collegiate education.[10] His athletic career was not entirely on hold as an upperclassman, and he was able to get some low minor league experience before completing his degree at Princeton in politics in June 2002 and becoming a full-time professional athlete.[10][11] He played class A minor league baseball after his junior year.[10] Young then completed his senior thesis, entitled "The Impact of Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball on Racial Stereotypes in America: A Quantitative Content Analysis of Stories about Race in the New York Times" while commuting on minor league buses as a player for the Hickory Crawdads.[10][11] Young was also offered a two-year guaranteed contract to play basketball for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association in 2002 by fellow Princeton alum and Kings President Geoff Petrie.[10][11]

[edit] Minor League career

In 2001, Young went 5-3, 4.12 in 12 starts for the Hickory Crawdads in the Class-A South Atlantic League.[12] In 2002, Young helped the Crawdads to league title with a 11-9, 3.11 ERA in 26 starts, allowing more than three earned runs only twice and holding opposing batters to .234 average. He was traded to the Montreal Expos with Jon Searles for pitcher Matt Herges in a post season trade.[13] Young began the 2003 season on the disabled list before joining the Brevard County Manatees of the Florida State League towards the end of April and posting a 5-2 record, with a 1.62 ERA while holding opposing batters to a .150 batting average in eight starts.[14][14] His season was highlighted by an eight-inning, one-hit, no walk, eight strikeout performance against the Fort Myers Miracle on May 11, 2003.[15]

In June 2003, Young was promoted to the Harrisburg Senators of the Double-A Eastern League, going 4-4 with a 4.01 ERA in 15 starts. On April 3 2004, The Montreal Expos traded Young to the Texas Rangers along with Josh McKinley for Einar Diaz and Justin Echols.[16][17] He started the season with the Frisco RoughRiders of the Texas League where he went 6-5 with a 4.48 ERA in 18 starts.[16] Promoted to the Triple-A Oklahoma RedHawks of the Pacific Coast League in late July, he achieved a perfect 3-0 with a 1.48 ERA in five starts.[16] During this brief stint he allowed only nine walks while compiling thirty-four strikeouts and he held opposition batters to a .189 average.[16] On August 2, Young took a no-hitter into the sixth inning against the Sacramento River Cats.[18]

[edit] Texas Rangers

Young debuted with the Rangers on August 24, 2004 against the Minnesota Twins. He pitched five and two-thirds innings, giving up four hits and three earned runs, while striking out four, and walking three batters.[19] Young exited the game trailing 3-0, but was rescued by a comeback walk-off 5-4 win.[16]

This debut made Young the first Princeton baseball player to start a Major League game at any position since Dave Sisler on August 27, 1961.[4] The game also marked the first appearance in a Major League game by a Princeton baseball player since Robert Tufts played his final game for the Kansas City Royals on May 6, 1983.[4][20] The debut, which occurred in a home game at Ameriquest Field in Arlington served as a homecoming for Young who grew up in nearby Dallas, Texas and went to Highland Park High School.[4] After becoming part of the starting rotation, he made seven starts and compiled a 3–2 record with a 4.71 ERA.[17]

Young's first Major League decision came during his second start in an August 29 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.[16][21] His first win came in his third start on September 4 against the Boston Red Sox.[16][22] The club went 5-2 during his starts in his brief 2004 stint with the club,[16] and he signed a 3-year contract through 2007 after the season on November 19.[16]

In 2005, Young made the team right out of spring training.[23] and made thirty-one starts on the season, compiling a 12–7 record with a 4.26 ERA.[17] His twelve victories tied Kevin Brown's record for most wins by a Rangers rookie.[24] After a slow start, he reeled off a series of eleven starts from April 17 to June 13 in which he lowered his ERA to a season-low 2.78 by going 6-2, 2.18 in 70.1 innings pitched.[23] This included a month of May where he went 3-0, in five starts with a 1.42 ERA that was third-best among all qualifying Major Leaguers for the month.[23] He had subsequent hot and cold streaks over the rest of the season[23][23] to finish with a 12–7 record and a 4.26 ERA. Over the course of the season Young was the beneficiary of the 2nd-highest run support in the majors, trailing only David Wells of the Boston Red Sox.[23] However, he surrendered three runs or less in 22 of 31 starts.[23] Young produced many impressive rookie statistics. He ranked in the top five among qualifying Major League rookies in several statistical categories: strikeouts (second, 137), wins (tied for third), ERA (fourth), starts (fifth, 31) and innings pitched (fifth, 164.2).[23] He ranked fifth among all American League pitchers with 7.5 strikeouts per 9 innings.[23]

[edit] San Diego Padres

On January 6, 2006, Young was traded to the San Diego Padres along with Adrian Gonzalez and Termel Sledge in exchange for Einar Diaz and Justin Echols and enjoyed a breakout season in the National League. After a mediocre start, Young had a hot stretch of six starts after Memorial Day to improve to 7-3 with a 2.97 ERA, by allowing only four earned runs over 38⅔ innings. He was named one of five candidates for the National League for Major League Baseball's "All-Star Final Vote" to determine the final official selection for the 2006 Major League Baseball All-Star Game; however, Los Angeles Dodgers' first baseman Nomar Garciaparra was elected.[25] Nonetheless, his strong June performance during which he allowed 16 hits and 13 walks over 30⅔ June innings, maintained a 1.17 ERA and struck out 34 earned him the National League Pitcher of the Month award.[24][26] For the season, Young lowered his ERA for the third straight year to 3.46 over 31 starts, good enough for 6th best in the National League while recording a career high 169 strikeouts and finishing with an 11-5 record.[17] He also led all Major League pitchers with a 2.41 road ERA,[27][26] allowed a league-low 6.72 hits per 9 innings pitched, and a .206 opponent batting average.[17][26] He also extended his undefeated road start streak to 24 games[26] and took two no-hitters into the eighth inning on May 30 against the Rockies and September 22 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.[26][28][29][28] Young's road win streak made him one of only three pitchers in Major League history to have gone at least 23 straight road starts without a loss; Allie Reynolds set the record at 25 straight road starts spanning the 1948 and 1949 seasons, with Russ Meyer falling one short, going undefeated in 24 straight road contests spanning the 1953 and 1954 seasons.[26] San Diego won the National League West that year with an 88-74 record, and Young earned the Padres only victory of the 2006 National League Division Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, with a 3-1 win in Game 3.[30] He pitched 6⅔ shutout innings, struck out nine, walked two and allowed four hits.[30]

In November, Young traveled to Japan to take part in the Major League Baseball Japan All-Star Series.[31][32] Young was the starter in an exhibition game against the Yomiuri Giants, which was memorable for the Major leaguers' three run ninth inning rally to earn a tie.[33] This game was the prelude to the 5-game series which began with three games at the Tokyo Dome and was followed by games in Osaka, Japan and Fukuoka, Japan.[34] Young pitched the fourth game of the series. Young also blogged on behalf of mlb.com about daily life during the trip. He detailed visits with United States Ambassador to Japan Tom Schieffer, time in the Harajuku, and travels on the Bullet Train.[31]

Chris Young during deilvery
Chris Young during deilvery

Only a few days into the 2007 season on April 10, the San Diego Padres signed Young to a four-year contract extension through 2010 reportedly worth $14.5 million with a club option for 2011.[35] In his season debut on April 4 Young extended his streak of road starts without a loss to twenty-five,[36] but the streak came to an end in his next road start on April 15, a 9–3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.[27][37] Allie Reynolds is the only other pitcher to go twenty-five road starts without a loss.[27] On April 10, Chris Young signed a four-year extension with the Padres through the 2010 season, reportedly worth $14.5 million with a club option for 2011.[38]

On June 16, Young threw a pitch that hit Chicago Cubs All-star first baseman Derrek Lee on the back of the upper left arm, resulting in an exchange between the two, a bench-clearing brawl, and a five game suspension. Young battled for the league ERA crown all season long, moving into first for a single day on June 24 with his 2.08 ERA and then taking control again on July 4 and staying in the lead through the All Star break. This feat along with an undefeated streak dating back to May 12 and the lowest opponents batting average in the league aided his successful bid to take the final all star berth for the NL in the All-Star Final Vote against Tom Gorzelanny, Roy Oswalt, Brandon Webb, and Carlos Zambrano.[39] In the game at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California, Young surrendered an inside-the-park home run to Ichiro Suzuki, the first such home run in All-Star game history, in the fifth inning of a 5-4 American League victory for which Young was the losing pitcher.[40]

[edit] Batting

Chris Young batting against Carlos Zambrano before the June 16, 2007 brawl and ejection.
Chris Young batting against Carlos Zambrano before the June 16, 2007 brawl and ejection.

Like most pitchers Young does not excel as a major league hitter. Through his first 81 at bats he has only 9 hits. He has yet to hit a home run or record a stolen base. Moe Berg was the last former Princeton player to do either.

[edit] Career statistics

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BFP IBB BK ERA WHIP
2004 TEX AL 3 2 7 7 0 0 0 0 36⅓ 36 21 19 7 10 27 2 1 158 0 0 4.71 1.27
2005 TEX AL 12 7 31 31 0 0 0 0 164⅔ 162 84 78 19 45 137 7 3 700 2 0 4.26 1.26
2006 SD NL 11 5 31 31 0 0 0 0 179⅓ 134 72 69 28 69 164 6 6 735 4 1 3.46 1.13
2007 SD NL 9 3 20 20 0 0 0 0 118⅔ 78 30 24 4 39 114 4 3 473 0 3 1.82 0.986
Career 35 17 89 89 0 0 0 0 499.0 410 207 190 58 163 442 19 13 2066 6 4 3.43 1.148

Statistics accurate through July 29, 2007[17]

[edit] Personal

Young's wife, Elizabeth Patrick, is the granddaughter of Lester Patrick, who was the namesake of the National Hockey League's Patrick Division and the Lester Patrick Trophy.[3] She was also a member of the Princeton University class of 2002, and she attends law school in Washington, DC.[10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Newman, Mark (2007-07-05). Young, Okajima win Final Vote. MLB Advanced Media, L.P.. Retrieved on 2007-07-05.
  2. ^ 2006 NL Division Series - STL vs. SDP. Sports Reference, Inc.. Retrieved on May 8, 2007.
  3. ^ a b Player Profile: Chris Young 32. MLB Advanced Media, L.P. (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-03.
  4. ^ a b c d Young Takes Mound for Rangers. Ivyleaguesports.com (2004-08-23). Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  5. ^ a b c d Player Profile: Chris Young 32 (1999 Career Highlights). MLB Advanced Media, L.P. (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
  6. ^ Florida State vs. Princeton. USAToday.com (1998-12-28). Retrieved on 2007-05-08.
  7. ^ Texas vs. Princeton. USAToday.com (1998-12-29). Retrieved on 2007-05-08.
  8. ^ Princeton vs. UNC Charlotte. USAToday.com (1998-12-30). Retrieved on 2007-05-08.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Player Profile: Chris Young 32 (2000 Career Highlights). MLB Advanced Media, L.P. (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-09.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Orland, Rachel (2006-12-07). The Top 20 Greatest Athletes. dailyprincetonian.com. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  11. ^ a b c Bradley, Jeff (2007-04-11). Newcombe enhances Young's appreciation for Jackie. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved on 2007-05-03.
  12. ^ Player Profile: Chris Young 32 (2001 Career Highlights). MLB Advanced Media, L.P. (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-10.
  13. ^ Player Profile: Chris Young 32 (2002 Career Highlights). MLB Advanced Media, L.P. (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-10.
  14. ^ a b Player Profile: Chris Young 32 (2003 Career Highlights). MLB Advanced Media, L.P. (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-11.
  15. ^ Brevard County vs. Fort Myers. USA TODAY (2003-05-11). Retrieved on 2007-05-11.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i Player Profile: Chris Young 32 (2004 Career Highlights). MLB Advanced Media, L.P. (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-12.
  17. ^ a b c d e f Bob Tufts. Sports Reference, Inc. (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-03.
  18. ^ Oklahoma vs. Sacramento. USA TODAY (2004-08-02). Retrieved on 2007-06-02.
  19. ^ Texas 5, Minnesota 4 (box score). Yahoo! Inc. (2004-08-24). Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  20. ^ Bob Tufts Statistics. Sports Reference, Inc. (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-03.
  21. ^ Mora's 4 RBI help O's snap skid. ESPN Internet Ventures (2004-08-29). Retrieved on 2007-05-18.
  22. ^ Young earns first MLB win. ESPN Internet Ventures (2004-09-04). Retrieved on 2007-05-18.
  23. ^ a b c d e f g h i Player Profile: Chris Young 32 (2005 Career Highlights). MLB Advanced Media, L.P. (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-20.
  24. ^ a b Reeves, D.C. (2006-07-03). Padres' Young tabbed Pitcher of Month. MLB.com. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  25. ^ Newman, Mark (2006-07-06). Nomar, A.J. named Final Vote winners. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  26. ^ a b c d e f Player Profile: Chris Young 32 (2006 Career Highlights). MLB Advanced Media, L.P. (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-31.
  27. ^ a b c Press Release: Padres sign Chris Young to a four-year contract. MLB Advanced Media, L.P. (2007-04-10). Retrieved on 2007-04-24.
  28. ^ a b Wilson, Bernie (2006-09-23). San Diego 6, Pittsburgh 2 (recap). Yahoo! Inc.. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  29. ^ San Diego 6, Pittsburgh 2 (box score). Yahoo! Inc. (2006-09-23). Retrieved on April 24, 2007.
  30. ^ a b San Diego 3, St. Louis 1 (box score). Yahoo! Inc. (2006-10-07). Retrieved on April 9.
  31. ^ a b Young, Chris (2006-11). Chris Young's Japan Blog. mlb.com. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  32. ^ Major League Baseball Japan All-Star Series 06. MLB Advanced Media, L.P. (2006). Retrieved on 2007-05-03.
  33. ^ Browne, Ian (2006-11-02). MLB stars rally, tie Yomiuri Giants. MLB Advanced Media, L.P.. Retrieved on 2007-05-03.
  34. ^ Browne, Ian (2006-11-01). Rising stars ready to go in Japan. MLB Advanced Media, L.P.. Retrieved on 2007-05-03.
  35. ^ The Associated Press (2007-04-10). Young's four-year deal worth $14.5 million. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved on 2005-05-07.
  36. ^ McCauley, Janie (2007-04-05). San Diego 5, San Francisco 3 (recap). Yahoo! Inc.. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  37. ^ MLB Scoreboard—April 15, 2007: San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers (box score). ESPN Internet Ventures (2007-04-15). Retrieved on 2007-04-24.
  38. ^ The Associated Press (2007-04-10). Young's four-year deal worth $14.5 million. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved on 2005-05-07.
  39. ^ Newman, Mark (2007-07-01). Monster All-Star Final Vote is under way. MLB Advanced Media, L.P.. Retrieved on 2007-07-02.
  40. ^ MVP Ichiro hits All-Star Game's first inside-the-park homer. ESPN Internet Ventures (2007-07-10). Retrieved on 2007-07-15.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Roger Clemens		 National League Hits per nine innings Leader
2006		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by
Roger Clemens		 National League Opponent batting average
2006		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
Ivy League Major League Baseball All-Stars
This box: view • talk • edit
Player Lou Gehrig • Red Rolfe • Ron Darling • Brad Ausmus • Mike Remlinger • Chris Young
School Columbia University • Dartmouth College • Yale University • Dartmouth College • Dartmouth College • Princeton University
Team New York Yankees • New York Yankees • New York Mets • Detroit Tigers • Atlanta Braves • San Diego Padres
All-Star teams 1933–1939 • 1937–1940 • 1985 • 1999 • 2002 • 2007
Persondata
NAME Young, Chris
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Christopher Ryan Young
SHORT DESCRIPTION Major League Baseball starting pitcher; Two-sport star at Princeton University
DATE OF BIRTH May 25, 1979
PLACE OF BIRTH Dallas, Texas, United States
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Chris}} [[Category:1979 births]] [[Category:American basketball players]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Major league pitchers]] [[Category:Major league players from Texas]] [[Category:People from Dallas]] [[Category:Princeton University alumni]] [[Category:Princeton Tigers men's basketball players]] [[Category:San Diego Padres players]] [[Category:Texas Rangers players]]