Matt Young

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Matt Young
Pitcher
Born: August 9, 1958 (1958-08-09) (age 49)
Batted: Left Threw: Left
MLB debut
April 6, 1983
for the Seattle Mariners
Final game
August 6, 1993
for the Cleveland Indians
Career statistics
Record     55-95
Earned Run Average     4.40
Strikeouts     857
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Matthew John Young (born August 9, 1958) is a former American Major League baseball player. Young played for a variety of teams over his career, and is best known for his unofficial no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians while a member of the Boston Red Sox.

[edit] Early life and debut

Young was born in Pasadena, California in 1958. He attended St. Francis High School in La Canada Flintridge, California. While at Pasadena City College, was initially drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 1978 amateur draft, but remained unsigned and transferred to the University of California Los Angeles.[1]

Young was again drafted, this time by the Seattle Mariners, in the second round of the 1980 amateur draft. He would make his major league debut three years later with the Mariners, eventually winning 11 games over 2031/3 innings, with a 3.27 earned run average, good enough to rank in the top ten for ERA that season.[1] He represented the Mariners in the 1983 Major League Baseball All Star Game. Pitched a scoreless 8th inning facing Johnny Bench, Darrell Evans and Pedro Guerrero.

[edit] Professional career

Young, however, struggled to replicate that success, underwent "Tommy John surgery" and was traded twice, from the Mariners to the Los Angeles Dodgers, then to the Oakland Athletics in a three-team trade with the New York Mets, winning a game in relief during the 1989 American League Championship Series. Eventually, Young hit free agency and signed with the Boston Red Sox.[1]

Young would pitch for the Red Sox for two seasons[1] before being released days before the start of the 1993 season. He became part of baseball history during his tenure. On April 12, 1992, Young faced the Cleveland Indians in the first game of a doubleheader, allowing two runs, seven walks, and an error by shortstop Luis Rivera[2] en route to the fourth no-hitter by a losing pitcher[1]. On that day Roger Clemens pitched a two-hit shutout in the second game of the double header; giving Young and Clemens the Major League Baseball record for the least number of hits (2) allowed. While Young sent the ball to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, Major League Baseball, in a rule created prior to the season, did not recognize the performance as a true no-hitter, as Young, playing for the losing team on the road, only pitched eight innings in his complete game loss.[3] According to Seymour Siwoff, who was on Baseball's Committee for Statistical Accuracy, the feat could not be listed with the "pure" no-hitters because "Young didn't get the chance to go out and pitch the ninth...who knows what would have happened if he did."[4] Had the no-hitter been officially recognized, it would have been the first no-hitter by a Boston pitcher since Dave Morehead did so in 1965, also against the Indians,[5] and was the fifteenth time, at that point, that a Red Sox pitcher had completed a game without allowing a hit.[6]

Young would be released by the Red Sox in 1993, spending time with the Indians and the Toronto Blue Jays before being released a final time late in the 1993 season.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Matt Young. Baseball Reference. Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
  2. ^ Boxscore of Matt Young No-Hitter. Baseball Almanac. Retrieved on 2005-05-07.
  3. ^ Shaughnessy, Dan, "No-win situation is no hit with Young," Boston Globe, 19 April 1992.
  4. ^ Giuliotti, Joe. "All's not lost for Matt's no no-hitter." Boston Herald, 14 April 1992.
  5. ^ Shaughnessy, Dan, "No hits? No win? No surprise Young again pitches well enough to lose." Boston Globe, 13 April 1992.
  6. ^ Ballou, Bill, "Sox split pitcher-perfect day: Young a rare double loser." Worcester Telegram and Gazette, 13 April 1992.