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Cy Young: A Baseball Life
He was the winner of 511 major league baseball games, nearly a hundred more than any other pitcher. He threw three no-hitters, including the first perfect game in the new American League. He was among the original twelve players inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame, and his name is now attached to the game's most prestigious pitching award. Yet for all his accomplishments, Cy Young remains to most baseball fans a legendary but little known figure.
In this book, Reed Browning re-creates the life of Denton True "Cyclone" Young and places his story in the context of a rapidly changing turn-of-the-century America. Born in rural Ohio, the son of a Civil War veteran, Young learned his trade at a time when only underhand pitching was permitted. When he began his professional career in 1890, pitchers wore no gloves and stood five feet closer to the batter than they do today. By the time he retired in 1911, the game of baseball had evolved into its modern form and claimed unquestioned status as America's "national pastime."
As Browning shows, Young's extraordinary mastery of his craft owed much to his ability to adapt to the changing nature of the game. Endowed with an exceptional fastball, he gradually developed a wide array of deliveries and pitches―all of which he could throw with astonishing control. Yet his success can also be attributed, at least in part, to the rustic values of loyalty, hard work, and fair play that he embraced and embodied, and for which he became renowned among baseball fans of his day.
In this book, Reed Browning re-creates the life of Denton True "Cyclone" Young and places his story in the context of a rapidly changing turn-of-the-century America. Born in rural Ohio, the son of a Civil War veteran, Young learned his trade at a time when only underhand pitching was permitted. When he began his professional career in 1890, pitchers wore no gloves and stood five feet closer to the batter than they do today. By the time he retired in 1911, the game of baseball had evolved into its modern form and claimed unquestioned status as America's "national pastime."
As Browning shows, Young's extraordinary mastery of his craft owed much to his ability to adapt to the changing nature of the game. Endowed with an exceptional fastball, he gradually developed a wide array of deliveries and pitches―all of which he could throw with astonishing control. Yet his success can also be attributed, at least in part, to the rustic values of loyalty, hard work, and fair play that he embraced and embodied, and for which he became renowned among baseball fans of his day.
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First published June 1, 2000
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About the author
Reed Browning
7 books3 followersReed Browning is a retired history professor, and author of books on history and baseball.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 23, 2012
Can't imagine that there could be a more well-researched work than this, and what a relief it is to finally know more about the pitcher for whom the award is named.
February 15, 2018
ALERT: ALL-TIME GREAT BASEBALL BIOGRAPHY
In one of the greatest sports biographies ever published in terms of inherent interest in the featured athlete, amount of source material, analysis and educated conclusions, and writing style, Reed Browning scores a perfect game - much like his featured subject once did - in “Cy Young: A Baseball Life.”
As a lifelong baseball fan who loves collecting baseball cards and learning the history of each player behind the card and statistics, I’ve always been fascinated by the all-time winningest pitcher, Cy Young. Two questions that I keep coming back to are 1) How impressive were his 511 wins really, and 2) Did he truly deserve to be eternally graced on the annual award handed out to the best pitcher(s) of the major league? From the word go, Browning fulfilled all of my deepest thoughts on Cy Young and then some, all the while presenting his incredible research in enjoyable writing prose. Though published by an academic historian before the advent of the numerous outstanding baseball biographies of the 2010s, this book stands alone as one of the most personably written works I have ever encountered. Browning succeeds where many academics fail, in that he chooses to be an engaging storyteller who answers all of the reader’s deepest thoughts, and even one’s that were only on the boundaries of our consciousness. All of my wonders about what baseball was like in the 19th century were answered and I was continually amazed at how Cy Young successfully adapted during his 22 years of professional baseball - including the legality of throwing overhand, extension of the pitching distance, rising of the pitchers mound, increasing the shape and size of home plate, implementation of the foul strike rule, and somehow finding a way to pitch over 700 complete games until his mid-40s.
Possibly the greatest aspect of this biography is the fact that Browning is not afraid to speculate and draw educated conclusions on the subject matter, as well as looking at several varying possibilities and viewpoints as to what and why something happened. Judging by the extensiveness of the bibliography, I tend to believe that every ounce of source material concerning Cy Young was utilized and carefully analyzed by the author, and then elegantly presented in this final work. One reading strategy that I failed to perform until the last chapter but which I highly encourage everyone else to do would be to follow along with the dozens of endnotes featured throughout the book, as many of these provide further information on the individual points the author made. Finally, Browning is fantastic at re-creating Cy Young - his every motion and movement on the pitching mound - in the mind of the reader. Few, if any, biographers take the time to describe how these nineteenth century ballplayers learned and perfected their craft. So often and so beautifully, this author goes in-depth, step-by-step on how Cy Young likely would have graced baseball fields for over 20 years. I can only wish that more biographies would follow this same style!
From a baseball fan’s point of few, Cy Young’s statistics will always leave me astounded. 511 pitching wins (477 of which were complete games), 749 complete games, 76 shutouts, and 3 no hitters - including the American League’s first perfect game. Now, having read the authoritative biography on “The Grand Old Man of Baseball”, I am even more impressed and convinced of his all-time greatness, especially considering his high-moral character. Though Cy Young had a tendency to live a private life, even during the prime of his career, it was incredibly satisfying to read one of his few surviving quotes: “I probably won more games than you’ll ever see.” Now ain’t that the damnedest truth I have ever heard in my entire life!
If there was ever a biography I would recommend to readers who wish to learn more about the (pre) Dead-ball Era but do not wish to be bored by the (lack of) subject material and the historian’s academic writing style, this book HANDS DOWN is the book for you!
In one of the greatest sports biographies ever published in terms of inherent interest in the featured athlete, amount of source material, analysis and educated conclusions, and writing style, Reed Browning scores a perfect game - much like his featured subject once did - in “Cy Young: A Baseball Life.”
As a lifelong baseball fan who loves collecting baseball cards and learning the history of each player behind the card and statistics, I’ve always been fascinated by the all-time winningest pitcher, Cy Young. Two questions that I keep coming back to are 1) How impressive were his 511 wins really, and 2) Did he truly deserve to be eternally graced on the annual award handed out to the best pitcher(s) of the major league? From the word go, Browning fulfilled all of my deepest thoughts on Cy Young and then some, all the while presenting his incredible research in enjoyable writing prose. Though published by an academic historian before the advent of the numerous outstanding baseball biographies of the 2010s, this book stands alone as one of the most personably written works I have ever encountered. Browning succeeds where many academics fail, in that he chooses to be an engaging storyteller who answers all of the reader’s deepest thoughts, and even one’s that were only on the boundaries of our consciousness. All of my wonders about what baseball was like in the 19th century were answered and I was continually amazed at how Cy Young successfully adapted during his 22 years of professional baseball - including the legality of throwing overhand, extension of the pitching distance, rising of the pitchers mound, increasing the shape and size of home plate, implementation of the foul strike rule, and somehow finding a way to pitch over 700 complete games until his mid-40s.
Possibly the greatest aspect of this biography is the fact that Browning is not afraid to speculate and draw educated conclusions on the subject matter, as well as looking at several varying possibilities and viewpoints as to what and why something happened. Judging by the extensiveness of the bibliography, I tend to believe that every ounce of source material concerning Cy Young was utilized and carefully analyzed by the author, and then elegantly presented in this final work. One reading strategy that I failed to perform until the last chapter but which I highly encourage everyone else to do would be to follow along with the dozens of endnotes featured throughout the book, as many of these provide further information on the individual points the author made. Finally, Browning is fantastic at re-creating Cy Young - his every motion and movement on the pitching mound - in the mind of the reader. Few, if any, biographers take the time to describe how these nineteenth century ballplayers learned and perfected their craft. So often and so beautifully, this author goes in-depth, step-by-step on how Cy Young likely would have graced baseball fields for over 20 years. I can only wish that more biographies would follow this same style!
From a baseball fan’s point of few, Cy Young’s statistics will always leave me astounded. 511 pitching wins (477 of which were complete games), 749 complete games, 76 shutouts, and 3 no hitters - including the American League’s first perfect game. Now, having read the authoritative biography on “The Grand Old Man of Baseball”, I am even more impressed and convinced of his all-time greatness, especially considering his high-moral character. Though Cy Young had a tendency to live a private life, even during the prime of his career, it was incredibly satisfying to read one of his few surviving quotes: “I probably won more games than you’ll ever see.” Now ain’t that the damnedest truth I have ever heard in my entire life!
If there was ever a biography I would recommend to readers who wish to learn more about the (pre) Dead-ball Era but do not wish to be bored by the (lack of) subject material and the historian’s academic writing style, this book HANDS DOWN is the book for you!
June 5, 2012
In Reed Browning’s biography, Cy Young: A Baseball Life, the life and legacy of Cy Young was told in a very well detailed way. Browning recalls the events throughout Cy Young’s life in a chronological order starting from when he was a little boy. Cy Young grew up on a small farm in Gilmore, Ohio and worked religiously on it. Cy Young had many farm chores every day, but in his down time he loved to play baseball. He learned the art of pitching by practicing for years with rocks and baseballs. Young travelled by foot to other towns just to play baseball until he began playing on his own team in Gilmore, Ohio. Young was drafter into Major League Baseball after he was picked up by the Cleveland Spiders when he was just 23 years old. Young was an instant sensation across the league and was nicknamed “Cyclone” because of how fast his pitches were. He set the highest record for games won and the most innings ever pitched because he was able to consistently lead his team(s) to success. Young retired in 1911; he was honored after he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Cy Young Award was named after him.
The author did a very good job writing this biography because he thoroughly researched the life of Cy Young before he wrote the book. The author did a good job in including very valuable information about Young’s life on some of the first pages and throughout the book. The book was very long and gave very informative information about Cy Young’s career and life before & after baseball. I liked the biography because it was not too long and was very easy to read, but was still a very informative biography.
I give Cy Young: A Baseball Life an overall rating of a four out five. I give it a four out of five because it was a very well written biography. It was evident that the author spent a very long amount of time researching his topic, which was very helpful because I used this book for my History Extravaganza. Everything anybody would ever need to learn about Cy Young’s life can most likely found in this book. It takes awhile to read because it has a decent amount of pages, but it was worth the read. I liked this book but I will never read it again, so that is why I have to give it only a four and not a five. I would recommend this to anybody who likes learning about baseball players, likes reading biographies.
The author did a very good job writing this biography because he thoroughly researched the life of Cy Young before he wrote the book. The author did a good job in including very valuable information about Young’s life on some of the first pages and throughout the book. The book was very long and gave very informative information about Cy Young’s career and life before & after baseball. I liked the biography because it was not too long and was very easy to read, but was still a very informative biography.
I give Cy Young: A Baseball Life an overall rating of a four out five. I give it a four out of five because it was a very well written biography. It was evident that the author spent a very long amount of time researching his topic, which was very helpful because I used this book for my History Extravaganza. Everything anybody would ever need to learn about Cy Young’s life can most likely found in this book. It takes awhile to read because it has a decent amount of pages, but it was worth the read. I liked this book but I will never read it again, so that is why I have to give it only a four and not a five. I would recommend this to anybody who likes learning about baseball players, likes reading biographies.
May 10, 2020
An absolutely solid look at a baseball icon, this book was a real treat to read. Focused mostly on his playing career, covering in detail his season by season performance, Browning provides the reader with a very methodical journey through turn of the century big time baseball. Young himself was a rather straight and narrow personal, so it is natural that his biography lacks the external drama that, say, a Ty Cobb biography would include. However, what I gained from reading this was a clearer understanding of a man that stand looms large over the sport I love.
October 11, 2020
This is how you write a historical biography! I feel like I know everything that needs to be known about Cy Young. So let me offer three cheers to Mr. Reed Browning for bringing my favorite player to life. The rest I will leave up to the reader to discover.
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November 19, 2020done with book
July 10, 2021
I'm not a baseball enthusiast, but I'd always been curious about who Cy Young was. This is a strong biography with loads of statistics.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews