Cy Young Quotes

Baseball Almanac is pleased to present an unprecedented collection of baseball related quotations spoken by Cy Young and about Cy Young.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"Gosh, all a kid has to do these days is spit straight and he gets forty-thousand dollars to sign." - Cy Young

Cy Young Quotes

Quotes From & About Cy Young | Baseball Quotes | Cy Young

"A pitcher's got to be good and he's got to be lucky to get a no hit game." Source: My Greatest day in Baseball (John P. Carmichael)

"All us Youngs could throw. I used to kill squirrels with a stone when I was a kid, and my granddad once killed a turkey buzzard on the fly with a rock."

"Gosh, all a kid has to do these days is spit straight and he gets forty-thousand dollars to sign." Source: Speech given at a tribute luncheon in Philadelphia (August 3, 1948)

"His trouble is he takes life too seriously. (Ty) Cobb is going at it too hard."

"I thought I had to show all my stuff and I almost tore the boards of the grandstand with my fastball."

"One of the fellows called me Cyclone, but finally shortened it to 'Cy' and its been that ever since."

"Too many pitchers, that's all, there are just too many pitchers Ten or twelve on a team. Don't see how any of them get enough work. Four starting pitchers and one relief man ought to be enough. Pitch 'em every three days and you'd find they'd get control and good, strong arms." Source: The Sporting News (February 14, 1951)

As the players came from the clubhouse for practice, an uncouth figure that brought a titter from the stands shambled along behind them. His jersey shirt stretched across his massive body like a drumhead, and his arms dangled through its sleeves. He dragged himself across the field bashfully, every angle of his frame exaggerated and emphasized and the stands tittered again. The great (Cap) Anson saw (Cy) Young. "Is that the phenom?" he asked with a sneer... The gaunt figure lost its uncouthness as he warmed to his work, and the ball shot to the catcher's thin glove with a crack that betokend even greater speed then the flash of the sphere in the sunlight. The game began and the Chicago batters strode to the plate arrogant and confident. And one after the other, they threw down their bats and returned to the bench puzzled and baffled... Young grew even more effective as the innings passed, and Chicago left the field beaten and blind with rage. Then the crowd, which had laughed at the unique figure of the new pitcher, arose in a mass and gave him an ovation. - The Sporting Life

"He's (Cy Young) too green to do your club much good, but I believe if I taught him what I know, I might make a pitcher out of him in a couple of years. He's not worth it now, but I'm willing to give you a $1,000 for him." - Cap Anson "Cap, you can keep your thousand and we'll keep the rube." - Gus Schmelz

"That young fellow (Walter Johnson) is another Cy Young. I never saw a kid with more than he displayed. Of course, he is still green, but when he has a little experience he should be one of the greatest pitchers that ever broke into the game. He has terrific speed and a motion which does not put much strain on his arm and this will all improve as he goes along." - Addie Joss

Quotes From & About Cy Young
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baseball almanac fast facts

Did you know that Cy Young tossed three no-hit games and a perfect game on May 5, 1904? Review the box score today and learn much more about that historic game.

Cy Young had thirty plus wins during five different seasons, twenty-plus wins ten different seasons, and completed more than seven-hundred of the eight-hundred fifteen games he started.

Have you ever wondered why the Cy Young Award was named after Cy Young? Check all the pitching top one-hundred lists and see why.