Is Cy Young the greatest pitcher ever?

Question

Cy Young holds almost every pitching record ever set and none of them will probably ever be broken.The award for best pitcher is named after him,so the only question is,is he the greatest ever?

511 wins
76 shutouts
.619 winning percentege
7,356 innings pitched
2798 strikeouts
3.62 ERA

Made a mistake here,a 2.63 ERA.

Answer 1

Consider most MLB pitchers are pusses nowadays, oh I broke a fingernail, I'm out 15 days or I can't throw for more than 6 innings .... there's no arguing the fact that Cy was THE best! That 511 wins will NEVER be topped. The innings ......... ha, no one will come within a couple thousand.

A case could be made for some other old-times, Walter Johnson, etc. but Cy's numbers speak for themselves.

Answer 2

Its tough to say b/c the differences of the era's are so vast. I mean Bob Gibson was so unbelievable they lowered the mound 8 inches b/c he was TOO dominant (1968 i believe when his ERA was around 1.12 for the season). So you could make a case for him. Nolan Ryan has the most no hitters of all-time, top 5 in wins, most strikeouts of all time - so you could make a case for him. But you certainly can make a case for Cy Young. 511 wins is a mark that will NEVER be touched, hell to win 200 in todays day in age is amazing. Its crazy that guys back in the early days of baseball could pitch once every 2-3 days and be ok and now pitchers careers are 1 pitch from ending ALL the time. I dont know if there will ever be anothe 300 game winner after Randy Johnson and Tom Glavine reach the milestone. I mean all the modern day technology and medicine and pitchers in the early 1900's actually had more success with staying healthy. Crazy. But also back in Cy Youngs day it was almost unheard of to bring in "relief pitching" and there wasnt any such thing as closers, you won it or lost it yourself therefore thats why Cy Young holds the record for most wins and losses. He also pitched in an era when the mound was 24 inches (as opposed to 18 inches after 1968 as i mentioned) and he played in pitcher friendly ballparks (fences were 40-100 ft further back to ALL fields). He didnt strike alot of ppl out and his career ERA is very good but there are guys who have better career ERA's (a few guys in todays age is Roy Oswalt, Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens). So an argument can be made for many many pitchers.....he's def. one of the all time greats though even if he isnt deemed the greatest.

Answer 3

It was an entirely different game then. Different rules, different conditions. Pitchers were expected to throw complete games, sometimes without much rest. So the approach was completely different.

Think of basketball's rebounding records. The game has changed so much over the past 40 years that no one will ever touch Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain's records there. Does that mean that they were the best rebounders ever? Not necessarily.

I think the game was so different 110 years ago that Young really can't be compared with anyone in the more modern era. I could make a good case that Roger Clemens or Warren Spahn are as good as anyone, considering everything.

Answer 4

Cy Young was the greatest pitcher "of his day and maybe any other day". Of course the game has change so much it would be hard to envision him pitching multiple complete games or even both ends of a double header which he did on occasion. (Double headers are something baseball rarely does anymore).

As great as Roger Clemens is I would still have to put Cy Young on top. Over 600 career base hits to go with his resume. He may not have the strikeouts but his ERA is pretty impressive when you consider the hitters of his era. Hitting .400 back then was almost common place.

Answer 5

Hard to answer. That was a totally different era in baseball. Nobody can get 511 wins anymore. It's impossible. Not with today's rules and today's baseball. No way a pitcher will come close again. But yeah, I wouldn't say he's the best ever, but he's up there with the best. My favorite, Nolan Ryan.

Answer 6

I would say Cy Young should be considered the greatest pitcher. Consider all of the innings he pitched. The man did not have the specialists of today to relieve him after 5-7 innings. Despite the many innings and high pitch totals, Mr Young posted incredible numbers. The award named after him sais it all. Cy Young is worthy of this honor.

Answer 7

He is the greatest pitcher ever. He holds the record for wins, 511. That record will never be beat. This guy was amzing on the mound. Thats why they named the Cy Young award after him becasue he is so great.

Answer 8

Nope. That distinction belongs to Roger Clemens. Look at the batters Clemens has faced over his career, and compare those hitters to one from the late 1800s / early 1900s. No comparison. Baseball was a different game back then, you must understand. To be realistic, you'd have to say that Cy Young was the best pitcher pre-1950, and Roger post-1950. Pedro Martinez is a close second to Roger.

Answer 9

he's the mind-blowing pitcher of all time. He has the all-time wins record by technique of a tremendous margin and he executed maximum of those video games at the same time as it really is seen uncommon for any of on the instant's pitchers to finish more advantageous than 5 in any 12 months. notwithstanding, he does also carry the record for most losses it extremely is attributed to taking area in for a foul crew . how are you going to've an era of one million.80 2 and a record of 18-19 (also in 5 different seasons had era lower than 2.00 and nevertheless ended up in double digit losses?

Answer 10

Yes he is. The man went out to the mound every third day and made it through almost 900 starts without hurting himself in any way. The man was an absolute monster and he would be able to hold is own against the pitchers of today, even with only 2 days rest.