Cy Young
,
pitcher
for the
Boston Americans
, pitched a
perfect game
against the
Philadelphia Athletics
by retiring all 27 batters he faced on May 5, 1904. This event took place in the
Huntington Avenue Grounds
in
Boston, Massachusetts
, in front of 10,267 fans.
After Athletics' pitcher
Rube Waddell
defeated Young on April 25 and one-hit Boston on May 2, Waddell taunted Young to face him so that he could repeat his performance against Boston's ace. Three days later, Young pitched a
perfect game
against Waddell and the Athletics. The third perfect game in
Major League Baseball
history, Young's perfect game was the first in baseball's modern era and in
American League
history.
[2]
Background
[
edit
]
Before Young, only two pitchers had thrown perfect games. Both occurred in 1880, when
Lee Richmond
and
John Ward
pitched perfect games within five days of each other, although under different rules from modern ones: the front edge of the pitcher's box was only 45 feet (14 m) from home plate (the modern release point is about 10 feet (3.0 m) farther away); walks required eight
balls
; and pitchers were obliged to throw side-armed. Young's perfect game was the first under the modern rules established in 1893.
[3]
Over 10,000 fans attended the May 5 game, as the
Boston Americans
hosted the
Philadelphia Athletics
, specifically because of the pitching matchup of Boston's Young and
Rube Waddell
of the Athletics. Waddell had outdueled Young on April 25, and then defeated the Americans, who challenged Waddell with
Jesse Tannehill
, as Waddell threw a one-hitter. Leading up to his rematch against Young, Waddell took to baiting Young in the press.
[4]
During the game, Waddell allowed at least one hit to every Boston batter, except for Young. Meanwhile, Boston's fielders, including
Chick Stahl
,
Patsy Dougherty
, and
Buck Freeman
, made excellent defensive plays behind Young.
[4]
By the sixth inning, teammates began to avoid Young in between innings, following a long-standing tradition in baseball not to talk to a pitcher who was in the midst of pitching a
no-hitter
.
[4]
The crowd cheered loudly in the ninth inning, as Young completed the
perfect game
by retiring
Monte Cross
,
Ossee Schreckengost
, and finally Waddell. After retiring Waddell, Young shouted, "How do you like that, you hayseed?"
[5]
The game ended in one hour and 23 minutes.
[4]
Young had a streak of 45 scoreless
innings pitched
, which incorporated his perfect game. The streak began in the second inning of a game against Philadelphia on April 25, 1904, and continued through May 17, 1904.
[6]
In addition to his perfect game, Young made scoreless appearances on April 30 and May 11, and added seven more scoreless innings to his streak before allowing runs to the
Cleveland Naps
in the eighth inning of the May 17 game. This set a then-
Major League Baseball
(MLB) record.
[7]
Young also set an MLB record for the most consecutive innings pitched without allowing a hit, which lasted
25
+
1
⁄
3
innings, or 76 hitless batters. While
Orel Hershiser
has eclipsed Young's scoreless innings streak,
[7]
Young's hitless streak remains the MLB record.
[8]
[9]
One year later, on July 4, 1905, Waddell beat Young and the Americans, 4?2, in a 20-inning contest. Young pitched 13 consecutive scoreless innings before he gave up a pair of unearned runs in the final inning. Young did not walk a batter and was later quoted as saying: "For my part, I think it was the greatest game of ball I ever took part in."
[3]
Game statistics
[
edit
]
- May 5, Huntington Avenue Grounds, Boston, Massachusetts
[2]
Team
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
R
|
H
|
E
|
Philadelphia
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Boston
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
?
|
3
|
10
|
0
|
WP
:
Cy Young
(2?2)
LP
:
Rube Waddell
(4?1)
|
Box score
[
edit
]
Hitting
Philadelphia Athletics
|
AB
|
R
|
H
|
RBI
|
Boston Americans
|
AB
|
R
|
H
|
RBI
|
Topsy Hartsel
,
LF
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Patsy Dougherty
,
LF
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
Danny Hoffman
,
CF
(
PH
)
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Jimmy Collins
,
3B
|
4
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
Ollie Pickering
,
CF
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Chick Stahl
,
CF
|
4
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
Harry Davis
,
1B
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Buck Freeman
,
RF
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Lave Cross
,
3B
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Freddy Parent
,
SS
|
4
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
Socks Seybold
,
RF
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Candy LaChance
,
1B
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
Danny Murphy
,
2B
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Hobe Ferris
,
2B
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
Monte Cross
,
SS
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Lou Criger
,
C
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
Ossee Schreckengost
,
C
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Cy Young
,
P
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Rube Waddell
,
P
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
Totals
|
27
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Totals
|
32
|
3
|
10
|
2
|
Pitching
Philadelphia
|
IP
|
H
|
R
|
ER
|
BB
|
SO
|
Boston
|
IP
|
H
|
R
|
ER
|
BB
|
SO
|
Rube Waddell
|
8
|
10
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
6
|
Cy Young
|
9
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
8
|
Totals
|
8
|
10
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
6
|
Totals
|
9
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
8
|
References
[
edit
]
- Bibliography
- In-line citations
- ^
"American League".
The Sun ? via
ProQuest
(subscription required)
. May 6, 1904. p. 13.
ProQuest
536837611
.
- ^
a
b
"Cy Young Perfect Game Box Score"
. Retrieved
April 26,
2012
.
- ^
a
b
"Waddell vs Young"
.
By Daniel O'Brien
. philadelphiaathletics.org. Archived from
the original
on June 26, 2007
. Retrieved
June 23,
2007
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Browning, p. 143
- ^
"Bill Plaschke: Clayton Kershaw's actions were Cy Young-worthy - latimes.com"
. Latimesblogs.latimes.com. September 15, 2011
. Retrieved
April 30,
2012
.
- ^
Browning, pp. 141-142
- ^
a
b
Browning, p. 142
- ^
"Clarifying Some of the Records*"
.
Society for American Baseball Research
. Archived from
the original
on October 7, 2011.
- ^
Peticca, Mike (July 27, 2011).
"No-hitters: Did you ever attend a record-book type major league game? Tell us your memories"
.
The Plain Dealer
. Archived from
the original
on October 14, 2012.
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