Former 1990's Mets Pitcher With the All Time Consecutive Losing Streak: Anthony Young (1991-1993)
He was the AA 1990 Pitcher of the Year for Jackson, in the Texas League going 15-3 with a 1.65 ERA. The next season he was pitching at Tidewater going 7-9 when he got an August call up to the big leagues. Young began, what would be a memorable but frustrating, hard luck career.
MLB Career: He debuted on August 5th, 1991, relieving Pete Schourek at Shea Stadium in a game against the Chicago Cubs.
He allowed a run in two innings of work finishing up a 7-2 Mets loss. He got his first start in Atlanta at the end of August, allowing just two runs in six innings but it was enough for his first career loss.
In his next start he beat the Houston Astros at Shea Stadium, allowing one run in seven innings with seven strike outs. After a 2-1 victory over the Cubs Young lost his last four starts on the year, finishing his year at 3-5 with a 3.10 ERA.
1992: At the start of the 1992 season, Young won his first start of the year, a complete game six hit one run win over the Cardinals in St. Louis. He also won a game in relief at Montreal, finishing up the final three innings of work. He finished April at 2-0 with a 2.96 ERA in four appearances.
Bad Luck Streak Begins: Then all the bad luck in the world fell upon him. It began with a 5-3 loss in Cincinnati to the Reds on May 6th, when he gave up five runs in six innings of work taking a loss. In the game Young gave up HRs to Chris Sabo & Joe Oliver.
In July Anthony & August actually pitched well, over those two months he became the teams closer earning eleven saves & two holds in that time. He gave up just three earned runs in 31 innings
But in September things went downhill, Young blew five opportunities where he could have earned wins in relief. Over the Labor Day weekend, he was beaten twice in Cincinnati with Jeff Branson collecting the walk off hits blowing two 9th inning leads. On September 13th Young took a loss at Montreal, giving up a three-run walk off HR to Larry Walker in the 9th inning.
He was 0-5 when Dallas Green took over the club as the Mets manager after Jeff Torborg was fired.
At the start of June, Young was put back into the starting rotation, but his misfortunes still continued.
He was then put back in the bullpen where he earned two holds, then had a break on July 23rd when he came in to a 7-5 game at Dodger Stadium in the 8th inning. He pitched two scoreless innings as the Mets scored three runs in the top of the 9th earning him a save. The good luck didn't last too long, as two days later he went into the record books, on another losing note.
On July 24,1993 Young came into an 8th inning 4-4 tied game at Dodger Stadium. In the 9th inning he walked L.A.'s Dave Hansen with the bases loaded, which scored the winning run to end the game. It was his 13th loss of the year but also gave him a record of 27 straight losing decisions dating back to April 1992.
Young was devastated, after the game he could be found by his locker in the usual head in hands sulking position.
Vince Coleman M-80 Drama: This was a terrible night in Mets history, it was also the infamous night, where Vince Coleman threw an M-80 firecracker out the window of the Dodgers Eric Davis' car exiting the Dodger Stadium Parking Lot. It exploded near a bunch of fans waiting for autographs, injuring a two-year-old girl & an eleven-year-old boy. Coleman was put on probation, eventually suspended by the Mets & soon traded, but not soon enough.
As for Anthony Young, in his defense, seven of his 1993 losses were by two runs or less and four of them were in one run games. He certainly was suffering from poor run support as well, as these Mets finished a horrid seventh place.
Fan & Player Support: During the losing streak many fans stood by him, sending him all sorts of good luck charms in the mail.
The win streak didn’t last too long though, as he had two more losing decisions n mid-August before missing most of the rest of the season with injury.
Young ended up at 1-16 with three saves & a 3.77 ERA. He made 39 appearances struck out 62 batters walked 42 over 100 innings of work. In the off season he was traded to the Chicago Cubs for Jose Vizcaino.
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Post Mets Career: In Chicago he was used as a reliever & went 7-10 over two years with two saves, posting a 3.80 ERA. In 1996 he signed with the Houston Astros where he was 3-3 in 28 games. In 1997 he was out for the season with arm troubles & was never able to return.
1992: At the start of the 1992 season, Young won his first start of the year, a complete game six hit one run win over the Cardinals in St. Louis. He also won a game in relief at Montreal, finishing up the final three innings of work. He finished April at 2-0 with a 2.96 ERA in four appearances.
Bad Luck Streak Begins: Then all the bad luck in the world fell upon him. It began with a 5-3 loss in Cincinnati to the Reds on May 6th, when he gave up five runs in six innings of work taking a loss. In the game Young gave up HRs to Chris Sabo & Joe Oliver.
Next,
he gave up four runs in San Diego which led to a 4-2 loss. In Los Angeles he gave up another five runs in six innings of work to earn his third straight loss. In June he lost five straight decisions although he had allowed two runs or less in three of those starts.
he gave up four runs in San Diego which led to a 4-2 loss. In Los Angeles he gave up another five runs in six innings of work to earn his third straight loss. In June he lost five straight decisions although he had allowed two runs or less in three of those starts. On June 25th he lasted just two innings with the Cubs at Shea after giving up nine runs, although just two of them were earned. A seven-run 1st inning saw 12 men come to bat with six hits, a Rick Wilkins three run HR, a walk, a wild pitch & two Mets errors.
His ERA was at 4.65 & he was pitching out of the bullpen by the end of the month. On June 30th at Wrigley Field, he came in relief in the 6th inning allowed a run & took his eighth straight loss.
But in September things went downhill, Young blew five opportunities where he could have earned wins in relief. Over the Labor Day weekend, he was beaten twice in Cincinnati with Jeff Branson collecting the walk off hits blowing two 9th inning leads. On September 13th Young took a loss at Montreal, giving up a three-run walk off HR to Larry Walker in the 9th inning.
He did post two saves in the month, but also took two more losses at home to the Cardinals & the Phillies on the last home stand of the year. His last winning decision was on April 19th, as he now had a personal 14 game losing streak to end the season. That year the Mets finished fifth at 72-90 under Jeff Torborg.
He finished the season at 2-14 with a .125 winning %. He earned 15 saves (tenth best in the NL) in 52 appearances striking out 64 batters & walking 31, posting a 4.17 ERA.
1993:
Things did not get better for Anthony Young in the new year. In the third game of the season, he came into a tied game against the Houston Astros & gave up four runs including a three run HR to Ken Caminitti taking his first loss of the new year. 15 straight losses.
On April 25th, in his next decision the San Diego Padres scored an 8th inning run to break an 8-8 tie at Shea Stadium, earning him his second loss of the year & 16 straight dating back to last April. On April 30th, Tony Gwynn's 8th inning RBI single in San Diego broke a 6-6 tie leading to another Anthony Young loss.
He finished the season at 2-14 with a .125 winning %. He earned 15 saves (tenth best in the NL) in 52 appearances striking out 64 batters & walking 31, posting a 4.17 ERA.
1993:
Things did not get better for Anthony Young in the new year. In the third game of the season, he came into a tied game against the Houston Astros & gave up four runs including a three run HR to Ken Caminitti taking his first loss of the new year. 15 straight losses.On April 25th, in his next decision the San Diego Padres scored an 8th inning run to break an 8-8 tie at Shea Stadium, earning him his second loss of the year & 16 straight dating back to last April. On April 30th, Tony Gwynn's 8th inning RBI single in San Diego broke a 6-6 tie leading to another Anthony Young loss.
On May 16th, Mike Lansing walked off with a single in Montreal breaking the 3-3 tie, as Young fell to 0-4.
He was 0-5 when Dallas Green took over the club as the Mets manager after Jeff Torborg was fired.
At the start of June, Young was put back into the starting rotation, but his misfortunes still continued. In his first start on June 1st, he did not allow any runs in six innings of work. Unfortunately, the Mets didn't score any runs either, so he earned no decision upon his exit although the Mets still lost 8-3 at Wrigley Field. In the month he then lost five straight games, allowing at least three runs in each start. He was 0-10 & had lost 24 straight decisions dating back to April 1992.
On July 2nd, he pitched a complete game but took a 3-1 loss to the Giants to fall to 0-11. On July 7th, the Mets were shut out by the Padres Andy Benes, although Young gave up just two runs on three hits, a Archie Cianfrocco HR was the difference as he suffered his twelfth loss of the year.
He was then put back in the bullpen where he earned two holds, then had a break on July 23rd when he came in to a 7-5 game at Dodger Stadium in the 8th inning. He pitched two scoreless innings as the Mets scored three runs in the top of the 9th earning him a save. The good luck didn't last too long, as two days later he went into the record books, on another losing note.On July 24,1993 Young came into an 8th inning 4-4 tied game at Dodger Stadium. In the 9th inning he walked L.A.'s Dave Hansen with the bases loaded, which scored the winning run to end the game. It was his 13th loss of the year but also gave him a record of 27 straight losing decisions dating back to April 1992.
Vince Coleman M-80 Drama: This was a terrible night in Mets history, it was also the infamous night, where Vince Coleman threw an M-80 firecracker out the window of the Dodgers Eric Davis' car exiting the Dodger Stadium Parking Lot. It exploded near a bunch of fans waiting for autographs, injuring a two-year-old girl & an eleven-year-old boy. Coleman was put on probation, eventually suspended by the Mets & soon traded, but not soon enough.
As for Anthony Young, in his defense, seven of his 1993 losses were by two runs or less and four of them were in one run games. He certainly was suffering from poor run support as well, as these Mets finished a horrid seventh place.
Former 1960's Mets pitcher Jack Anderson had previously held the club record for consecutive losses. When Young snapped the losing streak & broke Anderson's record, he personally sent Young a message that read "I hope you win 27 in a row ".
Losing Streak Broken: Three days later on July 28th, at Shea Stadium, Young came into a 3-3 tied game against the Florida Marlins in the 9th inning.
Losing Streak Broken: Three days later on July 28th, at Shea Stadium, Young came into a 3-3 tied game against the Florida Marlins in the 9th inning.
Sure enough he gave up a run. But the Met's actually rallied off Brian Harvey for a comeback. First Ryan Thompson singled to drive in Jeff McKnight.
Then veteran Eddie Murray, doubled to score two runs with a walk off win. More importantly Young got credited with a victory. to go to 1-13.
The win streak didn’t last too long though, as he had two more losing decisions n mid-August before missing most of the rest of the season with injury. Young ended up at 1-16 with three saves & a 3.77 ERA. He made 39 appearances struck out 62 batters walked 42 over 100 innings of work. In the off season he was traded to the Chicago Cubs for Jose Vizcaino.
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In his six-year career he was 15-48 with a respectable 3.89 ERA, striking out 245 batters & walking 167 in 460 innings pitched over 181 appearances
Retirement: When his playing days ended, he was just 30 years old. Young then went to work in a chemical plant for eight years. He missed baseball & the father of three, began to coach youth baseball in Kingwood, Texas.
Passing: In January of 2017 Young announced publicly he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The tumor actually had gotten smaller during chemotherapy but six months later on June 27th, 2017, Young passed away at the age of 51.
Passing: In January of 2017 Young announced publicly he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The tumor actually had gotten smaller during chemotherapy but six months later on June 27th, 2017, Young passed away at the age of 51.
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