Chris Young: Former Mets Pitcher & World Champion GM (2011 - 2012)

Christopher Ryan Young was Born on May 25, 1979, in Dallas, Texas. The tall six-foot ten-inch right hander was a star pitcher & basketball player in high school. 

Young tossed two no hitters in baseball & led his team to a Texas State Championship in basketball. 

Young attended Princeton University & became the first Ivy League two sport Rookie of the Year. There he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in politics.

In 2000 he was soon selected in the third round of the draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Young went to the Montreal Expos & Texas Rangers organizations as he was rushed through the minor leagues. 

MLB Career: On August 24th, 2004, he debuted with the Rangers at the Ballpark in Arlington on earning no decision, while serving up two HRs in a 5-4 win over Twins. 

On August 29th he earned a loss giving up four runs to the Baltimore Orioles. On September 19th he pitched six shutout innings in Anaheim to earn his first win. He finished the season at 3-2.

The next season he was 12-7, tying a Rangers record for most wins by a Rookie pitcher. His 12 wins & 4.26 ERA were both second to Kenny Rodgers on the Ranger staff. Young also led the team with 137 strike outs in 164 innings pitched. The Rangers finished third under manager Buck Showalter.

That winter he was involved in a big trade going to the Padres along with Adrian Gonzalez & Termell Sledge in exchange for Adam Eaton, Akinori Otsuka & minor leaguer Billy Killian.

Pitcher Of the Month Award: By 2006 he had developed into a top pitcher with San Diego. After a 3-3 start he went on to win four straight games, allowing just four earned runs in 38 innings winning the Pitcher of the Month Award that June.

On the road he had the league’s best ERA (2.41) & held opponents to the lowest batting average (.206). 

In September he almost threw the first Padres no hitter, taking it into the 9th inning when Joe Randa spoiled it with a two run HR. 

That season Young had taken three different no hit bids into the sixth inning. He finished up at 11-
5 with a 3.46 ERA (6th in the league) making 31 starts while striking out 164 batters in 179 innings.

In 2007 he returned & continued a streak of 25 straight road games without a losing decision. 

Padres' vs Cubs Brawl: Prior to the All-Star game he was involved in a bench clearing brawl at Wrigley Field when he hit the Cubs’ Derek Lee on the wrist with a pitch. The incident came a day after Alfonso Soriano had homered & took his time running the bases.

Young & two others were ejected & he had to serve a five-game suspension. He bested his record to 9-3 but lost his last five decisions on the season finishing up at 9-8 with a 3.12 ERA.

2007 All Star: He was leading the league in ERA & was 7-8 by the All-Star break earning a spot on the NL All Star team. Young came into the All-Star Game at San Francisco in the 5th inning & was the losing pitcher of record when Ichiro Suzuki hit the first ever inside the park All-Star game HR off him.

On the season he was 9-8 with a 3.12 ERA, striking out 167 batters in 179 innings.

Hit By Line Drive: On May 21st, 2008, he was hit in the face with a line drive off the bat of Albert Pujols. Young fell to the ground & lay there for several minutes getting assistance from the team's trainer as well as teammate Tony Clark. The play was disturbing to everyone & shook up Pujols as well. Young suffered a broken nose went on the DL for two months but returned in late July.

That season he went 7-6 with a 3.96 ERA. In 2009 he fell to a 4-6 record with his highest career ERA to date, at 5.21 ERA. That year his season was over in June when he needed arthroscopic surgery to repair partial tears in his labrum. 

In 2010, injuries continued to plague him as he strained his shoulder & missed over five months of action, going 2-0 in just four starts. 

Mets Career: In January of 2011 he was granted free agency & signed a contract with the New York Mets.

Trivia: Chris Young is remembered as the second tallest player in MLB history (with three others coming in at the same height). He was known more of a control pitcher rather than a power pitcher for his size. 

His delivery was slow which gave base runners an advantage to run on him. He had led the league in most stolen bases allowed back in 2006.

Three Hit Game & Winning Pitcher: On April 5th Chris Young made his first Mets start beating the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. He struck out a season high seven batters, allowing just one run in five innings of work. 

In that game he became the first Mets pitcher in franchise history to collect two hits in the same inning. Both coming off the Phillies Cole Hammels. In the top of the 3rd, he led off with a base hit then after the Mets batted around, Young singled bringing in the sixth run of the inning. 

Young collected a single in the 5th inning as well. He was the first Mets pitcher since Tom Glavine 2005) to have three hits in a game.

In his second start he pitched seven innings allowing just one run to the Nationals but earned no decision in the 7-3 loss. 

On May 1st, on the historic night the United States Military killed Osama bin laden, Young pitched seven shutout innings in a much-needed win at Philadelphia, avoiding a sweep. That night he matched his season high seven strikeouts.

Young had been one of the Mets most consistent starters early on, although he made only three starts. Then injury struck him again as he suffered a torn anterior capsule in his right shoulder, the same injury that had sidelined him in the past. He opted to get the surgery to repair the injury & missed the rest of the season. 

2012: In June of 2012 Young returned to the Mets. In his first start he took no decision in a loss at Washington. On June 12th, he earned a win allowing two runs in an 11-2 Mets win at Tampa over the Rays. He next took no decision in a subway series start at Citi Field.

On June 28th, he pitched into the 7th inning at Dodger Stadium, earning his second win in the 3-2 Met victory.

But in July he lost four straight games giving up 18 earned runs with six HRs & nine walks in 27 innings over five terrible starts. 

On August 2nd, he had his best outing of the year, pitching seven innings in San Francisco allowing one run with four strike outs in a win over the Giants. 

His next start was his worst of the year, allowing seven runs on seven hits, including three HRs to the Marlins in a 13-0 loss. 

On August 14th, he shut out the Reds into the 6th inning, but the Mets were shut out in a 3-0 loss in Cincinnati. It was the only start in which Young did not allow a run all year. He went 1-3 the rest of the way with a one run, five inning victory in Maimi coming in early September.

On the year he went 4-9 with a 4.15 ERA, striking out 80 batters walking 36 in 115 innings of work in 20 starts for Terry Collins fourth place Mets (74-88). 

Post Mets Career: He was granted free agency & signed with the Washington Nationals but was soon released. 

Come Back Player of the Year: After a year out of baseball, he signed with the Seattle Mariners in & won the 2014 Comeback Player of the Year Award. 

Young was 12-9 with a 3.65 ERA, posting 108 strikeouts in 165 innings pitched. He did allow 26 HRs, second most in his career. Young was granted free agency & signed on with the Kansas City Royals. 

2015 Championship Season: In 2015, Chris won 11 games for the World Champion Royals going 11-6 with second most wins on the staff to Edinson Volquez & Yordano Ventura (13 wins). 

Young posted the best ERA of all the starters (3.06) as he got 18 starts pitching in 34 games. He struck out 80 batters in 123 innings walking 43 while giving up 16 HRs.

Trivia: On June 16th, in a 7-2 win at Milwaukee, Young became one of three AL pitchers to collect
three RBIs in a game, since inter-league play began in 1997.

2015 Post Season: In the ALDS win over the Astros, Young pitched three innings of relief in the 5-2 Game #1 loss to the Houston Astros. In that game he set a Royals post season record with seven strikeouts by a relief pitcher.

2015 ALCS: In the ALCS he got a start in Game #4 in Toronto allowing two runs earning no decision in the 14-2 Royals win over the Blue Jays.

2015 World Series: In Game #1 of the World Series against the Mets, Young came out of the bullpen in the 12th inning & pitch three scoreless- hitless innings shutting down the Mets while earning the win. The Royals won it on Eric Hosmer's Walk off sac fly.

In Game #4 at Citi Field, Young was the oldest Royal to ever start a World Series game, as he went up against Steve Matz. 

In the 3rd inning, he gave up a solo HR to Michael Conforto. After a single to Wilmer Flores & a wild pitch, he gave up a sac fly RBI to Curtis Granderson. Young left the game down 2-0 as the Mets went on to a 5-4 win. 

In four post season appearances (15.2 innings) he posted a 2.87 ERA second best among pitchers with at least 15 innings.

A rough 2016 saw him go from starter to reliever as he fell to 3-9 with a 6.19 ERA in 34 games (13 starts).  In 2017 he began the year with the Royals bullpen making just 14 appearances, his ERA climbed to 7.50 & he was released in mid-June. That December he signed as a free agent with the San Diego Padres but did not make the club & soon retired.

Career Stats: In his 13-year career, Young was 79-67 with a 3.95 ERA. He struck out 1062 batters walking 502 in 1297 innings pitched in 271 games making 221 starts. He usually had low ERA's but did serve up lots of HRs, coming in the league's top ten twice with three seasons of 26 or more allowed, 186 total in his career.

Retirement- Administration & GM Career: After his playing days, he immediately worked as an MLB VP under Joe Torre. He soon became VP of on field operations & MLB's enforcer of disciplinary actions by 2020.

In 2021 he became the Texas Rangers Genral Manager. Within two years, after a fifth & fourth place finish, he helped the Rangers win their first Championship with a win in the 2023 World Series. Youngs key free agent signings, trades & home-grown talent led to the turnaround.

Family: Chris & his wife Elizabeth have three children. The family lives in Dallas Texas.

Trivia: His wife Elizabeth Patrick is granddaughter to Hockey legend, Lester Patrick. Lester Patrick is the namesake of the former NHL’s Patrick Division & the Lester Patrick Award.