Question of the Week

Jack, El Paso, TX
Subj: Pure perfection
Who pitched the first perfect game in American League history?

That honor belongs to Denton “Cy” Young, who ensured his place in the history books on May 5, 1904 when he retired all 27 batters he faced in a 3-0 victory over the Philadelphia Athletics. Athletics manager Connie Mack was so blown away by Young’s dominant performance that he later called it the most impressive game ever pitched.

So how did Young do it? Pure concentration. The 6’2” hurler was so focused on the task at hand that he had no idea he had accomplished the feat until his teammates mobbed him on the mound following the final out.

Question of the Week

Charles, Akron, OH
Subj: What’s in a name?
How did “Cy” Young get his nickname?

Denton True Young had his nickname bestowed upon him in his teens when he tried out for a Canton, Ohio minor league baseball team. According to legend, the catcher assigned to warm him up was so impressed by the velocity of his fastball that he immediately renamed him “Cyclone.” Local reporters eventually shortened the moniker to “Cy” and Young’s identity was forged for the rest of his life. According to Young himself, the secret to his extraordinary success may have been a matter of genetics. “All us Youngs could throw,” he once said. “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.”

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Welcome back for another edition of Ask Ryan, the column where sports and entertainment collide like Lindsay Lohan into a Sunset Boulevard shrub. This week's mailbag is bursting at the seams with queries about Cy Young's legendary exploits, Jon Stewart's athletic prowess and the key to a great tailgaiting experience. Read all about it at: http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/7084764