Greatest RHP in AL history by team

Baltimore: Jim Palmer (1965-84)
Boston: Roger Clemens (1984-96) and Cy Young (1901-08)
New York Yankees: Red Ruffing (1930-46)
Tampa Bay Rays: James Shields (2006-12)
Toronto Blue Jays: Roy Halladay (1998-2009)
Chicago White Sox: Ted Lyons (1923-46)
Cleveland Indians: Bob Feller (1936-56)
Detroit Tigers: Jack Morris (1977-90)
Kansas City Royals: Bret Saberhagen (1984-91)
Minnesota Twins: Walter Johnson via Washington (1907-27)
Houston Astros: Roy Oswalt (2001-10)
Los Angeles Angels: Nolan Ryan (1972-79)
Oakland A's: Jim Hunter (1965-74)
Seattle Mariners: Felix Hernandez (2005-present)
Texas Rangers: Charlie Hough (1980-90)

Cy Young: Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1937

Born: March 29, 1867 (Real Name: Denton True Young)

1888: Played semi-pro ball

1889: Played minor league ball in Canton.

1890: Signed with the Cleveland Spiders

Debut: August 6, 1890 (He threw a 3-hit shutout)

1892: The National League moved the mound back 5 feet to the current 60 feet 6 inches

1895: The Spiders won the Temple Cup (precursor to the World Series)

1897: No-hit the Reds

1899: Young left the Spiders for the Perfectos (future Cardinals). He played two seasons in St Louis.

1901: Signed with the Red Sox (He is currently tied with most wins in Red Sox history with Roger Clemens)

1901: Won the Triple Crown (33 wins, 1.62 ERA, 158 strikeouts)

1903: Red Sox win the first World Series (Young went 2-1 with a 1.85 ERA vs. the Pirates)

1904: Rube Waddell taunted the Sox ace. Young responded with a Perfect Game. It was the first Perfect Game in AL history.

1905: Pitched 13 innings in a 20-inning loss to Waddell

1907: Pitched 13-inning scoreless tie against Waddell

1907: Managed Boston Red Sox (Americans) for 6 games (3-3 record)

1908: Throws 3^rd no-hitter

August 13, 1908: The AL celebrated “Cy Young Day.” No games were played. A group of All-Stars traveled to Boston to play the Red Sox.

1909: Traded to Cleveland.

1910: Won his 500^th game

1911: Finished career with Boston Rustlers (future Atlanta Braves)

Final Game: October 6, 1911

1911: Retired to his farm. He spent the rest of his life tending his crops.

1937: Elected to the Hall of Fame on the second ballot. A mix-up kept him from being elected the previous year.

Died: November 4, 1955

1956: Cy Young Award created for best pitcher in the majors

1967: Beginning in 1967, the baseball writers awarded a Cy Young to the best pitcher in each league

1993: Statue to Young dedicated at Northeastern University at the site of the first World Series

1999: Elected to All Century Team

Accomplishments:
1903 World Champion

Two No-Hitters

One Perfect Game

All-Century Team

1901 Triple Crown

511 Wins (1^st All Time)

316 Losses (1^st All Time)

.618 winning percentage

2803 Strikeouts (#1 all time at time of retirement)

2.63 ERA

906 Games

815 Game Starts (1^st all time)

749 Complete Games (1^st all time)

76 Shutouts (4^th all time)

7356 innings (1^st all time)

Led league in wins: 5x

20+ wins: 15x

30+ wins: 5x

Win percentage leader: 2x

ERA champ: 2x

Led league in games and game starts (1902)

Complete Game leader: 3x

Shutout leader: 7x

Saves leader: 2x

IP leader: 2x

Pitched 400+ innings: 5x

Pitched 300+ innings: 16x

Strikeout leader: 2x

SO/BB leader: 11x

Managerial Record: 3-3

Top 10 Right Handed Pitchers of All Time

Walter Johnson is #1. Although, anyone on this list could be #1.

Cy Young

Walter Johnson

Grover Alexander

Christy Mathewson

Greg Maddux

Roger Clemens

Bob Feller

Bob Gibson

Tom Seaver

Jim Palmer

Houston Astros Top 10 Moments

The Astrodome Opens (April 9, 1965): Not sure if indoor baseball on Astroturf qualifies as a great moment, but it is noteworthy. The Astrodome was the world’s first domed sports facility. The idea originated in the early fifties, but it took Houston’s brutal climate to motivate someone to build it. The first ballgame was an exhibition between Houston and the New York Yankees. Mickey Mantle hit the first homer in the dome’s history. The first regular season game occurred three days later with the Phillies beating Houston 2-0 behind Dick Allen’s home run.


Houston: 1 Philadelphia: 0 (October 10, 1980 Game 3 NLCS): The Astros took a 2-1 series lead in the best-of-five NLCS with an 11 inning win over Tug McGraw and the Phillies. They won the game in the 11th inning on a sacrifice fly by Denny Walling. The Astros failed in their two attempts to close out the series. Four of the five games went into extra innings with Philadelphia winning the last two for the pennant.

Nolan Ryan’s 5th No-Hitter (September 26, 1981): Nolan Ryan passed Sandy Koufax for most career no-hitters in 1981. By this point in his career, it seemed unlikely that Ryan would be able to toss another no-no. He beat the Dodgers 5-0. Later in his career, he’d throw two more no-hitters.

Mike Scott’s no-hitter wins NL West (September 25, 1986): Almost five years to the day that Nolan Ryan tossed his gem, Mike Scott equaled the feat. In this case, Scott victimized San Francisco and clinched the NL West with the win. Scott struck out 13 in the 2-0 win. It remains the only no-hitter to clinch a postseason berth.

Scott k’s 14 Mets (October 8, 1986 Game 1 NLCS): Mike Scott capped off his Cy Young campaign with a 1-0 victory in Game 1 of the 1986 NLCS. He bested Dwight Gooden and the Mets by scattering five meaningless hits and striking out 14. He returned to even the series at 2 with a Game 4 win. Luckily for the Mets, they managed to win the series in six. Mets players admit they had no chance against Scott in a Game 7.

The 22 inning game: Astros: 5 Dodgers: 4 (June 3, 1989): It took 7 hours and 14 minutes, but the Astros outlasted the Dodgers. Jim Clancy beat reserve infielder Jeff Hamilton. The Dodgers ran out of pitchers, so Tommy Lasorda used Hamilton in the 21st inning. The Astros won on a walk off single by Rafael Ramirez which scored Bill Doran. The following day, Houston beat Los Angeles in 13 innings. The two teams combined for 35 innings and 11 hours and 31 minutes of baseball over two days.

Chris Burke’s 18th inning home run (October 9, 2005 Game 4 NLDS): The Astros have a history of extra inning playoff games. From a Houston perspective, the Braves and Astros NLDS game is perhaps the best of the lot. The game lasted nearly 6 hours and Houston ran out of pitchers. Roger Clemens was forced to pitch three innings in relief before Burke ended the series with a dramatic home run off Joey Devine.

Clemens in Relief (October 9, 2005 Game 4 NLDS): It’s rare that the same game will score two appearances on a best of list, but that NLDS game has to be considered one of the greatest ever played. Roger Clemens lost three days earlier to John Smoltz. He wanted a measure of revenge and was given the opportunity. He pitched three lockdown innings to win the game and save Houston’s bacon.

Astros in pennant in 6 games (2005): Houston lost a hard fought series to St Louis in 2004. They avenged that loss and advanced to their first, and only, World Series with a six game NLCS victory over the Cardinals. Roy Oswalt earned MVP honors and a tractor from Houston’s owner. The ‘stros went on to lose the World Series to the White Sox.

Craig Biggio gets 3000 hits (June 28, 2007): Craig Biggio scored five hits, including his 3000th, in Houston’s victory over Colorado. Carlos Lee won the game in the 11th with a slam, but Biggio was the story. He needed three hits to reach the magic number and he managed five safeties to finish the game with 3002. He finished his career with 3060 hits and is the only Astros player to ever reach the 3000 hit plateau.

Top 10 Toronto Blue Jays Moments

Blue Jays: 9 White Sox: 5 (April 7, 1977): Toronto wins its first game…in the snow.

Blue Jays: 5 Yankees: 1 (October 5, 1985): Jays win their first AL East Title and make their first postseason appearance. They blew a 3-1 lead in the ALCS losing to the Royals in 7.

George Bell hits 3 homeruns on opening day (April 4, 1988): Bell hit three homers off Bret Saberhagen in a 5-3 Jays victory. Jimmy Key went 6 innings for the win.

Dave Stieb pitches consecutive one hitters (1988): Dave Stieb was one of the best pitchers of his era. In 1988, he lost no-hitters with 2-outs in the 9th on consecutive starts. In 1989, he had a perfect game broken up in the same fashion.

Dave Stieb no-hits Cleveland (September 2, 1990): Finally! Dave Stieb throws a no-hitter after three near misses blanking the Indians 3-0. With a little luck, he could have had four no-hitters in three seasons.

Roberto Alomar’s homerun off Dennis Eckersley (ALCS Game 4 October 11, 1992): The A’s built a 6-1 lead on Toronto in Game 4 of the 1992 ALCS. The Jays led the best-of-seven series 2-1 going into the game. The Jays cut the lead to 6-4 going into the 9th. With Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley looking to close the game, Roberto Alomar slammed a two-run homer to tie the game. Toronto won in extra innings to take a 3-1 series. The Jays series victory ended the run for that version of the Athletics.

Dave Winfield’s double (Game 6 World Series October 24, 1992): The Jays won their first World Series in six games over the Atlanta Braves. In the 11th inning, Dave Winfield hit a two-run two-out double scoring two. The Braves scored one in the bottom half of the inning, but Toronto held on for the win.

Joe Carter (Game 6 World Series October 23, 1993): The Blue Jays win their second World Series on Joe Carter’s three run walk-off homerun.

Roger Clemens fans 18 (August 25, 1998): Clemens proved he was not washed up. He whiffed 18 Royals and allowed only 3 hits in the shutout.

Carlos Delgado hits 4 home runs (September 25, 2003): The Blue Jays needed each one of Carlos Delgado’s home runs. They beat the Devil Rays 10-8.

Greatest Games of the 1990s: #21-25

Again, these are local Detroit/Michigan games...

21. Lions: 20 Dallas: 17 (September 19, 1994): On a Monday night, the Lions beat the two-time Super Bowl Champion Dallas Cowboys. People went nuts and thought the Lions time had arrived.

22. Bulls: 115 Pistons: 94 (May 27, 1991): The two-time NBA Champion Pistons got old quick. The Bulls swept them in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals after being whipped by the Bad Boys every year. This game is notable for the controversy following the game. The Pistons walked off the court and did not congratulate the Bulls. The reason? Michael Jordan claimed he was doing the NBA a favor by knocking off the thuggish Pistons. Nowadays, people barely remember Michael.

23. Red Sox: 4 Tigers: 0 (September 18, 1996): In a lousy season for both Clemens and the Tigers, the Rocket came with his A game and whiffed 20. Alan Trammell would retire at the end of the year, Clemens moved on to Toronto and won two Cy Young Awards, and the Tigers finished under .500 for the next 10 years.

24. Spartans: 28 Wolverines: 27 (October 13, 1990): Michigan scored late to make it 28-27 and went for 2. Spartan defender Eddie Brown mugged Desmond Howard, but no call was made. State wins and Michigan loses the #1 ranking.

25. CMU: 24 MSU: 20 (September 12,1992): Just to prove a point, CMU beat MSU for the second year in a row. What a night in Mt. Pleasant that was!