New York Post

Ex-Met Young, 51, loses fight with brain cancer

- By ZACH BRAZILLER zbraziller@nypost.com

Anthony Young, a Mets fan favorite who was known as the owner of baseball’s longest losing streak, died Tuesday at the age of 51, the team announced.

In January, it was reported Young had an inoperable brain tumor. Early Tuesday, former teammate Lenny Harris tweeted Young was in a coma, and later in the day, his passing was announced by the Mets.

“Anthony was a true gentleman,” Turk Wendell, a former Mets pitcher who participat­ed in the team’s fantasy camp with Young the last several years, said in a statement. “At this year’s fantasy camp, he told us he had a brain tumor. That was Anthony. He never ran away from anything.”

Young, who lost 27 consecutiv­e games at one point during his career, was drafted by the Mets in the 38th round out of the University of Houston in 1987.

Young reached the major leagues in August 1991. But the following season, he began what is still a record losing streak, dropping 27 consecutiv­e decisions from May 6, 1992-July 24, 1993.

During the streak, though, Young converted 12 straight saves and threw 23 2/3 consecutiv­e scoreless innings while filling in for regular Mets closer John Franco. Thirteen of his 27 consecutiv­e starts without a win were quality starts.

Despite notching a a solid 3.89 ERA during his career, Young finished with a record of 15-48.

“A.Y. took a lot of kidding about his losing records,” Doug Flynn, a fellow Mets player, said in the statement. “But he was the victim of some bad luck during the streak. He knew inside that he was a better pitcher than his numbers.”

 ??  ?? ANTHONY YOUNG Beloved former Met.
ANTHONY YOUNG Beloved former Met.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States