Cardinals History: Legendary pitcher leaves franchise and blossoms for many years

The Cardinals' rich history of starting pitching includes some players that date back to the 19th century. Back when the Cardinals weren't even called the Cardinals! One of the greatest pitchers of all time was on the club for a mere two seasons from 1899-1900. Unfortunately, he left for Boston on March 19th, 1901.

How did Cy Young become a Cardinal?

Cy Young was one of the best pitchers in the 1890s. He, along with Kid Nichols, were the two dominant pitchers in the game. In 1897, the Robison brothers (Frank and Stanley) purchased the Cleveland Spiders. The Spiders had a talented roster that included Cy Young. In 1899, the Robison brothers struck again and purchased another franchise: the Cardinals. Actually they were called the Browns back then and, for the single season of 1899 — the Perfectos!

Going into the 1899 season, Cleveland and St. Louis were both owned by the Robison brothers. They hatched a scheme to consolidate their talent on one roster. Due to the location of St. Louis (with westward expansion), they felt that Cleveland was a less attractive destination. The Robison brothers' plan was to move the best talent from the Spiders over to the Cardinals (Perfectos) roster. And that's what they did!

The Cardinals received Cy Young but also a slew of other talent, including Cupid Childs, Jesse Burkett, George Cuppy, and Bobby Wallace. In 1899, St. Louis went from 39-111 to 84-67.

Why did Cy Young leave the Cardinals?

In 1899, Cy Young had a wonderful 26-16 record with a 2.58 ERA in 369 innings! Cy was the guy! It was one of the better pitching seasons in Cardinals' history. 1900 was a step back, though. Young's ERA rose to 3.00 in fewer innings. The righty hurler was approaching 34 and seemed to be on the downside of his career.

At the same time, the upstart American League started signing as many National League players away as they could. The Boston franchise (eventually the Red Sox) had snagged catcher Lou Criger from St. Louis. Now they had their eyes on Cy.

Boston pursued Young and offered him a $3,500 salary. He had been making less than that previously, and St. Louis was unwilling to match. They thought that Young would continue to decline and saddle them with an overpaid arm.

How did Cy Young perform in Boston?

I think you can probably guess...quite well! 1901 was one of his best seasons ever. Young led the newly formed American League in wins (31) and ERA (1.62) in 371 innings.

Young would continue to pitch at a high level his entire tenure in Boston. After leaving the Red Sox in 1909, he finally started slowing down a bit at age 42. But that's EIGHT SEASONS of phenomenal pitching that the Cardinals missed out on.

During his time in Boston, Young won the first modern World Series in 1903. His career totals in Boston were unreal: 192-112 record with a 2.00 ERA in 2,728 innings. While Young was pitching in Boston, the Cardinals never finished over .500. By 1908, they were an abysmal 49-105. Were it not for their renaissance in 1926 and their first World Series title, maybe we'd be talking about the curse of Cy Young today!