October 6, 1911: Cy Young's Last Game

October 6, 1911: The New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-5 at the Polo Grounds, and clinch the National League Pennant. They will play the other Philadelphia team, the Athletics, in the World Series.

Also on this day, Cy Young appears in his last major league game, starting for the Boston Rustlers (forerunners of the Braves, then named for their owner, William H. Russell). It doesn't go so well. The Brooklyn Dodgers win, 13-3, at Washington Park in Brooklyn. The old Cyclone, age 44, goes 6 1/3rd innings, giving up 11 hits. Here are the results of his last 8 at-bats: Triple, 4 straight singles, 3 straight doubles.

Young then retired, with all-time records for wins (511), losses (316), appearances by a pitcher (906), innings pitched (7,356), batters faced (29,565), starts (815), complete games (749), hits allowed (7,092), runs allowed (3,167), earned runs allowed (2,147 -- meaning, in those days of inadequate gloves, he allowed 1,020 unearned runs), and strikeouts (2,803). His records for appearances, runs (but not earned runs) and strikeouts have been broken. The rest still stand, 111 years later.

His ERA+ was 138, and his WHIP was 1.130, so he wasn't just lasting a long time amassing some big stats, an accusation that has been leveled against more recent pitchers like Nolan Ryan, Gaylord Perry and Don Sutton: He was great even by the standards of his own time.

Five hundred and eleven wins. The next-closest pitcher is Walter Johnson, with 417 -- 94 fewer. The winningest living pitcher is Greg Maddux with 355. Through the 2022 regular season, the winningest active pitcher is Justin Verlander with 235. So unless there's a change in baseball as radical as that of the Dead Ball Era to the Lively Ball Era in 1920, Young's 511 wins, and his other still-standing records, are as safe as records can be.

Young, who lived until 1955, age 87, was interviewed in 1945 by Chicago Daily News sports editor John P. Carmichael for his anthology My Greatest Day In Baseball. Young's choice was his 1904 perfect game for the Boston Americans (Red Sox). He added, "In my last game, I was beaten 1-0 by a kid named Grover Cleveland Alexander." He was a little off: On September 7, 1911, he did lose 1-0 to Alexander, then a 24-year-old rookie, but he made 6 more appearances.

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October 6, 1911 was a Friday. Also on this day, Wilfrid Laurier left the Prime Minister's office in Canada, after 15 years, his Liberal Party having lost an election to Robert Borden and his Conservative Party. The 1st French-Canadian to serve as Prime Minister, and considered one of the country's greatest, he is on the Canadian $5.00 bill.

These other baseball games were played that day:

* The Boston-Brooklyn game was the 2nd game of a doubleheader. The 1st game was a 1-0 Rustlers/Braves win. Ed Donnelly pitched a 6-hit shutout.

* The Giants' Pennant-clincher was also part of a doubleheader, the 1st game. The Giants also won the 2nd game, 5-4.

* The New York Highlanders lost to the Philadelphia Athletics, 5-4 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. The Highlanders officially became the Yankees, in 1913, after they had been unofficially called that for a while.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Washington Senators, 3-1 at at the Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston. The next year, the Red Sox moved into Fenway Park.

* The St. Louis Browns beat the Detroit Tigers, 11-5 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Ty Cobb did not play for the Tigers in this game.

* The Cleveland Indians were supposed to play the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park in Chicago, but were rained out. They will play a doubleheader the next day.

* The Chicago Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals were not scheduled to play.