According to NorthJersey.com columnist Bob Klapisch, former Mets pitcher Anthony Young, 51, has a brain tumor which cannot be operated on. Right now it is unknown whether it is malignant or benign according to Klapisch’s tweet.
Baseball brings joy to many people. For most, it’s an escape from reality. Every once in a while a dose of reality sets in and proves these baseball players are human as well. That was shown with the passing of Jose Fernandez and more recently the passings of Yordano Ventura and Andy Marte.
Of course, not every sad story has a sad ending. Anthony Rizzo and Jon Lester both had cancer and survived. Lester also gave encouragement to Rizzo during his time with cancer in a beautiful story. More recently, Sandy Alderson was diagnosed with cancer and has been recovering since.
Young lives in infamy after setting the all-time record for most consecutive losses for a pitcher at 27. It was a record that lived for 82 years by Cliff Curtis before it was broken. The feat happened even though Young pitched to the tune of a 4.36 ERA over that stretch.
Still, Young stayed optimistic and fans reacted better than expected. A New York Daily News article from 2009 discussed some of the encouragement the fans gave him. He received four-leaf clovers, rabbit’s feet, and horseshoes as good luck charms. He also recieved letters of encouragement from Hall of Famer Bob Feller and from fans.
After his six-year MLB career, Young worked in a chemical plant and later as a coach for 9-13 year old kids. He also gave private pitching lessons with AY Enterprise, his company. Young told the Daily News in that same article from 2009 that he was enjoying life.
“Life is good,” Young told the Daily News. “I’m a grandfather. It’s been a pleasure watching my kids grow up and I’m keeping busy with baseball.”
Moments like these are tough for fans, but even tougher for close friends and family. Our thoughts are with him and his family.
