Cy Young was the oldest child born to McKinzie Young, Jr. and German American Nancy Miller. The couple had four more children: Carl, Lon, Ella, and Anthony. When the couple married, McKinzie's father gave him the 54 acres (220,000 m2) of farm land he owned.[9] Young was born in Gilmore, a tiny farming community located in Washington Township, Tuscarawas County, Ohio. He was christened Denton True Young. Some sources later, and even today, list his middle name erroneously as "Tecumseh", apparently as a result of being nicknamed "The Chief" by teammates.[10]

He was raised on one of the local farms and went by the name Dent Young in his early years.[11] Young was also known as "Farmer Young" and "Farmboy Young". Young stopped his formal education after he completed the sixth grade [12] so he could help out on the family's farm. In 1885, Young moved with his father to Nebraska, and in the summer of 1887, they returned to Gilmore.

Cy Young played for many amateur baseball leagues during his youth, including a "semi-pro" Carrollton team in 1888. Young pitched and played second base. The first box score known containing the name Young came from that season. In that game, Young played first base and had three hits in three at-bats. After the season, Young received an offer to play for the minor league Canton team, which started Young's professional career.

Young's career started in 1890 with the Cleveland Spiders. After eight years with the Spiders, Young was moved to St. Louis in 1899. After two years there, Young jumped to the newly-created American League, joining the Boston franchise. He was traded back to Cleveland in 1909, before spending the final two months of his career with the Boston Rustlers

Young established numerous pitching records, some of which have stood for a century. Young compiled 511 wins, which is most in Major League history and 94 ahead of Walter Johnson who is second on the list.[1]Young was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937. One year after Young's death, the Cy Young Award was created to honor the previous season's best pitcher.

In addition to wins, Young still holds the major league records for most career innings pitched (7,355), most career games started (815), and most complete games (749).[2][3][4] He also retired with 316 losses, the most in MLB history.[5] Young's 76 career shutouts are fourth all-time.[6] He also won at least 30 games in a season five times, with ten other seasons of 20 or more wins.[7] In addition, Young pitched threeno-hitters, including the third perfect game in baseball history, first in baseball's "modern era".[a] In 1999, 88 years after his final major league appearance and 44 years after his death, editors at The Sporting News ranked Cy Young 14th on their list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players".[8] That same year, baseball fans named him to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

From 1912 until his death in 1955, Cy Young lived and worked on his farm. In 1913, he served as manager of the Cleveland Green Sox of the Federal League, which was at the time an outlaw minor league. However, he never worked in baseball after that.

Young's wife, Robba, whom he had known since childhood, died in 1933.[9][12] After she died, Young tried several jobs, and eventually moved in with friends John and Ruth Benedum and did odd jobs for them. Young took part in many baseball events after his retirement.[12]In 1937, 26 years after he retired from baseball, Cy Young was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was among the first to donate mementos to the Hall.

On November 4, 1955, Cy Young died on his farm at the age of 88. He was buried in Peoli, Ohio