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Cy Young’s Rules, from Stefan Jovanovich

2026-06-04 · Stefan Jovanovich
Original source

Cy Young's Rules For Pitching Success

  1. Pitchers, like poets, are born, not made.

  2. Cultivate good habits: Let liquor severely alone, fight shy of cigarettes and be moderate in indulgence of tobacco, coffee and tea. A player should try to get along without any stimulants at all. Water, pure cool water is good enough for any man.

  3. A man who is not willing to work from dewy morn until weary eve should not think about becoming a pitcher.

  4. Learn to be patient and cool. These traits can be cultivated.

  5. Take the slumps that come your way, ride over them and look forward.

  6. Until you can put the ball over the pan whenever you choose, you have not acquired the command necessary to make a first-class pitcher. Therefore start to acquire command.

Published in "Baseball Magazine", 1908.