Each year in baseball, the best pitcher in each of the Major Leagues is chosen as the Cy Young Award recipient. This award was named for one of the premier pitchers in baseball history, who also was an Ohio Mason. In the historic archives of the Grand Lodge of Ohio, a membership card, without fanfare, relates the simple information "D. T. Young, initiated, passed and raised in February, 1904 in Mystic Tie Lodge No. 194; recipient of a 50-year medal; died on November 4, 1955." Behind those statistics is a man whose accomplishments have set standards for nearly a century of athletes who participate in the game of baseball.

Bro. Young was born in Gilmore, Ohio, on March 29, 1867, as Denton True Young. Because of his reputation for pitching a fastball, his teammates began calling him "Cyclone," which was eventually shortened to "Cy." Bro. Young has one of the baseball records no one will probably ever break-511 career wins, 94 ahead of second-place Walter Johnson. He had more than 30 wins during five seasons, averaging more than 23 wins a season over 22 years, and completed more than 740 of 815 games he started. He tossed three no-hit games, and on May 5, 1904, he pitched baseball's first perfect game of the modern era, in which no one on the opposing team was allowed to reach first base. Brother Cy was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in 1937. On his death in 1955, he was buried wearing his Masonic apron.

Extracted from Emessay Notes (December 2001); Masonic Service Association of North America; Beacon (Grand Lodge of Ohio, Summer 2001); CMG Worldwide (http://www.cmgww.com)

Brother Cy made his major league debut at the age of 23 for Cleveland against Chicago; in that debut, he pitched a three-hitter and won the game 8-1. He holds the major league record for complete games with 749, is fourth on the all-time list for shutouts with 76, and won 20 or more games in 16 seasons.