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Former Mets pitcher Anthony Young dead at 51 from brain tumor

Anthony Young has died at 51 from a brain tumor. (Getty Images)
Anthony Young has died at 51 from a brain tumor. (Getty Images)

Anthony Young, the former New York Mets pitcher who owns a conspicuous piece of baseball history, died Tuesday at age 51, the culmination of a fight with a brain tumor.

Young was diagnosed in January with an inoperable brain tumor and went through chemotherapy. On Tuesday, fellow ex-MLB player Lenny Harris tweeted that Young went into a coma Monday night and eventually announced that Young had passed away. The Mets later confirmed Young’s death.

On the baseball field, Young was best known for something nobody wants to be known for — he set an MLB record between 1992 and 1993 by losing 27 consecutive decisions. Fourteen of those came as a starter, 13 came as a reliever. He broke a record that had stood for 82 years. To his credit: He did save 18 games over those two seasons.

Young didn’t hide from his record. He appeared on the late-night talk show circuit. He chalked some of it up to bad luck. And after he left the Mets following the 1993 season, Young’s record as a pitcher was more even: He was 10-13, mostly as a reliever for the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros. His six-year career ended in 1996 with a 3.89 ERA and a 15-48 record.

“A.Y. took a lot of kidding about his losing records,” said Doug Flynn, a fellow Mets player and fantasy coach, said in a team statement. “But he was the victim of some bad luck during the streak. He knew inside that he was a better pitcher than his numbers.”

After his career ended, Young stayed around the game. He coached in the Houston area and was part of the Mets’ fantasy camp the past few seasons.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!