Former Mets pitcher Anthony Young's infamous 0-23 streak extended through July 28, 1993. Bob Olen/New York Post Archives /(c) NYP Holdings, Inc. via Getty Images

June 22 in sports history: Anthony Young's not-so-Amazin' night

By Jason Clinkscales | Last updated 6/21/20

Here's a look back at notable sports news on June 22 through the years:

1993: The New York Mets were pretty awful, though no one would know that by the end of the 1993 campaign they would register the fifth-worst record in franchise history with at 59-103.

No player bore the weight more of the Not-So-Amazins' poor play than right-handed pitcher Anthony Young. Drafted in the 38^thround by the Mets in 1987, Young had a solid start to his career when he came up to the bigs in 1991. Yet the following season produced a spectacularly massive flop of a team, infamously dubbed “The Worst Team Money Could Buy.” Young, who was both a long reliever and spot starter, won his first two starts in 1992, but somehow would end up losing 14 straight games in which he had a decision.

1993 managed to be even worse. Young lost his first eight decisions, and the Mets dropped 20 of 21 games he appeared in. Against the Montreal Expos, the misery continued as two first-inning errors foretold what kind of day Young was going to have at Shea Stadium. In a 6-3 loss, Young allowed three earned runs, walked four (but struck out four) in six innings of work. Across two seasons, Young now had 23 consecutive losses with a decision, which tied an infamous record set by the Boston Braves’ Cliff Curtis between 1910 and 1911.

“Who wants to be 0-23?” Young quipped in the clubhouse afterward. For a hard-luck pitcher staring down an unwanted place in the history books, it certainly messed with his psyche. “I’m more embarrassed because I know I’m a better pitcher than that.”

Young — or rather, the Mets would help Young — break and extend the record for most losses with a decision with 27. The streak mercifully ended five weeks later on July 28 when he pitched a successful ninth inning in Florida. And about being better than his record, Young had a point — in place of closer John Franco, he managed to save 12 games during the hard-luck stretch. After three seasons in New York, Young pitched for three more years with the Cubs and Astros. In 2017, Young died from an inoperable brain tumor at the age of 51.

REIGN OF THE BROWN BOMBER

1937: In the eighth round of what became a seminal moment for African Americans, Joe Louis knocked out James Braddock to become heavyweight champion of the world. Louis was the second Black man to win the title, doing so 29 years after Jack Johnson defeated Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia. This win sparked the longest single title reign in the history of the heavyweight division.

1938: Although Louis was the heavyweight champion of the world, he didn’t consider himself as such because of a loss that haunted him for years. German fighter Max Schmeling got the better of him in a battle of contenders in 1936, handing Louis his first pro defeat. Schmeling’s win at the time was viewed in a larger political lens, as the Nazis — asserting a belief in Aryan superiority — had come into power, while the United States had continued its growth as a superpower.

Two years after winning the title, Louis finally had the chance to avenge the loss to Schmeling in front of a raucous crowd at Yankee Stadium. And it didn’t take very long, as the Brown Bomber pummeled the former champ in a one-round TKO victory.

OTHER NOTABLE FIGHTS

1979: “The Easton Assasin” Larry Holmes knocked out Mike Webster in the 12^th to retain the WBC heavyweight title. It was the third of 19 consecutive defenses of the heavyweight championship, second-longest streak to Joe Louis.

1996: Michael Moorer out-pointed Axel Schultz to win the vacant IBF heavyweight championship. This is notable because two years earlier, Moorer lost that belt (and others) to George Foreman — then 45 years old. Foreman beat Schultz in a controversial title defense, but dropped the IBF belt for refusing Schultz a rematch.

"YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!"

1981: John McEnroe was a world-class tennis star with a temper to match his gifts. In a first-round match in Wimbledon against Tom Gullickson, both McEnroe’s skills and mouth showed up.

Tied one apiece in the first set, Gullickson was serving at 15-30 when a McEnroe volley was called out by chair umpire Edward James. As he often did, the seven-time Grand Slam winner took issue with the call, sternly telling James, “Chalk came up all over the place. You can’t be serious, man. YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS! THAT BALL WAS ON THE LINE!”

Despite the rage, McEnroe won the match and went on to win the tournament, defeating the much less combative Bjorn Borg. Still upset about Mac’s mouth and racket toss, Wimbledon officials declined to invite him to the All-England Club after the final. (He refused to attend the Champions’ Dinner in response.) Gullickson himself admonished his fellow American by saying, “If it was the 120th player in the world they would have defaulted him.”

The famed line of disbelief has become McEnroe’s signature catchphrase, one immortalized in just about every form of pop culture imaginable. Venerated scribe Mike Lupica summed it up by saying that tennis was lucky to have McEnroe because “he keeps everyone, including the awful Wimbledon umpires, from falling asleep.”

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING

1994: The United States was hosting the men’s World Cup for the first time ever, and its home side gave the nation something to cheer. With a 2-1 win over Colombia in a packed Rose Bowl, the men were victorious in a World Cup match for the first time since 1950.

1994: In what may have been the last NBA Finals where both teams were led by equally matched centers, the Houston Rockets won their first NBA championship, beating the New York Knicks in a winner-takes-all Game 7, 90-84. The series is known for a slow car chase during the Game 5 broadcast, Hakeem Olajuwon’s game-ending block of John Starks in Game 6 and Starks’ horrific three-point shooting in the final game. Yet all of that overlooks Olajuwon’s terrific per-game numbers of 26.9 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.9 blocks and 3.6 assists, leading him to Finals MVP honors.

New York City was denied a chance to win the NBA and Stanley Cup championships in the same year.

2014: The once-hyped golf prodigy Michelle Wie won her first and only major tournament, besting Stacy Lewis by two strokes to win the U.S. Women’s Open at Pinehurst. It would be the fourth of her five career wins on the LPGA Tour, but her second trophy that season after taking the Lotte Championship the prior April.

Happy birthday...

Happy 49th birthday, Kurt Warner. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner, MVP of Super Bowl XXXIV. Warner, also a two-time league MVP, guided “The Greatest Show on Turf” Rams to a 13-3, 1999 season and Super Bowl win. Warner would appear in one more Super Bowl with the Rams and one with Arizona. He ranks fifth all-time in pass completion percentage. (49)
Champ Bailey, first-round draft pick by Washington in 1999 and 12-time Pro-Bowler. The former cornerback holds the NFL record for most passes defended and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2019, his first year of eligibility. (42)
Clyde Drexler, named one of the 50 Greatest Players in the NBA. The Hall of Famer spent 15 seasons in the Association, winning a championship with Houston and a gold medal as part of the 1992 Olympic “Dream Team.” Drexler does color commentary for the Houston Rockets and is commissioner of the BIG3 basketball league. (58)
Pro golfer Dustin Johnson, former world No. 1. Johnson has 20 PGA Tour wins, including the 2016 U.S. Open. He has second-place finishes in the Masters, the PGA Championship and the Open Championship. (36)
Former MLB second baseman Ian Kinsler. The four-time All-Star and World Series champ is one of just 12 players in history to have multiple seasons of 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases. (38)

R.I.P

2017: Frank Kush, former head coach of the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts and Arizona State University. Kush led ASU to seven conference championships and is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. He was 88.

2002: MLB pitcher Darryl Kile. The three-time All-Star threw a no-hitter and had a 20-win season over his 12 years in the league with Houston, St. Louis and Colorado. He died of a heart attack during a weekend series in Chicago. He was 33.

June 21: Nelson Mandela, forever a Yankee

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