Auroraadvocate.com - Sports View: Cy rests peacefully in Tuscarawas hills

by Ken Lahmers

Editor

The terrain of southern Tuscarawas County is as close to mountains as one can get in Ohio.

And that is where the remains of Major League Baseball's all-time winningest pitcher -- Cy Young -- lie, along with his wife Roba.

Denton True "Cy" Young was born in 1867 near Gilmore, and after his pro career ended in 1911, he returned to the area he loved until his death at age 88 in 1955.

About a half-dozen years ago, I told Four Seasons resident-Leighton School teacher Mike DeMay my dad and I visited Cy's grave several times when I was young.

Being a big baseball fan, Mike was intrigued and wanted to visit Cy's sacred resting place.

Years went by and we never made the trip. This summer, we decided to procrastinate no longer, and ventured the 75 miles on Aug. 2.

Cy and Roba, who preceded him in death in 1933, are buried in the Peoli Church cemetery high atop a ridge along Route 258.

The rural brick church, which dates back into the 1800s, once was a Methodist congregation.

It is not used for services anymore; however, weddings occasionally take place there, and Boy Scouts use it for a meeting place.

Grounds are well-kept

The fact the church was saved from the wrecking ball and is well-maintained is largely because of nearby farmer Carl Simmerman.

When Mike and I pulled into the church's parking lot in mid-afternoon, we saw Simmerman and his son mowing the grounds.

Rain began to fall, so we stayed in Mike's van for about 10 to 15 minutes until the few dark clouds rolled by and the sun came back out.

Then we walked around the cemetery looking for Cy's grave. Since it was nearly 40 years since I was last there, I forgot where it was.

We walked over to where Simmerman was trimming grass around some grave markers, and he directed us to the famous grave.

An interesting 45-minute conversation with the 60ish-looking Simmerman followed, as he talked about Cy, the cemetery, church and surrounding area.

Young owned two nearby farms. Through his efforts, Peoli got its own post office and its name, having previously been called Newtown.

Cy belonged to the Methodist Church all his life. Simmerman said everyone around Peoli, Gilmore and Newcomerstown knew the baseball legend.

Simmerman said he knew him in the years just before Cy's death, but never asked him for an autograph.

Such a memento certainly would be worth a fortune now, and I'm sure some people in southern Tuscarawas County who were youngsters in the '50s still cherish Cy's autographs.

Simmerman told us after a tornado ripped a hole in the church's roof about a dozen years ago, some residents wanted to tear it down.

But he led an effort to repair the damage. Several families donated money for new pews, and the old ones were moved to the balcony.

We were treated to a tour inside the church, which has its sanctuary on the main level and a basement with meeting tables below.

Simmerman said many people visit Cy's grave despite its out-of-the-way location. Many leave coins on top of the stone, which are used to help maintain the cemetery.

Cy's grave is not lavish. It's a light-colored granite stone about 6 feet wide and 3 feet high. A baseball with wings protrudes from the surface on the side where the names are engraved.

At the bottom it says: "From 1890 to 1911, Cy Young pitched 874 Major League baseball games. He won 511 games, three no hit and one perfect game in which no man reached first base."

Some facts about Cy

When I was young, I bought an autobiography called "Cy Young: Baseball's Legendary Giant" by longtime Uhrichsville-Dennison area newspaperman Ralph Romig.

I looked up the title and author online and found that some individuals and bookstores are selling copies signed by Romig for more than $400.

One explanation of how Young got his nickname was that someone saw him throw a baseball through a wooden fence, and likened it to the fence being destroyed by a cyclone.

Young began his pro career in 1890 with the Cleveland Spiders. He spent 12 years with Cleveland, two with the St. Louis Browns and nine with three Boston teams.

His 511 wins is one record which most baseball experts believe will never be broken.

Back in those days, Cy pitched every other day and sometimes both games of doubleheaders. He won more than 30 games five times and more than 20 in 11 seasons.

He also lost more games than any other pitcher -- 315 -- and had a .619 winning percentage. He holds the Major League record for complete games with 751, and had 2,798 strikeouts.

In 1937, Young was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and the annual Cy Young Award honoring baseball's top pitcher was established in 1956, the year after his death.

He retired from baseball at 44, and was a huge supporter of youth baseball. He was a popular guest at openings of many youth diamonds around the nation.

The end of the journey

Just as much as we enjoyed visiting Cy's grave, DeMay and I enjoyed our drive along Route 258, a distance of about 20 miles from Newcomerstown to Stillwater.

The road is windy and provides beautiful vistas toward wooded hillsides and down into valleys. Several Amish farms can been seen along the route.

We stopped at a general store in West Chester to get a cold drink. Inside, Mike spotted a miniature fire engine with pedals. He said he had one like it when he was growing up.

On the porch of the store was an old-fashioned pump which once dispensed Sohio Supreme gasoline.

As we drove along a ridge on Route 258 I told Mike "This is about as close to God's Country as one can get while still on Earth."

Before heading back to Portage County, we ate at the Dennison Yard, one of my favorite Italian eateries, and perused a big steam engine, caboose and passenger cars in the old Dennison train yard near the restored depot.

E-mail: klahmers@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3155