Cone, David B.
Baseball
b. Jan. 2, 1963, Kansas City, MO
A right-handed pitcher, Cone joined the AL's Kansas City Royals briefly in 1986 and was then traded to the New York Mets. After going 5-6 in 1987, he had a brilliant 1988 season, leading the NL with an .870 winning percentage on a 20-3 record.
Cone won 14 games each of the next three seasons and led the league in strikeouts with 233 in 1990 and 241 in 1991. He set an NL record by striking out 19 hitters in a 9-inning game on October 6, 1991.
The Mets traded him to the Toronto Blue Jays near the end of the 1992 season and he returned to Kansas City as a free agent in 1993. Expected to be the team's ace, he had a disappointing 11-14 season despite a 3.33 ERA. The Royals scored only 18 runs in his 14 losses. He rebounded with a 16-5 record in the strike-shortened 1994 season.
Cone opened the 1995 season with the Blue Jays, but was traded to the Yankees in mid-season. He had a combined 18-8 record. The following year, though, he went on the disabled list for the first time in his career because of an aneurysm in two arteries in his right shoulder.
Once again, Cone bounced back. He went 12-6 with a 2.82 ERA for the the Yankees in 1997 and then put together his second 20-victory season as the team won the 1998 American League pennant. Cone won the sixth and deciding game of the AL championship series against the Cleveland Indians. He also pitched well in his one World Series start, but didn't get the decision.
After a 12-6 record in 1999, Cone struggled the following season, when he went only 4-14. The Yankees let him go into free agency and he signed with the Boston Red Sox. Though he showed signs of his old mastery, Cone was on the disabled list intermittently during the season.
He then retired temporarily to become an announcer for the Yankees. In 2003, he attempted a comeback with the Mets, but gave it up on May 30 after a strained hip was slow responding to treatment.