David Cone, baseball player, 1986-2003

David Cone

Born: 1/2/1963 in Kansas City, MO, USA

MLB Debut: 1986-06-08 | Final Game: 2003-05-28

Bats: L | Throws: R | Height: 6'1" | Weight: 180 lbs

Full name: David Brian Cone

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Biography

David Cone was a prominent Major League Baseball pitcher who had a career spanning from 1986 to 2003. Born in 1963, Cone established himself as one of the most effective and durable pitchers of his era. Over his career, he compiled a record of 194 wins and 126 losses, with a commendable earned run average (ERA) of 3.46. Cone showcased his striking ability, amassing a total of 2,668 strikeouts, which underscored his reputation as a dominant force on the mound. In addition to his impressive win-loss record, he recorded one save during his time in the league. Cone was recognized for his talents with five All-Star selections and was honored with the prestigious Cy Young Award, signifying his status among the elite pitchers of his generation. His career unfolded during a period of evolving baseball dynamics, marked by increasing offensive production and the advent of specialized bullpens. Cone's ability to excel in this environment, combined with his sharp pitching mechanics and competitive spirit, made him a key player for several teams, including the New York Mets and the New York Yankees. His contributions to the game left a lasting impact, and he is remembered as one of the standout pitchers of his time.

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
194 126 450 419 56 22 1 2898.7 2504 1115 258 1137 2668 3.46 0

Career ERA 3.46 vs. league average 4.25 across their career seasons — 18.6% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1986 KCR AL 0 0 11 0 0 0 0 22.7 29 14 13 21 5.56 3.97 (-40%) -
1987 NYN NL 5 6 21 13 1 0 1 99.3 87 41 44 68 3.71 4.29 (+13%) -324.0
1988 NYN NL 20 3 35 28 8 4 0 231.3 178 57 80 213 2.22 3.73 (+41%) 6996.8
1989 NYN NL 14 8 34 33 7 2 0 219.7 183 86 74 190 3.52 3.71 (+5%) 2459.6
1990 NYN NL 14 10 31 30 6 2 0 211.7 177 76 65 233 3.23 3.86 (+16%) 5684.3
1991 NYN NL 14 14 34 34 5 2 0 232.7 204 85 73 241 3.29 3.91 (+16%) 8503.0
1992 NYN NL 13 7 27 27 7 5 0 196.7 162 63 82 214 2.88 3.75 (+23%) 4896.8
1992 TOR AL 4 3 8 7 0 0 0 53.0 39 15 29 47 2.55 3.75 (+32%) 252.8
1993 KCR AL 11 14 34 34 6 1 0 254.0 205 94 114 191 3.33 4.19 (+21%) -
1994 KCR AL 16 5 23 23 4 3 0 171.7 130 56 54 132 2.94 4.51 (+35%) -
1995 TOR AL 9 6 17 17 5 2 0 130.3 113 49 41 102 3.38 4.45 (+24%) 2199.0
1995 NYY AL 9 2 13 13 1 0 0 99.0 82 42 47 89 3.82 4.45 (+14%) -
1996 NYY AL 7 2 11 11 1 0 0 72.0 50 23 34 71 2.88 4.61 (+38%) -
1997 NYY AL 12 6 29 29 1 0 0 195.0 155 61 86 222 2.82 4.39 (+36%) -
1998 NYY AL 20 7 31 31 3 0 0 207.7 186 82 59 209 3.55 4.43 (+20%) -
1999 NYY AL 12 9 31 31 1 1 0 193.3 164 74 90 177 3.44 4.71 (+27%) -
2000 NYY AL 4 14 30 29 0 0 0 155.0 192 119 82 120 6.91 4.77 (-45%) -
2001 BOS AL 9 7 25 25 0 0 0 135.7 148 65 57 115 4.31 4.42 (+2%) -163.3
2003 NYN NL 1 3 5 4 0 0 0 18.0 20 13 13 13 6.50 4.40 (-48%) -1013.0

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
451 412 28 64 9 0 0 22 0 16 91 0.155 0.192 0.177 0.369 -2710.1

Career AVG .155 vs. league average .263 across their career seasons — 41.0% below league average.

Career OBP .192 vs. league average .332 across their career seasons — 42.1% below league average.

Career SLG .177 vs. league average .409 across their career seasons — 56.7% below league average.

Career OPS 0.369 vs. league average 0.741 across their career seasons — 50.2% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1986 KCR AL 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1987 NYN NL 21 31 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 14 0.065 — — — — 0.0
1988 NYN NL 35 80 2 12 3 0 0 2 0 3 14 0.150 .254 (-41%) .317 (-43%) .377 (-50%) .695 (-47%) -620.4
1989 NYN NL 34 77 9 18 2 0 0 4 0 2 13 0.234 .254 (-8%) .319 (-21%) .375 (-31%) .694 (-26%) -329.8
1990 NYN NL 32 70 7 14 1 0 0 5 0 5 12 0.200 .257 (-22%) .324 (-22%) .385 (-44%) .710 (-34%) -384.2
1991 NYN NL 34 72 3 9 0 0 0 5 0 3 14 0.125 .255 (-51%) .323 (-44%) .384 (-68%) .708 (-57%) -681.7
1992 NYN NL 27 65 5 6 1 0 0 4 0 3 19 0.092 .255 (-64%) .322 (-59%) .377 (-71%) .699 (-66%) -693.9
1992 TOR AL 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — -693.9
1993 KCR AL 34 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1994 KCR AL 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1995 TOR AL 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1995 NYY AL 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1996 NYY AL 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1997 NYY AL 29 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.000 — — — — 0.0
1998 NYY AL 31 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.000 — — — — 0.0
1999 NYY AL 31 3 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.333 — — — — 0.0
2000 NYY AL 30 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.333 — — — — 0.0
2001 BOS AL 25 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 — — — — 0.0
2003 NYN NL 5 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.250 — — — — 0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
21 16 0 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 0.188

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
2000 ALCS NYA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2000 WS NYA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1999 ALCS NYA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1999 WS NYA 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
1998 ALCS NYA 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1998 ALDS2 NYA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1998 WS NYA 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.500
1997 ALDS1 NYA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1996 ALCS NYA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1996 ALDS2 NYA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1996 WS NYA 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000
1995 ALDS2 NYA 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1992 ALCS TOR 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1992 WS TOR 2 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0.500
1988 NLCS NYN 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
8 3 21 18 0 111.3 93 47 58 94 3.80

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
2000 ALCS NYA 0 0 1 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0.00
2000 WS NYA 0 0 1 0 0 0.3 0 0 0 0 0.00
1999 ALCS NYA 1 0 1 1 0 7.0 7 2 3 9 2.57
1999 WS NYA 1 0 1 1 0 7.0 1 0 5 4 0.00
1998 ALCS NYA 1 0 2 2 0 13.0 12 6 6 13 4.15
1998 ALDS2 NYA 1 0 1 1 0 5.7 2 0 1 6 0.00
1998 WS NYA 0 0 1 1 0 6.0 2 2 3 4 3.00
1997 ALDS1 NYA 0 0 1 1 0 3.3 7 6 2 2 16.20
1996 ALCS NYA 0 0 1 1 0 6.0 5 2 5 5 3.00
1996 ALDS2 NYA 0 1 1 1 0 6.0 8 6 2 8 9.00
1996 WS NYA 1 0 1 1 0 6.0 4 1 4 3 1.50
1995 ALDS2 NYA 1 0 2 2 0 15.7 15 8 9 14 4.60
1992 ALCS TOR 1 1 2 2 0 12.0 11 4 5 9 3.00
1992 WS TOR 0 0 2 2 0 10.3 9 4 8 8 3.48
1988 NLCS NYN 1 1 3 2 0 12.0 10 6 5 9 4.50

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 450 419 220 271 28 17

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1986 KCA P 11 0 4 0 0 0
1987 NYN P 21 13 12 10 1 0
1988 NYN P 35 28 17 23 1 0
1989 NYN P 34 33 21 14 1 0
1990 NYN P 31 30 17 20 3 1
1991 NYN P 34 34 18 26 4 2
1992 NYN P 27 27 16 20 2 1
1992 TOR P 8 7 2 2 0 0
1993 KCA P 34 34 24 24 1 3
1994 KCA P 23 23 20 18 3 3
1995 TOR P 17 17 5 18 2 2
1995 NYA P 13 13 7 9 1 0
1996 NYA P 11 11 6 5 1 1
1997 NYA P 29 29 9 13 2 0
1998 NYA P 31 31 12 25 1 3
1999 NYA P 31 31 7 12 1 1
2000 NYA P 30 29 9 20 2 0
2001 BOS P 25 25 14 9 2 0
2003 NYN P 5 4 0 3 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 450

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1999 Player of the Week Week of 1999-07-17
1998 Hutch Award
1998 Pitcher of the Month July
1998 Player of the Week Week of 1998-07-04
1994 Cy Young Award
1994 Pitcher of the Month May
1994 Player of the Week Week of 1994-05-21
1994 TSN All-Star RHP
1992 Player of the Week Week of 1992-05-02
1991 Player of the Week Week of 1991-10-05
1988 Pitcher of the Month May

Salary History

Year Team League Salary
2001 BOS AL $1,000,000
2000 NYA AL $12,000,000
1999 NYA AL $9,500,000
1998 NYA AL $6,666,667
1997 NYA AL $6,666,667
1996 NYA AL $4,666,667
1995 TOR AL $8,000,000
1994 KCA AL $5,000,000
1993 KCA AL $5,000,000
1992 NYN NL $4,250,000
1991 NYN NL $2,350,000
1990 NYN NL $1,300,000
1989 NYN NL $332,500
1988 NYN NL $92,500
1987 NYN NL $62,500
1986 KCA AL $60,000
Total Career Earnings $66,947,501

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1999 Cy Young Award AL 6th 3.0 140 0
1998 Cy Young Award AL 4th 16.0 140 0
1995 Cy Young Award AL 4th 18.0 140 0
1994 Cy Young Award AL 1st 108.0 140 15
1994 Most Valuable Player AL 9th 40.0 392 0
1988 Cy Young Award NL 3rd 42.0 120 0
1988 Most Valuable Player NL 10th 37.0 336 0