David Cone Biography

David Brian Cone, born January 2, 1963, played as a Major League Baseball pitcher and now serves as a color commentator for the New York Yankees on YES Network and Amazon Prime, as well as for ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball. Cone was selected in the third round of the 1981 MLB draft by the Kansas City Royals and made his MLB debut in 1986, pitching for five different teams before retiring in 2003. In the final game of the 1991 regular season, Cone recorded 19 strikeouts, a performance tied for second most in a single game in MLB history. Renowned for his split-finger fastball, Cone won the 1994 American League Cy Young Award and was a five-time All-Star, leading the major leagues in strikeouts from 1990 to 1992. Cone played summer ball in the Ban Johnson League, a college summer league in Kansas City, because Rockhurst High School did not have a baseball team. Prior to the 1987 season, Cone was traded from the Kansas City Royals to the New York Mets along with Chris Jelic in exchange for Ed Hearn, Rick Anderson, and Mauro Gozzo. Cone began the 1988 season in the bullpen but was moved into the starting rotation by the first week of May.