Early Life and Minor Leagues
Youngs was born in Shiner, Texas, the second of three children, all sons. His father was a railroad worker, but suffered disability and moved his family to San Antonio where he worked as a rancher. Youngs' mother ran a small hotel in San Antonio and Youngs had a paper route.
Youngs was educated at West Texas Military Institute. He received offers for scholarships to play college football but passed on these, as he preferred baseball. He made his professional baseball debut for the Austin Senators of the Texas League in 1914. Appearing in 17 games, he hit just .145 for the class-B Senators and, in 1915, found himself down in the Class-D leagues, playing for Brenham of the Middle Texas League and the Waxahachie Athletics of the Central Texas League; both leagues disbanded during the season. In 1916, playing in the infield for the Sherman Lions of the Class-D Western Association, he hit .362 as a switch-hitter, drawing the attention of the New York Giants, who purchased his contract in August for $2,000 ($42,716 in current dollar terms).
Read more about this topic: Ross Youngs
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