He played all or parts of 11 seasons in Major League Baseball, and previously served as pitching coach for the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants.

He joined the big league club in 1983 and played with the A's through the 1991 season, starting opening night for them in 1987.

Prior to his appointment as A's pitching coach in 2004, Young spent four seasons in the same capacity within the Oakland minor-league system.

[1] On November 2, 2010, the Boston Red Sox announced he was hired to fill the team's vacant pitching coach position.

[citation needed] On October 21, Young was re-hired by the Oakland Athletics as their pitching coach after only one year in Boston.