Warren Spahn

Last updated • 8 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

People say that my absence from the big leagues may have cost me a chance to win 400 games. But I don't know about that. I matured a lot in three years, and I think I was better equipped to handle major league hitters at 25 than I was at 22. Also, I pitched until I was 44. Maybe I wouldn't have been able to do that otherwise. [13]

Boston / Milwaukee Braves

Spahn's first full season as a starting pitcher came in 1947, when he led the National League in ERA (2.33), shutouts (7), and innings pitched (289+2⁄3) while posting a 21–10 record. [3] It was the first of his thirteen 20-win seasons. Spahn also won two more ERA titles, in 1953 and 1961. [3]

On June 11, 1950, Spahn and pitcher Bob Rush of the Cubs each stole a base against each other; no opposing pitchers again stole a base in the same game until May 3, 2004, when Jason Marquis and Greg Maddux repeated the feat. [14]

In 1951, Spahn allowed the first career hit to Willie Mays, a home run. Mays had begun his career 0-for-12, and Spahn responded to reporters after the game, citing the distance between home plate and the pitcher's mound of 60 feet 6 inches (18.44 m), "Gentlemen, for the first 60 feet, that was a hell of a pitch." Spahn joked a long time later, "I'll never forgive myself. We might have gotten rid of Willie forever if I'd only struck him out." (In 1962, another Hall of Famer hit his first career home run off Spahn: Sandy Koufax, who only hit one other.)

"Pray for rain"

Spahn (right) with Johnny Sain Johnny Sain and Warren Spahn.png
Spahn (right) with Johnny Sain

Spahn's teammate Johnny Sain was the ace of the pennant-winning 1948 Braves staff, with a win–loss record of 24–15. Spahn went 15–12 while, contrary to legend, teammates Bill Voiselle (13–13), and Vern Bickford (11–5) also pitched well. [15]

In honor of the pitching duo, Boston Post sports editor Gerald V. Hern wrote this poem which the popular media eventually condensed to "Spahn and Sain and Pray for Rain":

First we'll use Spahn
then we'll use Sain
Then an off day
followed by rain
Back will come Spahn
followed by Sain
And followed
we hope
by two days of rain.

The poem was inspired by the performance of Spahn and Sain during the Braves' 1948 pennant drive. The team swept a Labor Day doubleheader, with Spahn throwing a complete 14-inning win in the opener, and Sain pitching a shutout in the second game. [16] Following two off days, it did rain. Spahn won the next day, and Sain won the day after that. Three days later, Spahn won again. Sain won the next day. After one more off day, the two pitchers were brought back, and won another doubleheader. The two pitchers had gone 8–0 in 12 days' time. [17]

Other sayings have been derived from "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain." For example, some referred to the 1993 San Francisco Giants' imbalanced rotation as "Burkett and Swift and pray for snow drift." [18]

In 1957, Spahn was the ace of the champion Milwaukee Braves. He pitched on two other Braves pennant winners, in 1948 and 1958. Spahn led the NL in strikeouts for four consecutive seasons, from 1949 to 1952 (tied with Don Newcombe in 1951), which includes a single-game high of 18 strikeouts in a 15-inning appearance on June 14, 1952. [19]

During the 1957 World Series, Sal Maglie of the Yankees, ineligible to pitch in the series because he was acquired too late in the season, watched the games with Robert Creamer of Sports Illustrated and made assessments of the players. When Spahn was pitching, Maglie observed that batters had to try to hit balls to the opposite field against Spahn, as he was more likely to get them out if they tried to pull the ball. [20]

Spahn in 1958. Warren Spahn 1958.png
Spahn in 1958.

On July 2, 1963, facing the San Francisco Giants, the 42-year-old Spahn became locked into a storied pitchers' duel with 25-year-old Juan Marichal. [21] The score was still 0–0 after more than four hours when Willie Mays hit a game-winning solo home run off Spahn with one out in the bottom of the 16th inning. [22]

Marichal's manager, Alvin Dark, visited the mound in the 9th, 10th, 11th, 13th, and 14th innings, and was talked out of removing Marichal each time. During the 14th-inning visit, Marichal told Dark, "Do you see that man pitching for the other side? Do you know that man is 42 years old? I'm only 25. If that man is on the mound, nobody is going to take me out of here." Marichal ended up throwing 227 pitches in the complete game 1–0 win, while Spahn threw 201 in the loss, allowing nine hits and one walk. [23]

Spahn threw his first no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies on September 16, 1960, when he was 39. He pitched his second no-hitter the following year on April 28, 1961, against the Giants. During the last two seasons of his career, Spahn was the oldest active player in baseball. He lost this distinction for a single day: September 25, 1965, when 58-year-old Satchel Paige pitched three innings. [24]

Spahn's seemingly ageless ability caused Stan Musial to quip, "I don't think Spahn will ever get into the Hall of Fame. He'll never stop pitching." [1]

Final season

Following the 1964 season, after 25 years with the franchise, Spahn was sold by the Braves to the New York Mets. [3] Braves manager Bobby Bragan predicted, "Spahnie won't win six games with the Mets." Spahn took on the dual role of pitcher and pitching coach. Spahn won four and lost 12 at which point the Mets put Spahn on waivers. He was put on waivers on July 15, 1965, and released on July 22, 1965. [25] He signed with the San Francisco Giants, with whom he appeared in his final major league game on October 1, 1965, at the age of 44. With the Mets and Giants combined, he won seven games for the season—his last in the major leagues. [3]

Career statistics

In a 22-season major league career, Spahn posted a 363–245 win–loss record with 2,583 strikeouts and a 3.09 ERA in 5,243.2 innings pitched, including 63 shutouts and 382 complete games. [3] His 2,583 career strikeouts were the most by a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball history until he was later on surpassed by Mickey Lolich in 1975. [26]

His 363 career win total ranks sixth overall in major league history; it is also the most by a pitcher who played his entire career in the post-1920 live-ball era. [2] Spahn still holds the major league record for most career wins by a left-handed pitcher. [2] His 63 career shutouts is the highest total in the live-ball era and sixth highest overall. [27]

Warren Spahn
Warren Spahn 1953.jpg
Spahn with the Boston Braves in 1953
Pitcher
Born:(1921-04-23)April 23, 1921
Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Died: November 24, 2003(2003-11-24) (aged 82)
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, U.S.
Batted: Left
Threw: Left
MLB debut
April 19, 1942, for the Boston Braves
Last MLB appearance
October 1, 1965, for the San Francisco Giants
CategoryWLERAGGSCGSHOSVIPRERHRBBSOHBPWHIPFIPERA+
Total3632453.0975066538263285,243.22,0161,7984341,4342,583,421.1953.49119

Later life

Spahn managed the Tulsa Oilers for five seasons, winning 372 games from 1967 to 1971. His 1968 club won the Pacific Coast League championship. He also coached for the Mexico City Tigers, and pitched a handful of games there. He was a pitching coach with the Cleveland Indians, in the minor leagues for the California Angels, and for six years, with Japan's Hiroshima Toyo Carp.

For many years he owned and ran the large Diamond Star Ranch south of Hartshorne, Oklahoma, before retiring to live near a golf course in Broken Arrow with his half-Cherokee wife LoRene (née Southard) with whom he had one child, a son named Gregory (1948–2022). [6]

Death

Spahn died of natural causes at his home in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. He is interred in the Elmwood Cemetery in Hartshorne. After his death, a street was named after him in Buffalo, New York, Warren Spahn Way, that connects Abbott Road with Seneca Street, through Cazenovia Park, in the heart of South Buffalo. The street is near South Park High School, Spahn's alma mater.

Honors

Warren Spahn's number 21 was retired by the Milwaukee Braves in 1965. BravesRetired21.png
Warren Spahn's number 21 was retired by the Milwaukee Braves in 1965.

Spahn's number 21 was retired by the Braves in 1965, soon after his retirement. [28] He was selected for the all-time All-Star baseball team by Sports Illustrated magazine in 1991, as the left-handed pitcher. The other selections were: outfielders Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, and Willie Mays; shortstop Cal Ripken, third baseman Mike Schmidt, second baseman Jackie Robinson, first baseman Lou Gehrig, catcher Mickey Cochrane, right-handed pitcher Christy Mathewson, relief pitcher Dennis Eckersley, and manager Casey Stengel.

Spahn was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1973 and became a charter member of both the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985, [29] and the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 1991. [30]

In 1999, he was ranked number 21 by The Sporting News on their list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players", [31] and was also named one of the 30 players on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. [32] In 2020, The Athletic ranked Spahn at number 49 on its "Baseball 100" list, complied by sportswriter Joe Posnanski. [33]

A statue of Spahn was situated outside of Turner Field, and is now outside of Truist Park Warren Spahn Turner Field Statue.jpg
A statue of Spahn was situated outside of Turner Field, and is now outside of Truist Park

Spahn was inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame in 1999. [34] A few months before his death, he attended the unveiling of a statue outside Atlanta's Turner Field. When the Braves vacated Turner Field to move into their current home of Truist Park, the statue was moved, and now stands outside that ballpark. The statue depicts Spahn in the middle of one of his leg kicks. [35]

The statue was created by Shan Gray, who has sculpted numerous other statues of athletes which stand in Oklahoma, including two others of Spahn. One statue resides at the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame located at the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark and the other is located in Hartshorne, Oklahoma at the Hartshorne Event Center.

On April 4, 2009, the facilities of Broken Arrow Youth Baseball, in Spahn's longtime home of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, were dedicated in his honor.

In their Naked Gun films, producers Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker sometimes included joke credits. The trio, who were Milwaukee-area natives, included Spahn in the closing credits once, with the disclaimer, "He's not in the film, but he's still our all-time favorite left-hand pitcher."

Spahn also made his acting debut with a cameo appearance as a German soldier in a 1963 episode (S2E8 "Glow Against the Sky") [36] of the television series Combat!

In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Spahn as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II. [37]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Spahn, Warren". National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
  2. 1 2 3 "Career Leaders & Records for Wins". Baseball Reference. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Warren Spahn Career Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
  4. ↑ "The Warren Spahn Award". Oklahoma Sports Museum.
  5. ↑ Kahn, Roger (December 8, 2003). "Mind Over Batter: No one had a Better head for Pitching than Warren Spahn". Sports Illustrated .
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Warren Spahn (SABR BioProject)". Society for American Baseball Research.
  7. ↑ "Major League Baseball Players of the Month". Baseball-Reference.com.
  8. 1 2 "Warren Spahn Minor & Mexican Leagues Statistics".
  9. ↑ Goldstein, Richard (November 25, 2003). "Warren Spahn, 82, Dies; Left-Handed Craftsman of the Baseball Mound for 21 Seasons". The New York Times . Retrieved August 18, 2014.
  10. ↑ Verdi, Bob (November 30, 2003). "Stengel's 'mistake,' Spahn best of any era". Chicago Tribune .
  11. ↑ "Historical Vignette 097 - A Baseball Legend Served with Distinction as a Combat Engineer in World War II". United States Army Corps of Engineers. April 2005.
  12. ↑ Bullock, Steven R. (2004). Playing for Their Nation: Baseball and the American Military during World War II. University of Nebraska Press. pp. 134–135. ISBN   0-8032-1337-9.
  13. ↑ Schlossberg, Dan. "Did Boston Stay Separate Warren Spahn from 400 Wins?". Society for American Baseball Research.
  14. ↑ Camps, Mark (May 9, 2004). "Rare feet: Opposing hurlers steal bases in the same game". San Francisco Chronicle .
  15. ↑ Glab, Keith (February 11, 2006). "Spahn and Sain and Trade for Burdette: Never Trust Gimmicky Rhymes". BaseballEvolution.com.
  16. ↑ "Spahn & Sain by Gerald V. Hern". Baseball Almanac.
  17. ↑ ""Spahn and Sain and pray for rain."..." Los Angeles Times . November 9, 2006.
  18. ↑ Nevius, C.W. (August 17, 1993). "Giants fans have no reason to fear the Braves". San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Chicago Cubs vs Boston Braves Box Score: June 14, 1952". Baseball-Reference.com.
  20. ↑ Maglie, Sal (October 14, 1957). "Braves' New World". Sports Illustrated .
  21. ↑ Kaplan, Jim (2013). The Greatest Game Ever Pitched: Juan Marichal, Warren Spahn, and the Pitching Duel of the Century. Triumph Books. ISBN   978-1600788215.
  22. ↑ Kaplan, Jim (July 1, 2011). "Nearly half century later, Spahn-Marichal duel still the best ever". Sports Illustrated .
  23. ↑ "Milwaukee Braves vs San Francisco Giants Box Score: July 2, 1963". Baseball-Reference.com.
  24. ↑ "Boston Red Sox vs Kansas City Athletics Box Score: September 25, 1965". Baseball-Reference.com.
  25. ↑ "Warren Spahn Trades and Transactions". Baseball Almanac.
  26. ↑ Kemp, Bill (August 5, 2017). "It's time Lolich gets his name called for the Hall". The Ledger .
  27. ↑ "Career Leaders & Records for Shutouts". Baseball Reference. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  28. ↑ Bowman, Mark (December 1, 2021). "Braves retired numbers". MLB.com. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
  29. ↑ "Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame" . Retrieved August 29, 2012.
  30. ↑ "Warren Spahn, Class of 1991". Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.
  31. ↑ "The Sporting News Selects Baseball's 100 Greatest Players". The Sporting News . April 26, 1999. Archived from the original on April 16, 2005.
  32. ↑ "The All-Century Team". MLB.com . Archived from the original on January 19, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2007.
  33. ↑ Posnanski, Joe (February 7, 2020). "The Baseball 100: No. 49, Warren Spahn". The Athletic .
  34. ↑ "Braves Hall of Fame". MLB.com .
  35. ↑ Rice, Justin A. (August 7, 2003). "Statue of Warren Spahn set to be unveiled on Friday". The Oklahoman .
  36. ↑ ""Combat!" Glow Against the Sky (TV Episode 1963) – Full Cast & Crew". IMDb.com. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
  37. ↑ "WWII HOF Players – Act of Valor Award". Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Major League Player of the Month
August 1960
August 1961		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Lew Burdette
Warren Spahn
 No-hitter pitcher
September 16, 1960
April 28, 1961		Succeeded by
Warren Spahn
Bo Belinsky
Sporting positions
Preceded by New York Mets Pitching Coach
1965		Succeeded by
Preceded by Cleveland Indians Pitching Coach
1972–1973		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.