Warren Spahn

Quotes From Spahn
After what I went through overseas, I never thought of anything I was told to do in baseball as hard work. You get over feeling like that when you spend days on end sleeping in frozen tank tracks in enemy threatened territory. The Army taught me something about challenges and about what's important and what isn't. Everything I tackle in baseball and in life I take as a challenge rather than work.

Played For
Boston Braves (1942-1952)
Milwaukee Braves (1953-1964)
New York Mets (1965)
San Francisco Giants (1965)

All-Time Rankings
Warren Spahn ranks #11 among the Top 50 all-time at SP. Rankings ⇒

Best Season: 1953
Spahn was 23-7, completed 24 of his 32 starts, and saved three games. He led the NL with a 2.10 ERA and also in WHIP.

Factoids
On April 15th, 1952, in the last home opener in Braves Field in Boston, 4,694 fans saw Warren Spahn lose 3-2 to Brooklyn's Preacher Roe.

Tom Glavine, Warren Spahn, and Early Wynn are the only pitchers in history to win 300 games despite never striking out 200 batters in any season.

Cracker Jack Old-Timers
In the first annual Cracker Jack Old-timers Classic at Washington's Robert F. Kennedy Stadium on July 19, 1982, 75-year-old Luke Appling hit a 250-foot homer off Spahn to help the AL to a 7-2 win over the NL in a five-inning battle of baseball legends. As Appling rounded the bases, he shouted "Thanks Spahnie!"

June 14, 1952
On the same day that the Braves signed Henry Aaron to his first ML contract, Spahn tied Jim Whitney's NL record of 18 strikeouts in a game. In a 15-inning, 3-1 loss to the Cubs, Hal Jeffcoat's two-run triple wins it, while Spahn's homer is the only Braves' score.

Forty-Year Old 20-Game Winners
Cy Young, 1907 (age 40)... 21-15
Cy Young, 1908 (age 41)... 21-11
Eddie Plank, 1915 (age 40)... 21-11
Pete Alexander, 1927 (age 40)... 21-10
Warren Spahn, 1961 (age 40)... 21-13
Warren Spahn, 1963 (age 42)... 23-7
Gaylord Perry, 1978 (age 40)... 21-6
Phil Niekro, 1979 (age 40)... 21-20
Jamie Moyer, 2003 (age 41)... 21-7

Spahn's Record, by Age
Age 21-29 (86-58, 3.07)
Age 30-39 (202-124, 2.95)
Age 40-44 (75-63, 3.44)

Born
Warren Edward Spahn was born on April 23, 1921, in Buffalo, NY.

Died
November 24, 2003, Broken Arrow, OK

Batted:  Left
Threw:  Left

Primary Position:  P

Primary Team:  ML1

Major League Debut
April 19, 1942

Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1942
Tommy Holmes
Johnny Pesky
Warren Spahn
Allie Reynolds
Johnny Sain
Hank Borowy
Peanuts Lowrey
Willard Marshall
Eddie Robinson

Nicknames
Spahnie

Uniform Numbers
#16 (1942), #21 (1946-1965)

Similar Players
None

Related Players
Johnny Sain, who teamed with Spahn to form the famous duo that inspired the phrase, "Spahn and Sain, and pray for rain."... Luke Appling hit a famous home run off Spahn in an old-timers game... Willie Mays: Spahn gave up his first home run, on May 28, 1951. It was also Mays' first hit as a big leaguer.

Hall of Fame Voting Year Election Votes Pct 1973 BBWAA 316 83.2%

No-Hitter
9/16/1960: For MIL (N) vs. PHI (N), 4-0 at MIL. 9 innings pitched.
4/28/1961: For MIL (N) vs. SF (N), 1-0 at MIL. 9 innings pitched.

Post-Season Appearances
1948 World Series
1957 World Series
1958 World Series

Awards and Honors
1957 ML Cy Young

Feats
On September 16th, 1960 at the age of 39, Spahn earned his 11th 20-win season with a no-hitter against the Phillies. Spahn also set a Milwaukee club record with 15 strikeouts in the victory... On October 5, 1958 Spahn shut out the Yankees on two hits in Game Four of the World Series. In that game, Spahn stopped Hank Bauer's 17-game World Series hitting streak... Five days past his 40th birthday, on April 28, 1961, Spahn became the second-oldest pitcher (after Cy Young) to hurl a no-hitter, blanking the Giants 1-0. Hank Aaron drove in the only run off loser Sam Jones. It was Spahn's 290th win and 52nd shutout... On August 11, 1961, Spahn's 2-1 victory against the Cubs made him the 13th 300-game winner... In 1963, at the age of 42, Spahn became the oldest 20-game winner. It was his 13th 20-win season, tying Christy Mathewson.

Milestones

• August 11, 1961: 300th Win...

Pitching Feats

• June 14, 1952: ...

Notes
In 1949, Spahn chatted briefly with Commissioner Happy Chandler prior to a game. With a 97-degree heat beating down on the field, Spahn made a rules suggestion to the commish. "Why not shift the umpires every three innings? That would prevent one umpire from having to work the entire game behind the plate. It would make things easier, I think, for umpires, and it might result in better work, throughout the game, on balls and strikes." Chandler agreed to pass the suggestion on to NL President Ford Frick, but the idea was never acted upon.

Transactions
Before 1940 Season: Signed by the Boston Bees as an amateur free agent; November 23, 1964: Purchased by the New York Mets from the Milwaukee Braves; July 22, 1965: Signed as a Free Agent with the San Francisco Giants; July 22, 1965: Released by the New York Mets; October 15, 1965: Released by the San Francisco Giants.

Trivia Question
Which two future Hall of Famers hit their first major league home runs off Warren Spahn?

Trivia Answer
Willie Mays and Sandy Koufax.

All-Star Selections
1947 NL
1949 NL
1950 NL
1951 NL
1952 NL
1953 NL
1954 NL
1956 NL
1957 NL
1958 NL
1959 NL
1961 NL
1962 NL
1963 NL

Replaced
Spahn was one of a number of pitchers who stepped into the Braves' rotation in 1946 after returning from the war.

Replaced By
Bobby Bolin

Best Strength as a Player
Command of his pitches.

Largest Weakness as a Player
None

Learn More about Warren Spahn
Search Amazon.com for Books about Warren Spahn ⇒
Search for Warren Spahn at Google ⇒
View a map of his hometown at Mapquest ⇒

Sources used for the Warren Spahn Player Page:
Tom Zocco (SABR)