Posted on 11/25/2003 10:04:35 AM PST by Chummy
Warren Spahn, arguably the greatest left-handed pitcher in major-league baseball history and a mainstay of the Milwaukee Braves' powerhouse teams in the late '50s, died Monday at age 82 at his home in Broken Arrow, Okla.
Johnny Logan, the former Braves shortstop who made his home in Milwaukee, received a midafternoon telephone call from Spahn's son, Greg, saying the Hall of Fame pitcher had passed away.
"It's a sad day," Logan said. "He was the greatest left-handed pitcher to ever put on a uniform."
During his brilliant 21-year career, mostly with the Boston Braves and Milwaukee Braves, Spahn won 363 games, most ever by a left-hander, compiling 20-victory seasons 13 times. He was known for his longevity, winning 177 games after his 35th birthday, including No. 300 in 1961 at age 40.
New York Yankees manager Joe Torre was behind the plate for that 300th victory as a rookie catcher with the Braves.
"Warren Spahn was a fighter and a winner," Torre said. "He made catching in the big leagues a lot easier for me because he took me under his wing, along with Lew Burdette. One of my biggest thrills to this day was catching his 300th victory."
Spahn missed three seasons, from 1943-'45, while serving in the Army during World War II. He fought in two of the most important engagements of the war, the Battle of the Bulge and the fight for the bridge at Remagen, Germany, where many men in Spahn's company were killed.
Spahn was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star and given a battlefield commission.
"Just think how many games he would have won if he hadn't been in the Army," Logan said.
Spahn's greatest season came in 1953, the Braves' first year in Milwaukee. He went 23-7 with 24 complete games in 32 starts and led the National League with a 2.10 earned run average.
He still holds or shares nine Braves franchise records and led the league in victories eight times, in ERA three times and in complete games nine times. He ranks fifth on the all-time victory list behind Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Grover Alexander and Christy Mathewson.
"His success was knowing the opponents' weaknesses. That's what made Spahnie so great," Logan said.
Spahn completed a remarkable 382 of his 665 career starts (57.4%), including at least 20 starts in 13 seasons.
"He was so determined to complete nine innings," Logan said. "He never wanted to come out of a game. The way he looked at was, 'If I start the game, I want to finish it.' "
Spahn was scheduled to pitch Game 7 of the 1957 World Series against the Yankees, but came down with the flu. His roommate, Burdette, pitched instead on two days' rest and beat the Yankees for the third time in the Series, giving Milwaukee its only Series title.
Five days past his 40th birthday, the 14-time all-star became the second-oldest pitcher, behind Young, to throw a no-hitter when the Braves edged the San Francisco Giants, 1-0, on April 28, 1961. Two years later, at 42, he became the oldest 20-game winner in major-league history.
Never an overpowering pitcher, Spahn relied on a deceptive, high-kicking delivery and pinpoint control to befuddle hitters. Only once from 1953 to 1961 did he fail to record a 20-victory season.
Spahn won the Cy Young Award in 1957. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1973, his first year of eligibility, with 83% of the vote from the Baseball Writers Association of America.
A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Spahn signed with Boston in 1940 for $80 a month and worked his way through two arm injuries in the minors. He started the 1942 season with the Braves, but manager Casey Stengel demoted him after Spahn refused to brush back the Brooklyn Dodgers' Pee Wee Reese.
Stengel later admitted that sending down Spahn was the worst mistake he ever made.
After serving in the war, Spahn returned to baseball in 1946 and went 8-5 with the Braves.
The next season, he led the NL with a 2.33 ERA and formed a potent 1-2 punch with Johnny Sain that led Boston to the NL pennant in 1948. Because the Braves' pitching staff was thin otherwise, fans began to chant the famous refrain, "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain."
After 20 seasons with the Braves in Boston and Milwaukee, Spahn finished his big-league career in 1965 with the New York Mets and San Francisco. He then pitched in Mexico and the minors before finally retiring in 1967 at age 46.
When he was criticized for pitching that long, Spahn said: "I don't care what the public thinks. I'm pitching because I enjoy pitching."
Spahn appeared in Milwaukee at the 2002 All-Star Game, when he and Hank Aaron threw out ceremonial first pitches before the game. He was the guest of honor at the first Milwaukee Braves Historical Association dinner in April 2001.
"The crowd was overwhelming that night," said Bud Lea, former Milwaukee Sentinel sports editor and one of the founders of the association.
"He was certainly the greatest pitcher ever here. And he loved Milwaukee. He remembered it so fondly."
Spahn also was on hand when the Milwaukee Brewers played their final game at County Stadium on Sept. 28, 2000.
"This has been a part of my life," Spahn said at the stadium-closing ceremony. "I came here as a young man, and I'm leaving here as an old man."
Spahn had been in failing health many months and was pushed on stage in a wheelchair at the Hall of Fame ceremonies in July in Cooperstown, N.Y. He also was on hand Aug. 12 at Turner Field in Atlanta when the Braves dedicated a 9-foot-high bronze statue in his honor in front of the ballpark.
Monday was a sad day for baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, who returned from the funeral of the wife of Minnesota Twins owner Carl Pohlad in Minneapolis to learn of Spahn's death.
"It's been a tough day," said Selig, who grew up in Milwaukee watching Spahn and the Braves play at County Stadium.
"I have so many wonderful and vivid memories of the great Warren Spahn.
"He is, without question, one of the greatest pitchers in the history of the game. I'm proud to say he was my friend. I will miss him, as will everyone in baseball. On behalf of Major League Baseball, I offer my heartfelt condolences to his family and friends."
A memorial service was tentatively set for Saturday at Boston Avenue Methodist Church in Tulsa, Okla. The Floral Haven Funeral Home in Broken Arrow was handling the arrangements.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
I will miss him much. God bless you, Mr. Spahn.
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