The following year he threw another no-hitter, this time against the Giants on April 28, 1961 at 40 years old. This Month in Sports ReferenceFind out when we add a feature or make a change. Cronkite School at ASU Warren Spahn | National Baseball Hall of Fame Plaque | Class of 1973 (HOF)
As Spahn grew older, his pitching seemed to improve. Spahn would hold court at the Hall of Fame, thrilling contemporaries like Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, and Willie Mays as well as younger immortals like Johnny Bench and Fergie Jenkins, all the while sucking on a long necked beer. Spahn, a crafty southpaw with a high leg kick, had been making quick work of the Phillies all evening. The 15-inning contest was the tip of the iceberg for the southpaw, who would pitch until he was 44 and lead the National League in complete games in nine of his 21 seasons. He had better breaking balls and many more types of breaking balls. Larry Jansen, who won 23 games for the Giants in 1951 and then hurt his arm, was our pitching coach, so we were very conscious about pitchers working too long and injuring themselves. Maybe I wouldn't have been able to do that otherwise. [5] Regarded as a "thinking man's" pitcher who liked to outwit batters, Spahn once described his approach on the mound: "Hitting is timing. In the 14th, Kuenn doubled to lead off, and Spahn intentionally passed the dangerous Mays, ending his consecutive walkless streak at 31 innings. There are 29 other people named Richard A. Spahn on AllPeople. While he struck out at least two batters in five different innings, Spahn poured it on in the final innings. Marichal got Eddie Mathews on strikes, but Norm Larker walked and Mack Jones singled him to second, bringing up Crandall. The perfect game was ruined in the fourth when Spahn issued a two-out walk to Walters. Dark admits that Marichal passed any conceivable pitch count, but he wasnt worried. Spahn was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the BBWAA in 1973 in his first year of eligibility (His eligibility had been delayed, under the rules of the day, by 2 seasons of brief minor league service.) Spahn leaned forward in an almost courtly bow to the hitters, then rocked back, his right leg raised above his head in what The Sporting Newss Dave Kindred called a five minutes to six position, followed by an overhand delivery that was as smooth and regular as a dipping oil-field pumping jack back home in Oklahoma. Facing the San Francisco Giants, the 42-year-old Spahn became locked into a storied pitchers' duel with 25-year-old Juan Marichal. (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum), Warren Spahn was known for his high-kicking pitching motion, pictured above when he was playing for the Boston Braves. from the SABR BioProject, More Warren Spahn Pages at Baseball Reference, Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Tuesday, January 17, 11:08PM. So it was a pitchers night at a pitchers park. [10][2][9] He saw action in the Battle of the Bulge and at the Ludendorff Bridge as a combat engineer, and was awarded a battlefield commission.[2][9]. Spahn issued his second walk in the fifth when he passed Neeman on a 3-1 pitch with one out. Each spectator was given the Croix de Candlestick, a round orange badge for anyone surviving an extra-inning night game at The Stick. So on to extra innings with these worthies. (In 1962, another Hall of Famer hit his first career home run off Spahn: Sandy Koufax, who only hit one other. He also coached for the Mexico City Tigers, and pitched a handful of games there. ", Spahn threw his first no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies on September 16, 1960, when he was 39. Looking back over the years from his South Carolina retirement, Dark remembers a different conversation. Greg was born on the eve of the 1948 World Series and hit .524 as a high school senior but had to give up baseball when shoulder problems sidelined him at the University of Oklahoma. In 1957, Spahn was the ace of the champion Milwaukee Braves. 1953 Bowman Warren Spahn #99. Whats more, the southpaw only walked two batters, and none of those came until the top of the 15th. His 1968 club won the Pacific Coast League championship. Baseball retired me. When Spahn pitched three games for the Mexico City Tigers in 1966 and three games for the Tulsa Oilers in 1967, people got the mistaken impression that he was staging a comeback. An admiring Hall of Famer Carl Hubbell, who attended the game as director of player development for the Giants, said, Here is a guy 42 years old who still has a fastball, he marveled. Given a reprieve, Bailey fouled off four more pitches before finally striking out. . Actually, he was demonstrating technique to a Mexican team he was coaching, then trying to improve attendance for an American team he was managing. We had just started keeping pitch counts. As Mays stood in the on-deck circle, Marichal called to him Hit one now. His teammates chuckled, Mays stepped in. He was selected for the All-Star in 14 seasons. Warren Spahn pitched for half a season with the Mets in 1965 after he was sold to New York by the Milwaukee Braves in Nov. 1964. And followed Spahn finished his first no hitter as well as his 20th victory. As the keepers of the Games history, the Hall of Fame helps you relive your memories and celebrate baseball history. The fans missed him, but he was added by a special Committee to the all-century team. We might have gotten rid of Willie forever if I'd only struck him out." JIM KAPLAN is former editor of the Baseball Research Journal and author of Lefty Grove: American Original (SABR, 2000). thor usernames; premium tax credit repayment exceptions. It was one of the last and best memories of Spahn: kicking and joking. The pitch that extended his career was extending the game. The normally slick fielding shortstop juggled the ball briefly, but recovered in time to throw to Adcock for the final out. Marichal getting the most mileage out of his fastball, Spahn learning . No one can ever say anything to deny his greatness." Spahn had plenty of thrills, but not the one schoolboys dream of. Spahn, who returned to the Braves soon after his discharge in 1946, would go 21-10 in 1947. The temperature had dipped to seven degrees that morning in Milwaukee. (Voted by BBWAA on 316/380 ballots) Spahn posted a .194 batting average (363-for-1872) with 141 runs, 57 doubles, 6 triples, 94 bases on balls and 189 RBI. On Sept. 16, 1960, a 39-year-old Warren Spahn added a no-hitter to his already Hall of Fame worthy career. 9,245th in major league history) Whew! Spahn was selected for the all-time All-Star baseball team by Sports Illustrated magazine in 1991, as the left-handed pitcher. With two out and two on, Crandall hit a sinking liner to center. Swelling now, Spahn threw another scroogie to Mays. The screwball hung, Mays swung. . Rookie Status: Spahn would strike out 11 in his next start four days later, setting a record for two-game strikeout totals with 29 one more than Fellers American League mark set in 1938. Warren Spahn made his major league debut in 1942 at 21 years old. [1], 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. Phoenix, AZ 85004 After his belated first win at age 25, he became the winningest left-handed pitcher in history with 363 wins. And he had a phenomenal change-up. Healthcare Logistics For Healthcare People. As he moved toward the plate, his glove rose slowly, then descended quickly through the hitters line of vision. Every inning after the ninth, Marichal said he told manager Alvin Dark, Alvin, do you see that man pitching on the other side? In addition to his fastball, Spahn also developed a number of off-speed pitches, all thrown with the same high-kicking motion. sausage pasta bake jamie oliver. In 1947 he threw 7 shutouts, and repeated the feat in 1951. In his last major league game, he passed Bob Feller in career strikeouts. [1] Braves manager Bobby Bragan predicted, "Spahnie won't win six games with the Mets." And there was something else. The poem was inspired by the performance of Spahn and Sain during the Braves' 1948 pennant drive. His teammates were silently waiting for him in the clubhouse. Hardly anyone had left the park. But all emotions aside, even Spahn himself had to admit that his pinpoint control that day held promise for the future. He wishes to thank the following SABR members for assistance on this story: Peter C. Bjarkman, Jim Charlton, Bill Deane, Dennis Degenhardt, Roland Hemond, John Holway, Rod Nelson, Crash and Sheila Parr, Jay Roberts, John Zajc, Phil Sienko, Dave Smith, Bob Sproule, Saul Wisnia, and Rich Westcott. Spahn led the National League in wins eight times, including five seasons in a row (1949, 1950, 1953, 1957-1961) and complete games nine seasons, seven consecutively (1949, 1951, 1957-63); these numbers are major league records. Willie Mays elected to one-hop it rather than dive, and he nailed Larker at the plate in one amazing motion, according to the Chronicles Stevens, and on a 100 percent perfect peg, according to his colleague Bill Leister. He won at least 20 games every year from 1956 to 1961, led the league in complete games every year from 1957 to 1963, and in 1963 at age 42 posted a 23-7 record and compiled a 2.60 earned run average. Marichal took his warm-up pitches from the bullpen mound rather than on the sideline, because it was closer in height to the one on the diamond. It is very difficult to pick Spahns best season, he averaged 20 wins per season, was in the top 5 in the league in ERA for six of the ten seasons and led the league in wins five out of ten seasons. I'm only 25. Bat speed and bat weight key factors in determining distance of batted ball. we hope Javascript is required for the selection of a player. Jan 14, 2020 #113 EsquireOK Poster Extraordinaire. Spahn won the next day, and Sain won the day after that. Fifty-two of those games went into extra innings; Spahn completed 23 of them and pitched into the 10th inning without getting a decision three other times. Spahn took on the dual role of pitcher and pitching coach. BL-2870.70 (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library), Warren Spahn, right, pitched 20 of his 21 big league seasons with the Braves. Other substantial hitters included Braves left fielder Lee Maye, who had sizzled all June, and Giants third baseman Harvey Kuenn, catcher Ed Bailey, and right fielder Felipe Alou. Warren Edward Spahn (April 23, 1921 November 24, 2003) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for 21 seasons, all in the National League. If hed stayed put, Crandall might have scored when Spahn himself doubled off the fence in right field. vs. CIN 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 SO, 1 BB, 0 ER. He pitched his second no-hitter the following year on April 28, 1961, against the Giants. Much of the play-by-play, game results, and transaction information both shown and used to create certain data sets was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. Equally telling, he broke into the top 10 control artists, finishing seventh with 61 walks in 321 innings, or 1.71per game. "Rapid" Robert one-hit the Browns in the second game of the 1938 season. Cepeda then grounded to Spahn, who again flipped to Roy McMillan who relayed to Joe Adcock for another 1-6-3 twin killing. Spahn won four and lost 12 at which point the Mets put Spahn on waivers. The Giants signed him and Spahn went to the west coast, pitching his final major league games in a Giants uniform. [11] Spahn was unsure of the war's impact on his career: People say that my absence from the big leagues may have cost me a chance to win 400 games. He whiffed Tony Gonzalez three times. Another pinch-hitter, Bobby Del Greco, fanned on three pitches for Spahn's fourth straight strikeout. Spahn had little trouble the rest of the way. Otherwise, we all could have gone home then. 1) (Box Score: 09-16-1960). Baseball is a game of fractions of a second. [3] He was a 17-time All-Star who won 20games or more in 13 seasons, including a 237 winloss record when he was age 42. Spahn died of natural causes, at his home in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. If that man is on the mound, nobody is going to take me out of here." But would have been just as tough going righthanded. For years he said that if he had one pitch hed like to take back, that was it.. After a 15-inning marathon where the Cubs beat the Braves 3-1 the lefty was understandably frustrated. The Baseball 100: No. A true war hero, he was awarded a Purple Heart for shrapnel wound and a battlefield commission. He passed away on Nov. 24, 2003. that Warren Spahn holds the National League record for most career home runs by a pitcher with 35? He said, I know you pitch every fourth day, but try to take an extra day. I only got one. With 363 wins, Spahn is the sixth most winning pitcher in history, trailing only Cy Young (511), Walter Johnson (417), Grover Cleveland Alexander (373), Christy Mathewson (373), and Pud Galvin (364) on MLB's all-time list. Whatever bothered hitters, I was for., No one was sure what theyd seen from Marichal. He kept all plumbing fixtures; you never know when you can use one. Meanwhile, Marichal was cruising. [28] Also in 1999, editors at The Sporting News ranked Warren Spahn 21st on their list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players".[29]. If a guy gets wild or starts getting his pitches up, you know his arm might be tired, but that wasnt the case with Juan. Dark never asked a reliever to warm up. If that man is on the mound, nobody is going to take me out of here. And celebrate baseball history from his South Carolina retirement, dark remembers a different conversation named Richard A. Spahn AllPeople! Control artists, finishing seventh with 61 walks in 321 innings, Spahn threw his first no as! Moved toward the plate, his glove rose slowly, then descended quickly through the hitters line of vision 21... To take me out of here. against the Philadelphia Phillies on 16! Became the winningest left-handed pitcher three pitches for Spahn 's fourth straight.! 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