The Incredible MLB Career of Warren Spahn

This year has been a tough one for people who love the game of baseball. In January, Hank Aaron, perhaps the greatest player to ever play in MLB, passed away. Four days before that, another Hall of Famer, Don Sutton, passed on. Earlier this week, Del Crandall who was a teammate of Hammerin’ Hank with the Milwaukee Braves, passed away.

The losses of these great players got me thinking about when I first saw my love for baseball blossom. It was all because of Norm Fox, my dad. It seemed like every night at the dinner table, dad would educate me about the sports teams in Wisconsin. He would talk about the Green Bay Packers, the Wisconsin Badgers, the Marquette Warriors (now Golden Eagles) and also the Milwaukee Braves.

Dad really loved talking about the Braves. He often focused on the 1957 season, which just happened to be the year I was born. He told me about all the players on that team, but he mostly focused on players like Aaron, Crandall, Eddie Mathews, Joe Adcock, Johnny Logan, Lew Burdette, Bob Buhl and Warren Spahn.

Boy, did dad love Spahn, who passed away in 2003. In fact, of the couple dozen games that dad took me as a kid to County Stadium to see the Braves, Spahn was often the pitcher. In fact, one of the first games that I remember going to happened 11 days before my 5th birthday on May 18, 1962. The Braves were taking on the expansion New York Mets. Spahn went the distance, as the Braves won 3-2. No. 21 allowed just three hits, plus I was able to see Aaron, Mathews and Mack Jones all homer for the Braves.

I think the thing I remember most about going to my first game at County Stadium was walking up the ramp and seeing the field under the lights for the first time. It was just a phenomenal feeling as a youngster to see that. Plus, I just loved the uniforms of the Braves. But the best part was the thrill of seeing future Hall of Famers like Spahn, Aaron and Mathews.

When dad would talk to me about Spahn, he mentioned a game he would never forget. It was August 11, 1961. Unfortunately, I was not with dad at this game. This was the game when Warren won his 300th game at County Stadium in front of 40,775 fans, which included dad and a couple of his brothers. As per usual, Spahnie went the distance, as he allowed just one run on six hits, plus struck out five, as the Braves beat the Chicago Cubs 2-1. Man, I wish I could have been there for that game!

When dad would talk about Spahn, he would go back to when it all started for Warren, back when the Braves were still in Boston. Spahn’s first year in MLB was in 1942 and he just pitched in four games. From 1943 through 1945, Spahn was in United States Army and served his country with honor. He saw action in the Battle of the Bulge and also was a combat engineer at the Ludendorff Bridge. Because of his distinctive service, Spahn was awarded a Purple Heart, as well as a battlefield commission.

Dad always talked about Spahn’s service, as he too served his county with the United States Navy in World War II in the Pacific. In addition to that, his younger brother Bob (who I am named after) also won a Purple Heart. Tragically, Bob was killed in Korea just weeks before he was set to come home.

After his service in World War II, Spahn just had an incredible MLB career. From 1946 through 1952, Spahn pitched for the Braves in Boston. No. 21 won 122 games for Boston, which included four seasons of 20 or more wins. Spahn and fellow pitcher Johnny Sain led the Braves to the 1948 World Series against the Cleveland Indians, but lost 4 games to 2. Spahn was 1-1 in that World Series, with his win coming against fellow Hall of Famer Bob Feller in Game 5.

The Braves moved to Milwaukee in 1953 and became one of the best teams in the National League throughout the rest of the decade. The Braves averaged 90 wins per year from 1953 through 1959 and Spahn was a big reason why. Only once did Spahn not win at least 20 games for the Braves in Milwaukee in the ’50s and he won 17 that year (1955). Other than that, Spahn won 20 or more games in 1953 (23), 1954 (21), 1956 (20), 1957 (21), 1958 (22) and 1959 (21). Spahn also won the Cy Young Award in 1957.

The Braves played in two World Series in the ’50s, the 1957 and 1958 World Series. The Braves won the 1957 World Series behind the great pitching of Burdette, who won three games, while Spahn won the other game, as the Braves beat the New York Yankees 4 games to 3. In the 1958 World Series, the Braves faced the Yanks again and Spahn won two games, but the Yankees came back from a 3 games to 1 deficit and won the World Series in 7 games.

In 1959, the Braves tied for the National League pennant with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but lost in a playoff series.

In the 1960’s in Milwaukee, the Braves were still a good team, but were no longer viable contenders. Spahn continued his great pitching, as he won 21 games in 1960, 21 games in 1961, 18 games in 1962 and 23 games in 1963. Spahn also pitched two no-hit games (the only ones of his career), one in 1960 versus the Philadelphia Phillies at County Stadium and the other in 1961 versus the San Francisco Giants, also at County Stadium.

The catcher who caught Spahn the most in his career was Crandall, who caught No. 21 316 times. But another catcher caught him on a very special occasion in 1962. I’m talking about Bob Uecker. The date was September 29th and Ueck caught Spahn’s 327th career victory, which which broke Eddie Plank’s record for the most victories by a left-hander. Uecker even went 3-for-4 with three singles, driving in two runs in the 7-3 triumph over the Pittsburgh Pirates at County Stadium.

It was during the 1963 season, when there was the game I fell asleep listening to on my transistor radio when I was six years old. The Braves were playing the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park. That game turned out to be the greatest starting pitching matchup of all time. The game went into the 16th inning as Spahn faced Juan Marichal of the Giants. Both pitchers went the distance as well. Spahn went 15.1 innings and allowed just nine hits and a home run to the great Willie Mays in the bottom of the 16th inning, as the Giants won 1-0. Spahn threw 201 pitches in the game. Marichal went 16 complete innings and allowed eight hits without giving up a run. Marichal threw 227 pitches.

Spahn’s last year in Milwaukee was 1964, when he went 6-13. After the season, the Mets purchased the contract of Spahn and he split the ’65 season playing for the Mets and the Giants and went 7-16.

But what what a MLB career Spahnie had! Just look at these mind-boggling stats.

• 363 career wins vs. 245 losses
• Career ERA of 3.09
• Won three ERA titles
• 13 seasons of 20 or more wins
• 63 shutouts
• 382 complete games
• 12 seasons of 20 or more complete games
• 1957 Cy Young Award
• 1957 World Series Champion
• 17 All-Star games
• 363 career base hits
• 35 career home runs
• 186 career RBIs

Yes, Spahn could hit too, as you can see by the stats. I witnessed two of his 35 career homers at County Stadium. Bottom line, Spahn could do it all. In my humble opinion, I believe Spahn is the greatest lefty in the history of MLB, with apologies to Lefty Grove, Sandy Koufax and Whitey Ford.

Spahn has been honored for his achievements in baseball, as he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973. In Milwaukee he was also honored, as he is a member of the Walk of Fame at American Family Field, which honors members of the Milwaukee Braves and Milwaukee Brewers.

The inductees are Hank Aaron (2001), Rollie Fingers (2001), Paul Molitor (2001), Robin Yount (2001), Cecil Cooper (2002), Allan H. “Bud” Selig (2002), Harry Dalton (2003), Bob Uecker (2003), Jim Gantner (2004), Gorman Thomas (2004), Harvey Kuenn (2005), Don Money (2005), Eddie Mathews (2007), John Quinn (2007), Warren Spahn (2007), Lew Burdette (2010), Johnny Logan (2013), Teddy Higuera (2015), Joe Adcock (2016) and Geoff Jenkins (2018).

The memories I have of going to games at County Stadium to see the Braves as a youngster and then later the Brewers, who I also covered for four years, will be something I will never forget. Nor will I forget the many times I was able to see Spahn pitch with my dad. Those memories will always stay with me.