Spahn And Sain And Pray For Rain

[MikeGarcia]

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,.Anyone have any interesting cards of these two - I love Spahn's '53 Bowman Color.

.Why did Gerald Hern write the poem? He had heard Billy Southworth, manager of the Boston Braves, say, “From here on I will rotate my pitching staff. Spahn one day, Sain the next.”

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[nwobhm]

Sain belongs in the HOF. 1947 Tip Top

[nwobhm]

1955 Rodeo Meats

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by nwobhm

Sain belongs in the HOF. 1947 Tip Top

You've done lost your mind. Unless maybe you mean as a pitching coach.

[Lucas00]

This isn't mine but I've seen them In auctions before. Super cool rain gauge. I'm sure some members have one! Watch out though I think many are not original.

[gonefishin]

Glad to a post that contains Spahn. You talk about No Hobby Love - this is one of the best examples out there. Here is a fact -

WARREN SPAHN IS THE WINNINGEST LEFT HANDER PITCHER ALL TIME!

Yes he is, and number 5 all time regardless of how you throw the ball.

Others argue, Koufax etc., but this is undeniable - if the GOAT is by wins - Warren Spahn is the best left handed pitcher ever!

Maybe it was his personality, maybe it was because he was from Oklahoma (although Mantle was), who knows. If you don't own his 1948 Bowman, purchase it now as he will remain the winningest left handed pitcher to ever play the game.

Here is an autographed orginal score card from his 300th win. Enjoy!

[Kutcher55]

Warren Spahn was one of those guys who was so damn ugly that he was good looking. Hard to make a case that Johnny Sain belongs in the HOF although he was a highly regarded pitching coach after his career was over.

[Volod]

Originally Posted by Kutcher55

Warren Spahn was one of those guys who was so damn ugly that he was good looking. Hard to make a case that Johnny Sain belongs in the HOF although he was a highly regarded pitching coach after his career was over.

Spahn acquired the nickname "Hooks", not so much because of his pitching, but due to the prominent shape of his nose. He had once been hit in the face by a thrown ball that he was not expecting, and his broken nose settled into a hook-like shape. In Spahn's final season, during his stint with the Mets, Yogi Berra came out of retirement briefly and caught 4 games, one of them with Spahn pitching. Yogi later told reporters, "I don't think we're the oldest battery, but we're certainly the ugliest.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by gonefishin

Glad to a post that contains Spahn. You talk about No Hobby Love - this is one of the best examples out there. Here is a fact -

WARREN SPAHN IS THE WINNINGEST LEFT HANDER PITCHER ALL TIME!

Yes he is, and number 5 all time regardless of how you throw the ball.

Others argue, Koufax etc., but this is undeniable - if the GOAT is by wins - Warren Spahn is the best left handed pitcher ever!

Maybe it was his personality, maybe it was because he was from Oklahoma (although Mantle was), who knows. If you don't own his 1948 Bowman, purchase it now as he will remain the winningest left handed pitcher to ever play the game.

Here is an autographed orginal score card from his 300th win. Enjoy!

So true. And that is after Spahn missing probably over three years of his career at his prime because of WW II. Just think if he had those 3+ years back and didn't lose them to war service. Pretty easily talking 400+ wins, and now he's in the stratosphere with only Wajo and Cy. Here's a guy who pitched primarily after integration, and before expansion, so you can't readily throw those arguments against him either.

[Volod]

Originally Posted by BobC

So true. And that is after Spahn missing probably over three years of his career at his prime because of WW II. Just think if he had those 3+ years back and didn't lose them to war service. Pretty easily talking 400+ wins, and now he's in the stratosphere with only Wajo and Cy. Here's a guy who pitched primarily after integration, and before expansion, so you can't readily throw those arguments against him either.

Spahn reached the major leagues in 1942 at the age of 20.[1] He clashed with Braves manager Casey Stengel, who sent him to the minors after Spahn refused to throw at Brooklyn Dodger batter Pee Wee Reese in an exhibition game.[8] Spahn had pitched in only 4 games, allowing 15 runs (10 earned) in 15+2⁄3 innings.

Stengel later said that it was the worst managing mistake he had ever made: I said "no guts" to a kid who went on to become a war hero and one of the greatest lefthanded pitchers you ever saw. You can't say I don't miss 'em when I miss 'em. The 1942 Braves finished next to last, and Stengel was fired the following year. Spahn was reunited with his first manager 23 years later, for the even more woeful last-place New York Mets, and—referring to Stengel's success with the 1949–60 New York Yankees—later quipped, "I'm probably the only guy who played for Casey before and after he was a genius."[9]

Spahn finished the 1942 season with a 17–12 record for the Hartford Bees of the Class-A Eastern League

World War II
Along with many other major leaguers, Spahn chose to enlist in the United States Army, after finishing the 1942 season in the minors. He served with distinction, and was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.[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]

[Pat R]

Pulled this back in 2003 from a pack of Topps fan favorites.

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[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by BobC

So true. And that is after Spahn missing probably over three years of his career at his prime because of WW II. Just think if he had those 3+ years back and didn't lose them to war service. Pretty easily talking 400+ wins, and now he's in the stratosphere with only Wajo and Cy. Here's a guy who pitched primarily after integration, and before expansion, so you can't readily throw those arguments against him either.

Hard to call it his prime when he'd only had an unsuccessful cup of coffee before his service. Maybe he was a late bloomer, there's too many ifs to quantify his missed years.

Did it cost him some kind of counting numbers? Most likely. but it's not like Ted Williams or Pee Wee Reese or some other established player that has a baseline of numbers that you can extrapolate.

[71buc]

The full ticket is for the Game he became the all time wins leader for left handed pitchers.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

Hard to call it his prime when he'd only had an unsuccessful cup of coffee before his service. Maybe he was a late bloomer, there's too many ifs to quantify his missed years.

Did it cost him some kind of counting numbers? Most likely. but it's not like Ted Williams or Pee Wee Reese or some other established player that has a baseline of numbers that you can extrapolate.

I don't think so, not when you look at how well he did in the minors after getting sent down by Stengel, and then again looking at how well he did right out of the gate after getting out of the service and back to pitching in the majors. He seems to have been on somewhat of a par with Felller in that he was good right from the start, and/or it didn't take him long to get really good. I would find it extremely hard to believe that had he not gone off to the war that he would have floundered in the majors all those missing years. With 363 victories in his career, he was only 37 short of 400 wins. Assuming he missed just 3 years due to the war, that means he would have only needed to average 12-13 wins for each of those three seasons to reach 400 wins. Starting in 1947, Spahn had 17 straight seasons where he topped that and never had less than 14 wins.