I’ve been a Dodger fan since my womb days. I came out wearing Dodger Blue. Back in the 50s when I was on top of my Dodgers rooting game, the Milwaukee Braves were my arch enemies. That’s because they were really good with guys like Eddie Mathews, Hank Aaron, Joe Adcock, Johnny Logan, Lew Burdette and a lanky southpaw named Warren Spahn.
In today’s game, a pitcher goes six innings and it’s a big deal Complete games are as rare as Yeti sightings. Guys throw it 100 miles an hour and blow their arms out at age 25. Some have more “Tommy John” surgeries than Zsa Zsa Gabor had husbands.
And then there was Warren Spahn. A decorated war hero, he missed nearly three years of his prime and still won 363 games. He had 20 or more wins in a season 13 times. He threw 63 shutouts and struck out a total of 2,583 batters. When he was 42 years old, he pitched 14 innings in a game and lost 1-0. Spahn had a spectacular career not because he overpowered people with a blazing fastball; he won because he had a hard-to-figure out delivery and learned that where you place your pitches is more important than how hard you throw them.
At an early age, he learned to use his legs and body to help power pitches, not his arm and he had a long and highly successful career because of that. He often pitched on 3 days rest, sometimes 2. An old saying about Milwaukee pitchers was “Spahn and Sain and pray for rain.”
Spahn was wounded in WWII and received a Purple Heart. Later in his career a writer asked, “Does pitching in a big game like this make you nervous?”
He said, “Why should I be nervous? Nobody is shooting at me.”
Perhaps young pitchers should study and emulate Warren Spahn. Mayber they would pitch a few more complete games, get some 20-win seasons and be a formidable opponent into their 40s.
That was the great Warren Spahn.
