Warren Spahn

[MarquisEXB]

I'm sure you all heard this, but just in case not, Warren Spahn died yesterday.

The winningest left-hander of all time won 363 games, and is the winningest pitcher since 1930. He was also a great hitting pitcher, holding the NL record for home runs by a pitcher (35). Spahn gained acclaim for being the Braves #1 starter in the RBI Baseball arcade game.

-AP PRESS

[fknmclane]

363 games.  That's incredible.  I'm not sure if anyone (righty or lefty) will ever win that many games again.

[fknmclane]

Check out what Rob Neyer has to say.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=neyer_rob&id=1670588

[fknmclane]

And Ted Williams would have hit 600 something homeruns.  A lot of guys had years of their prime taken away.  The funny thing is can any of us imagine any present day athletes volunteering for the service?  I think not.  And you really can't even count Pat Tillman, if that's what you're thinking.  That dude is in a world of his own.

After rereading the post by Marquis, a stat jumped out at me.  35 career bombs for Spahn.  That's incredible.  It really is.  Does anyone have a more complete list?  I'm curious to see if any pitchers are even close.

[fknmclane]

DvlDog, you took my comment the wrong way.  I was in no way discounting the fact that Spahn served in the military.  I wasn't saying anything bad about him or anything bad about any player or for that matter person, who serves in the military.  I'm not sure what else to say except that you misread my comment.

As for his Bronze Star, I'm not sure what that award means but I'm sure it's of great importance.  I read that he helped to defend the last bridge in Europe and after walking off it for the last time, it collapsed, killing all those on it.  The guy was obviously a true hero and again, I in no way was trying to discount his career as a soldier or a pitcher.  The guy's a fuckin' legend.  Let's leave it at that.

[jaylums]

Just to get it out of the way off the bat, as a full-time pitcher with the
Boston Red Sox, Babe Ruth hit 9 home runs between the years of 1914-1917, with no home runs in 1914.  He may have hit more as a pitcher from the years 1918 and 1919, the first two years he led the American League in home runs with 11 and 29 respectively (20 games pitched in 1918 out of 95 games played, 17 games pitched in 1919 out of 130 games played, along with 1 game pitched in his first season with the New York Yankees in 1920,) but anyone's guess is as good as mine as to how many.  He pitched in 2 games late in his career with the New York Yankees, one in 1930 and one in 1933.  We'll have to break out the old box scores for his later pitching appearances, I guess.

But this string is about Warren Sphan, so . . .

I don't think anyone will ever be able to touch 363 wins, not with the pitching game being as specialized as it is today.  We will never see the like of Warren Sphan again, a true countryballer.  But more importantly, his service for his country during WWII only serves to exemplify what it means to remember our shared past and the people who represent it.  During his time of service, he wasn't winning ball games.  He was helping to win a war.  A great ball player and a man of honour.