Spahn, Warren Edward 1921-2003
Pitcher
Warren Spahn, 1953
Warren Spahn, famous left-handed pitcher of the Milwaukee Braves baseball team, completes a pitch to the batter. View the original source document: WHI 6224
Portrait of Warren Spahn, 1962
Portrait of Milwaukee Braves player Warren Spahn. View the original source document: WHI 54449
b. Buffalo, New York, 1921
d. Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, November, 2003
Warren Spahn was an athlete. He was an exceptionally consistent left-handed pitcher for 21 major league seasons. He spent nearly his entire career with the Braves in Boston in 1942 and from 1946 to 1952 and Milwaukee from 1953 to 1964.
Military
Like many players of his generation, Spahn's career was halted by World War II. He served as a combat engineer, saw action in the Battle of the Bulge and at the Remagen Bridge and was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Remembering his service, Spahn said "After what I went through overseas, I never thought of anything I was told to do in baseball as hard work...The Army taught me what's important and what isn't."
Career
Spahn was already an established star when he arrived in Milwaukee. The fans appreciating his hard-working and intelligent approach to the game and his team spirit. Braves fans brightest memories of "Spahnie" are the World Series of 1957 and 1958 against the New York Yankees. In 1957 Spahn was the loser in game 1 and the winner in game 4, and the Braves won the title. The following year he won games 1 and 4 but lost game 6, and the Yankees won the series.
Spahn's career included 363 wins, 13 seasons in which he won 20 games or more, and a 3.09 lifetime earned run average. He threw two no-hitters and led the National League in complete games for nine seasons. He also won the Cy Young award in 1957, was nominated to 14 All Star teams and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, the first year he was eligible. Spahn spent his retirement in Oklahoma, where he was a successful oilman and cattle rancher.
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Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, September 25, 2003; National Baseball Hall of Fame (www.baseballhalloffame.org); Baseball Almanac (www.baseball-almanac.com)