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Warren Edward Spahn
New York Mets
Pitcher-Coach
Born: April 23, 1921, Buffalo, NY
Signed: Signed by the Boston Bees as an amateur free agent in 1940
Major League Teams: Boston Braves 1942, 1946-1952; Milwaukee Braves 1953-1964; New York Mets 1965; San Francisco Giants 1965
Died: November 24, 2003, Broken Arrow, OK (age 82)
Hall of Fame Induction: 1973
One of the greatest left-handed pitchers of all time, Warren Spahn enjoyed a 21-year career in the Major Leagues and his 363 wins are the most ever by a lefty. He was a 14-time National League All-Star and he compiled 20-win seasons 13 times, including in 1963 at the age of 42. Spahn was the National League Cy Young Award winner in 1957, the year he led the Milwaukee Braves to their only World Championship title. He pitched no-hitters in 1960 and 1961 and he led the league in complete games seven years in a row between 1957 and 1963.
He missed three seasons (1943-1945) early in his career serving in World War II and he pitched professionally until he was 46 with the Triple-A Tulsa Oilers. Following his playing days, Spahn managed the Tulsa Oilers (a Cardinals farm club) for five seasons and was the Indians pitching coach in 1972 and 1973.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1956 Topps blog.
July 18, 2020 from Thornwood, NY - Card #124
I had no intention of adding this Spahn card to our set. Back in early June, I won a few eBay auctions hosted by B&E Collectibles out of Thornwood, NY, and included in my winnings was the Masanori Murakami (#282) rookie card. I had seen this Spahn card at the time, thought the Buy It Now price was a little too high and I added the card to my watch list. A month and a half later, cleaning out that same watch list, I noticed B&E Collectibles was accepting offers for this card so I submitted what I thought was something reasonable and the offer was accepted.
The card arrived on a sweltering hot day in July while Doug and I were out of town for his baseball tournament and fortunately my wife Jenna rescued the envelope from our mailbox before it boiled. We added the Twins team card (#24) to our set the same day, and I'll write about that card in my next post.
The Card / Mets Team Set
I'm guessing the photo used for this card was taken in 1963 or 1964, from the same photo session that yielded the photo used for Spahn's 1964 Topps card. If the photo was taken back in 1963, let's say during spring training, that would make Spahn a little under 42 years old at the time. This is the last card in Spahn's streak of appearing in every Topps flagship set dating back to their first sets issued in 1951. I'm curious to see if anyone else in the 1965 Topps set can lay hold to that claim. Maybe Yogi Berra (#470)? Spahn's lengthy career means there's not room for anything other than statistics on the back of the card, and it looks as though Topps even had to squish the letters of his name in order to fit everything.
Also, I'd think this would have to be one of the only instances ever of a position designation of "P-Coach" showing up on a Topps baseball card.
The card was reprinted and signed by Spahn for the 2001 Topps Team Topps Legends Autographs insert set, and a non-signed reprint can also be found in the 2001 Topps Archives set.
1965 Season
On November 23, 1964, following 20 years with the Boston/Milwaukee Braves, Spahn was sold to the Mets to be the team's pitching coach as well as an active pitcher. A week later, Casey Stengel's (#187) team signed Berra for a similar coach/player role. At the time, Spahn remarked, "I don't know whether we'll be the oldest battery in baseball, but I know we'll be the ugliest."
Spahn made 20 appearances and 19 starts with the Mets, going 4-12 with a 4.36 ERA. His best performance came on April 20th when he took a shutout into the ninth inning against the Dodgers. He lost the shutout, but finished the game for his first of five complete games with the Mets. The Mets released him on July 17th and he signed two days later with the Giants who were in the midst of a pennant run.
With the Giants, Spahn joined a pitching staff boasting future Hall of Famers Juan Marichal (#50) and Gaylord Perry (#193). He pitched in 16 games, making 11 starts, and went 3-4 with a 3.39 ERA. In his final game, on October 1st, Spahn was one of eight pitchers used by manager Herman Franks (#32) in a 17-2 pounding by the Reds. He faced three batters and was relieved by Bill Hands, ending his big league career. Spahn was released by the Giants on October 15th.
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First Mainstream Card: 1948 Bowman #18
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (16): 1951-1965, 1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2020 Topps Decades' Best #DB-16
1,050 - Spahn non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/20/20.
Sources:
1956 Topps
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Previous Card: #204 Russ Snyder - Baltimore Orioles
Next Card: #206 Willie Horton - Detroit Tigers
-What a great card....I collect the Milwaukee Braves...dont own this card...but it looks really sharp compared to what I have seen with great corners...
ReplyDeleteIt's surprisingly crisp. I'm amazed how some of these cards look as if they could have come out of packs yesterday.
ReplyDelete