Saturday, December 15, 2012

1951 Topps Red Back #30 - Warren Spahn

Warren Spahn (b. 1921 - d. 2003) played in the majors from 1942, 1946 to 1965 for the Braves (Boston and Milwaukee), Mets and Giants.  He had a career record of 363-245 with a 3.09 ERA and 2,583 strikeouts.  One of the greatest pitchers of all time, Spahn led the league in wins eight times; he won 20 or more games thirteen times in his career.  He led the league in ERA three times; he had an ERA under 3.00 nine times.  He won the NL Cy Young Award in 1957, the same year he won the World Series with the Milwaukee Braves.

Spahn actually appeared on two Hall of Fame ballots (one of which as when he was still an active player - 1958) and was elected to the Hall in 1973 when named on 83.2% of the ballot.  That means 16.8% of the voters let him off of their ballots.  What were they thinking?

Hall of Fame: 6
Deceased: 24

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