Warren Spahn, Hall-Of-Fame Pitcher, 82

[RBB]

> Hall-Of-Fame Boston Pitcher Warren Spahn Dead at 82
> 
> BROKEN ARROW, Okla. (Reuters) - Hall-of-Fame pitcher Warren Spahn, who
> won more games than any other left-hander in U.S. baseball history and
> threw two no-hitters, died on Monday at 82, the Atlanta Braves said.
> 
> Spahn, a lanky 14-time all-star who won 363 games during his 21-year
> career and was considered among the best pitchers of his era, passed
> away at his home in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, the team said.
> 
> The left-hander, who spent most of his career with the Boston and
> Milwaukee Braves and was known for his stamina and longevity, holds the
> lifetime record for innings pitched despite missing three seasons while
> serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. He also pitched briefly
> for the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants. He lost 245 games and
> had a career earned run average of 3.09.
> 
> Spahn is known for the 1948 season, when he and right-hander Johnny
> Sain carried the usually hapless Boston Braves to a rare pennant,
> spawning one of the games greatest slogans: "Spahn and Sain and two
> days of rain."
> 
> "It's not so much my pitching people know, but that little poem about
> me and Johnny Sain and the '48 Braves," he once said. "Guys who were
> kids 40 years ago learned it as a nursery rhyme. Now they meet me and
> say 'Oh, you are that Spahn."'
> 
> He is also remembered for a legendary 1963 pitching duel against San
> Francisco Giants right-hander Juan Marichal.
> 
> The 42-year-old Spahn and 25-year-old Marichal both threw shutouts for
> 16 innings -- until Willie Mays won it for the Giants with a solo home
> run well after midnight in San Francisco.
> 
> Both men repeatedly refused to quit, with Marichal telling manager
> Alvin Dark that he could not come out of the game as long as his
> 42-year-old opponent was still on the mound.
> 
> Spahn also completed nearly 60 percent of the games he started over his
> career -- a statistic that would be unheard of for today's pitchers,
> who are almost always replaced in the late innings by a reliever.
> 
> Funeral arrangements for Spahn, a native of Buffalo, New York, who was
> elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, were pending.
> 
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