Warren Spahn

Confined to a wheelchair but as crusty as ever, Warren Spahn had one complaint when his bronze statute was unveiled outside Turner Field in August.

"That nose is a little too big," baseball's winningest left-handed pitcher said, his face breaking into that familiar smirk.

But it won't be Spahn's hawk-like nose that fans notice as they pass by en route to future Braves games. It will be Spahn's right foot shooting skyward forever in his classic high-kick pitching delivery.

The Hall of Famer died Monday at age 82 in Broken Arrow, Okla., after battling health problems for a number of years. A memorial service tentatively is set for Saturday in the Boston Avenue Methodist Church in Tulsa.

Spahn won 363 games -- 356 of them with the Braves in Boston and Milwaukee. The only pitchers to win more are Cy Young (511), Walter Johnson (416), Christy Mathewson (373) and Grover Cleveland Alexander (373), all of whom pitched at least part of their careers in the dead-ball era before 1920.

"He's the modern-day king," said catcher Del Crandall, who joined Spahn in the Braves Hall of Fame the day the statute of his former teammate was unveiled in Monument Grove. "I really don't think he gets the credit he deserves.

"Nobody else could pitch like that, but his delivery was so much a part of his success. The higher he kicked, the better he pitched. Of course, if he had kicked any higher, be might have fallen over backwards."

"In my mind, he was the greatest left-hander of all time," said fellow Hall of Famer Bob Feller, who pitched against Spahn in the 1948 World Series. "I'll miss seeing him at Cooperstown very much."

Like Feller, Spahn's career was impacted by World War II. He served with the Army in Europe, winning a Bronze Star and Purple Heart while earning a battlefield commission as a second lieutenant.

"He was a war hero," Feller said. "Who knows how many games he would have won if it wasn't for World War II."

Making up for a late start, Spahn pitched in the majors until he was 44, finishing his career with the New York Mets and San Francisco in 1965. That was the year before the Braves moved to Atlanta.

Spahn (363-245) won 20 or more games in 13 seasons and had a lifetime ERA of 3.09. He pitched two no-hitters and was 23-7 with a 2.60 ERA at age 42 in 1963. A feared hitter, he also holds the NL record for home runs by a pitcher with 35.

Former New York Yankees left-hander Whitey Ford pitched against Spahn in the 1957 and 1958 World Series. "If anybody asks me who my favorite pitcher of all-time is, I say Warren Spahn," Ford said.

"One of my biggest thrills to this day was catching his 300th victory in 1961," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.

A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Spahn signed with the Braves out of high school, receiving a $150 bonus and two suits of clothes. He made his debut for the Boston Braves in 1942, but was sent back to the minors after he refused an order from manager Casey Stengel to intentionally throw at Brooklyn's Pee Wee Reese during an exhibition game.

Finally in 1947, at the age of 26, Spahn became a big winner, collecting 21 victories and making the first of 14 trips to the All-Star Game.

Spahn helped the Braves win the pennant in 1948, sparking the famous battle cry, "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain," referring to pitching partner Johnny Sain and the club's lack of pitching depth.

Spahn won a total of 78 games the last four years the club was in Boston and then won 23 in its first year in Milwaukee. In eight of the next 10 seasons, he would win 20, and in 1957 he won the Cy Young Award, then presented to just one pitcher from both leagues.

Spahn, whose top salary was $87,500, threw his no-hitters in a span of six starts over two seasons. The first one came on Sept. 16, 1960, against the Phillies, 4-0, as just 6,117 fans showed up at Milwaukee's County Stadium. The second one came April 28, 1961, against the Cubs, 1-0, before 40,775.

But his most memorable start may have come in 1963, when Spahn dueled the San Francisco Giants' Juan Marichal for 15 scoreless innings. In the 16th, on his 201st pitch that night, the 42-year-old Spahn hung a pitch to Willie Mays, whose homer won it 1-0.

"It became rhythmic that one out followed another," Spahn recalled. "I thought I had to get ahead of Mays and I hung that screwball. Afterward, I was beat. Oh, man. Gangrene set in after I got in the clubhouse. Marichal was 25, and said the only reason he stayed in was he didn't want an old guy to beat him."

Spahn led the NL in complete games nine times, including seven in a row from 1957-63. For his career, he completed 382 of 665 starts.

Many thought Spahn hung on too long, going 13-29 in his last two major league seasons. But Spahn, who pitched in the minors and even Mexico, said, "I don't care what the public thinks. I'm pitching because I enjoy pitching."

Spahn, whose No. 21 is retired by the Braves, was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1973, his first year of eligibility.

Although he never pitched in Atlanta, Spahn's statue now stands with other Braves greats Hank Aaron and Phil Niekro outside Turner Field.

"I'm delighted," Spahn said of the honor last August.

"I'm sorry I didn't get to play in Atlanta. But I'm honored and thrilled that the statue will be there for posterity. Especially with my granddaughter [Kara] living in Atlanta."

"I feel lucky that I got to see him one last time," said Crandall, who pushed Spahn's wheelchair.

The statue's pose, naturally, was a gimme, the right spikes shooting high enough to make a Rockette envious.

"My dad taught me that," Spahn said. "I wasn't a big guy. My dad said to get all the momentum you could. So I kept my weight back, transferred it from my back leg to my front leg, and I think that's why I didn't hurt my arm."

The Warren Spahn file

In a career that spanned three decades, Spahn's teammates included Paul Waner and Tug McGraw.

A World War II veteran who missed four years of baseball while he was a foot soldier in Europe, Spahn still won 300 games. He won 177 games after his 35th birthday and anchored the Braves' staff for 17 years.

Played For

Boston Braves (1942, 1946-1952), Milwaukee Braves (1953-1964), New York Mets (1965), San Francisco Giants (1965)

Postseason

1948 World Series, 1957 World Series, 1958 World Series

Ultimate Games

1957 World Series Game Seven, 1958 World Series Game Seven

Spahn was rested for Game Seven in '57, but he came down with a case of the flu. Lew Burdette filled in and pitched a complete game win.

Honors

All-Star (14): 1947, 1949-1954, 1956-1959, 1961-1963;

Cy Young 1957

Feats

On Sept. 16, 1960, at the age of 39, Spahn earned his 11th 20-win season with a no-hitter against the Phillies. Spahn also sets a Milwaukee club record with 15 strikeouts in the victory.

On October 5, 1958 Spahn shut out the Yankees on two hits in Game Four of the World Series. Spahn stopped Hank Bauer's 17-game WS hitting streak.

Five days past his 40th birthday, on April 28, 1961, Spahn became the second-oldest pitcher (after Cy Young) to hurl a no-hitter, blanking the Giants 1-0. Hank Aaron drives in the only run off loser Sam Jones. It is Spahn's 290th win and 52nd shut out.

On August 11, 1961 Spahn's 2-1 victory against the Cubs makes him the 13th 300-game winner.

In 1963, at the age of 42, Spahn becomes the oldest 20-game winner. it is his 13th 20-win season, tying Christy Mathewson.