Presented by POOL SCOUTS.
This Day In Sports…August 11, 1961, 65 years ago today:
Future Hall of Famer Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves wins the 300th game of his big league career in a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs. No telling how many victories Spahn would have amassed had he not missed three entire seasons when he served in World War II, including the Battle of the Bulge, earning a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. Spahn had appeared in four games for the Boston Braves in 1942. Then he returned four years later and began his march to his final total: 363 victories, which is still (and forever will be) baseball’s record for left-handers.
Spahn won 20 or more games 13 times, including in 1963, when he went 23-7 with a 2.60 ERA at the age of 42. And that season brought one of his career highlights, albeit in a loss. In July of 1963, Spahn locked into an incredible scoreless pitchers’ duel against Juan Marichal of the San Francisco Giants. Both hurlers went all nine innings—and on deep into the night. Spahn was still on the mound in the 16th inning when Giants superstar Willie Mays walked it off with a solo home run. I’d call that a quality start by both Marichal and Spahn, do you think? Many refer to it as “the greatest game ever pitched.”
Spahn threw 15 1/3 innings that night and gave up the one run, and Marichal tossed a 16-inning shutout. Marichal was entering his prime at the age of 25—Spahn was 17 years his senior. In the 13th inning, Giants manager Alvin Dark considered lifting Marichal for a pinch hitter. According to the late Orlando Cepeda in a 1998 memoir, Marichal barked at Dark: “A 42-year-old man is still pitching. I can’t come out!”
The top season of Spahn’s career came in 1957, when he won his only Cy Young Award in an era when the honor went to only one pitcher across both leagues. He was the first southpaw ever to win it. Spahn also led Milwaukee to a thrilling seven-game World Series victory over the New York Yankees. With the Braves trailing two games-to-one, Spahn pitched a masterful 10-inning complete game in Game 4, grinding out a 7–5 victory that changed the trajectory of the Series. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
