Warren Spahn Day September 7, 1963

On September 7, 1963, the Milwaukee Braves honored Warren Spahn, the winningest lefthander of all-time (363 wins) and a true Milwaukee Braves hero who pitched the first game ever played in Milwaukee in 1953 and matched his total of 23 wins 10 years later with what had become an average team (84-78) with only a few players including Spahn from the by-gone World Series championship season of 1957 and the National League pennant year of 1958.

Spahnie brought the crowd to its feet on his second pitch ever as a Milwaukee Brave. He led the pitching staff throughout the 1950s as Bushville beat the Yankees in '57 and two million fans packed Milwaukee County Stadium to watch its beloved major league baseball team. The love affair with Spahn continued into the 1960s. Fans shivered through his second no-hitter in April 1961 when Spahnie beat Sam Jones of the San Francisco Giants on Hank Aaron's first-inning single. In August, they packed County Stadium to watch their favorite notch his 300th win on Gino Cimoli's home run. Spahn also hooked up with the Giants' high-kicking righthander Juan Marichal in perhaps the best-pitched game in the modern era. On July 2, 1963, the two aces matched each other pitch for pitch for 15 innings. Willie Mays' homer in the 16th off Spahn finally decided the epic marathon.

Spahn continued his magical pitching for the remainder of the 1963 season. With an 11-3 mark at the time of the Marichal game at Candlestick Park, Spahn went 12-4 the rest of the way, finishing with 22 complete games in 33 starts (no pitcher will do this anymore) and a 2.60 ERA.

Spahn's 1963 season was accomplished without an incentive-laden contract, steroids, or a committee or middle relief pitchers, set-up men, and closers. He closed his own games with a team of average talent, with the exception of two stalwarts -- Henry Aaron and Eddie Mathews. Aaron's MVP-type 1963 season is forgotten today. He just missed a Triple Crown, winning the RBI title with 130, tying for the home run lead with 44 and finishing just seven points behind NL batting champion Tommmy Davis, Aaron hitting .319 for the season. Mathews returned from a shoulder injury and had 23 homers and 124 bases on balls, a mark unheard of today.

Spahn's 1963 season and the festivities of September 7 not only climaxed his career but the Braves' stay in Milwaukee. Chairman William Bartholomay's Chicago syndicate had bought the team after the 1962 season. Bob Buege's excellent memoir The Milwaukee Braves: A Baseball Eulogy provides a thorough account of the ownership change. Though attendance had declined since the pennant-winning years of 1957 and 1958, my own research uncovered 1964 figures that showed the Braves had drawn 102,000 more fans for the first 23 dates of 1964 than for the same number of dates in '63. Moreover, the Braves started well, had a slump, and then caught fire in late summer and could possibly have won the pennant with another player move or two. It is clear that the fans would still support a competitive team. The steep dropoff in ticket sales through 1965 occured only when the syndicate could no longer deny plans to move to Atlanta.

Spahnie pitched one more season in Milwaukee but the screwball had lost its stuff and his 5-13 recrod and 5.29 ERA smacked of a rookie, not a veteran. The September 7 event was timed just right, when Spahn was still on top.