DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. — Johnny Sain (on the right), a three-time All-Star who teamed with Warren Spahn (left) to make up one of baseball's most fabled pitching tandems, died Tuesday. He was 89.Sain's best year was 1948, when he and Hall of Famer Spahn led the Boston Braves to the World Series, where they lost to Cleveland. It was during that season when the famous saying was born:"Spahn and Sain and pray for rain." The Boston Post ran a poem by sports editor Gerald Hern that led to the catchy phrase about the Braves'two dominant pitchers and the rest of their unheralded rotation. It read:
First we'll use Spahn,
then we'll use Sain,
Then an off day,
followed by rain.
Back will come Spahn,
followed by Sain,
And followed, we hope,
by two days of rain.
Sain was 139-116 with a 3.49 ERA in 11 seasons in the 1940s and 1950s, mostly with the Braves and New York Yankees.
Spahn and Sain (Fox News Sports)
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ReplyDeleteArthur, You have a great collection of pictures and your commentary is interesting. I don't want to write too many comments so Ill just share something this brought to mind.
ReplyDeleteI had a Warren Spahn baseball card once; one of about 10,000. A time came, unfortunately, when I had to sell them. I never bought a baseball card with the thought of ever selling it...never "took care" of them...wrapped them in rubber banded packs of 100 among other things. I sold the lot for $500 which seemed like alot 25 years ago. The man who bought them went through every card; he kept saying, Do you KNOW what this would have been worth?
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