1.
Texas Rangers (baseball)
The Texas Rangers are an American professional baseball team based in Arlington, located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Rangers franchise is currently a member of the West division of the American League in Major League Baseball, since 1994, the Rangers have played in Globe Life Park in Arlington in Arlington, Texas. The teams name is borrowed from the law enforcement agency of the same name. After the 1971 season, the new Senators moved to Arlington, Texas, in 2010, the Rangers advanced past the Division Series for the first time, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays. Texas brought home their first American League pennant after beating the New York Yankees in six games, in the 2010 World Series, the franchises first, the Rangers fell to the San Francisco Giants in five games. They repeated as American League champions the year, lost the 2011 World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. At the winter meetings that year, it awarded a new team to Los Angeles as well as a new team in the nations capital and this new team adopted the old Senators name, but was considered an expansion team since the Twins retained the old Senators records and history.
The Senators and Angels began to fill their rosters with American League players in an expansion draft, the team played the 1961 season at old Griffith Stadium before moving to District of Columbia Stadium. For most of their existence, the new Senators were the definition of futility, the teams struggles led to a twist on a joke about the old Senators--Washington, first in war, first in peace and still last in the American League. Frank Howard, known for his home runs, was the teams most accomplished player. Ownership changed hands several times during the stay in Washington and was often plagued by poor decision-making and planning. Owner Elwood Richard Quesada once wondered why he should have to pay his players because he believed they didnt belong in the majors and he agreed to a 10-year lease at D. C. Stadium — a move that would back to haunt the Senators. In 1963, Quesada sold his stake in the club and resigned, Washington stockbrokers James Johnston and James Lemon owned the team briefly, suffering massive financial losses.
Johnson died in 1967 and Lemon sold the team a year to hotel and trucking executive Bob Short, Short named himself general manager and hired Hall of Famer Ted Williams as manager. Although Williams had never coached or managed at any level of baseball, Williams kept them in contention for most of the season, their 86–76 record would be their only winning season in Washington. The success though was brief, as Short borrowed most of the $9.4 million he had used to pay for the team, as the Senators general manager, Short was forced to make many questionable trades to lower the debt and acquire amounts of the much-needed revenue. As a result, the team fell back into the American Leagues cellar position
2.
Run batted in
A run batted in, plural runs batted in, is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored. For example, if the batter bats a base hit, another player on a base can go home. Prior to the 1920 Major League Baseball season, runs batted in were not a baseball statistic. Nevertheless, the RBI statistic was tabulated—unofficially—from 1907 through 1919 by baseball writer Ernie Lanigan, common nicknames for an RBI include ribby and ribeye. The plural of RBI is generally RBIs, although some commentators use RBI as both singular and plural, as it can stand for runs batted in. The official scorers judgment must determine whether a run batted in shall be credited for a run that scores when a fielder holds the ball or throws to a wrong base. The perceived significance of the RBI is displayed by the fact that it is one of the three categories that comprise the triple crown, in addition, career RBIs are often cited in debates over who should be elected to the Hall of Fame.
This implies that better offensive teams—and therefore, the teams in which the most players get on base—tend to produce hitters with higher RBI totals than equivalent hitters on lesser-hitting teams, totals are current through October 8,2015
3.
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros are members of the American League West division in Major League Baseball, the Astros have played their home games at Minute Maid Park since 2000. The Astros were established as the Houston Colt. 45s and entered the National League in 1962 with the expansion New York Mets. The current name—reflecting Houstons role as the center of the U. S. space program—was adopted three years later, when they moved into the Astrodome, the worlds first domed sports stadium. The Astros played in the NL from 1962 to 2012 and they played in the West division from 1969 to 1993, and the Central division from 1994 to 2012. The Astros have played in one World Series in 2005 against the Chicago White Sox, from 1888 until 1961, Houstons professional baseball club was the minor league Houston Buffaloes. Although expansion from the National League eventually brought an MLB team to Texas in 1962, Houston officials had been making efforts to do so for years prior.
There were four men responsible for bringing Major League Baseball to Houston, George Kirksey and Craig Cullinan. They formed the Houston Sports Association as their vehicle for attaining a big league franchise for the city of Houston and they called the new league the Continental League. Wanting to protect potential new markets, both existing leagues chose to expand from eight teams to ten, plans eventually fell through for the Houston franchise after the Houston Buffaloes owner, Marty Marion, could not come to an agreement with the HSA to sell the team. To make matters worse, the Continental League as a whole folded in August 1960, however, on October 17,1960, the National League granted an expansion franchise to the Houston Sports Association in which their team could begin play in the 1962 season. Eventually, the Houston Sports Association succeeded in purchasing the Houston Buffaloes, at this point majority-owned by William Hopkins, the Buffs played one last minor league season as the top farm team of the Chicago Cubs in 1961 before being succeeded by the citys NL club.
The new Houston team was named the Colt. 45s after a Name The Team contest was won by William Irving Neder, the Colt.45 was well known as the gun that won the west. The colors selected were blue and orange. The first team was formed mostly through a draft after the 1961 season. The Colt. 45s and their cousins, the New York Mets. Many of those associated with the Houston Buffaloes organization were allowed by the ownership to continue in the major league, Manager Harry Craft, who had joined Houston in 1961, remained in the same position for the team until the end of the 1964 season. General manager Spec Richardson continued with the organization as business manager, the radio broadcasting team remained with the new Houston major league franchise
4.
1967 Major League Baseball season
The 1967 Major League Baseball season. The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Boston Red Sox four games to three in the 64th World Series, which was the first World Series appearance for the Red Sox in 21 years, following the season, the Kansas City Athletics relocated to Oakland. United States Senator Stuart Symington attended the meeting and discussed the possibility of revoking baseballs antitrust exemption if the As were allowed to leave Kansas City, the owners began deliberation and after the first ballot, only six owners were in favor of relocation. The owner of Baltimore voted against, while the ownership for Cleveland, New York, in the second ballot, the New York Yankees voted in favor of the Athletics relocation to Oakland. To appease all interested parties, the Athletics announced that MLB would expand to Kansas City, MLB owners, bowing to Symingtons threat, awarded Kansas City and Seattle expansion American League franchises for the 1969 season. Selig became Commissioner of Baseball in 1998
5.
Home run
In modern baseball, the feat is typically achieved by hitting the ball over the outfield fence between the foul poles without first touching the ground, resulting in an automatic home run. There is the home run, increasingly rare in modern baseball. When a home run is scored, the batter is credited with a hit and a run scored. Likewise, the pitcher is recorded as having given up a hit, a batted ball is a home run if it touches either foul pole or its attached screen before touching the ground, as the foul poles are by definition in fair territory. A batted ball that goes over the wall after touching the ground is not a home run. A fielder is allowed to reach over the wall to attempt to catch the ball as long as his feet are on or over the field during the attempt. If the fielder successfully catches the ball while it is in flight the batter is out, since the fielder is not part of the field, a ball that bounces off a fielder and over the wall without touching the ground is still a home run. A home run accomplished in any of the above manners is a home run.
This stipulation is in Approved Ruling of Rule 7.10, an inside-the-park home run occurs when a batter hits the ball into play and is able to circle the bases before the fielders can put him out. Unlike with a home run, the batter-runner and all preceding runners are liable to be put out by the defensive team at any time while running the bases. This can only happen if the ball does not leave the ballfield, with outfields much less spacious and more uniformly designed than in the games early days, inside-the-park home runs are now a rarity. They are usually the result of a ball being hit by a very fast runner, either way, this sends the ball into open space in the outfield and thereby allows the batter-runner to circle the bases before the defensive team can put him out. The speed of the runner is crucial as even triples are relatively rare in most modern ballparks, all runs scored on such a play, still count. An example of an unexpected bounce occurred during the 2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at AT&T Park in San Francisco on July 10,2007, by the time the ball was relayed, Ichiro had already crossed the plate standing up.
This was the first inside-the-park home run in All-Star Game history, Home runs are often characterized by the number of runners on base at the time. A home run hit with the bases empty is seldom called a one-run homer, with one runner on base, two runs are scored and thus the home run is often called a two-run homer or two-run shot. Similarly, a home runs with two runners on base is a three-run homer or three-run shot, the term four-run homer is seldom used, instead, it is nearly always called a grand slam. Hitting a grand slam is the best possible result for the turn at bat
6.
Atlanta Crackers
The Atlanta Crackers were minor league baseball teams based in Atlanta between 1901 and 1965. The Crackers were Atlantas home team until the Atlanta Braves moved from Milwaukee in 1966. For 60 years, the Crackers were part of the Class AA Southern Association, a team in the Sunbelt Baseball League, a summer collegiate league, has adopted the team name for one of their teams. The Crackers played in Ponce de Leon Park from 1907 until a fire on September 9,1923, spiller Field, became their home starting in the 1924 season, it was named in honor of a wealthy businessman who paid for the new concrete-and-steel stadium. That new park was unusual because it was constructed around a tree that became part of the outfield. Balls landing in the tree remained in play, until Earl Mann took over the team in 1947 and had the wall moved in about fifty feet. The Crackers played their last season in the newly built Atlanta Stadium, the Crackers were independent of major league farm systems until 1950. They became a AA affiliate of the Boston Braves/Milwaukee Braves, as an International League team, they were the top affiliate of the St.
Louis Cardinals, Minnesota Twins and the Braves again. The team played in Richmond, Virginia, in the International League as the Braves Class AAA farm team, the Richmond Braves, through the 2008 season. The team moved to newly built Coolray Field in Lawrenceville, in Gwinnett County, northeast of Atlanta, in 2009 and now plays as the Gwinnett Braves, thus marking a homecoming of sorts. The close proximity of the AAA and MLB clubs makes for a zero delay when players are called up or sent down. According to Tim Darnell, who wrote The Crackers, Early Days of Atlanta Baseball, the term cracker is derived from the Gaelic craic, meaning entertaining conversation or boasting, with the latter sense still attested in the idiom not all s cracked up to be. It was used in the 18th century to denote Irish and Scottish colonists of the Deep South backcountry, during the period of Reconstruction following the American Civil War, there was a political party of the same name. Organized in Augusta, this platform was one of opposition to Catholics.
Luke Appling, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame who played for the Chicago White Sox, an Atlanta Braves coach in 1981 and again in 1984. Ralph Country Brown, member of the 1950 Southern Association championship team, art Fowler, longtime major league pitcher and pitching coach. Lloyd Gearhart, who played with the New York Giants. Billy Goodman, a major league.300 hitter who won the 1950 American League batting title
7.
Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The game usually occurs on either the second or third Tuesday in July, and is meant to mark a symbolic halfway-point in the MLB season. Both of the major leagues share a common All-Star break, with no games scheduled on the day before or two days after the All-Star Game itself. Some additional events and festivities associated with the game take place each year close to, no official MLB All-Star Game was held in 1945 including the official selection of players due to World War II travel restrictions. The first All-Star Game was held on July 6,1933 as part of the 1933 Worlds Fair in Chicago, at Comiskey Park and was initiated by Arch Ward, initially intended to be a one-time event, its great success resulted in making the game an annual one. The venue for the All-Star Game is chosen by Major League Baseball, the criteria for the venue are subjective, cities with new ballparks and those who have not hosted the game in a long time—or ever—tend to get selected. New York City has hosted more than any city, having done so nine times in five different stadiums.
At the same time, the New York Mets failed to host for 48 seasons, in the first two decades of the game there were two pairs of teams that shared ballparks, located in Philadelphia and St. Louis. This led to some shorter-than-usual gaps between the use of venues, The Cardinals hosted the game in 1940, and the Browns in 1948. The Athletics hosted the game in 1943, and the Phillies in 1952, the venues traditionally alternate between the American League and National League every year. This tradition has been several times, The first time was in 1951. Detroit Tigers were chosen to host the game as part of the citys 250th birthday. The second was when the format during the 1959–1962 seasons resulted in the A. L. being one game ahead in turn. This was corrected in 2007, when the N. L, San Francisco Giants were the host for the 2007 All-Star Game, which set up the 2008 game to be held at the A. L. s Yankee Stadium in its final season. This decision was made following the announcement of Miami as host for the 2017 All Star Game, the coaching staff for each team is selected by its manager.
This honor is given to the manager, not the team and this happened in 2003, when Dusty Baker managed the National League team despite having moved from the National League champion San Francisco Giants to the Chicago Cubs. This has included situations where the person is no longer actively managing a team, mcGraw came out of retirement for that purpose. Dick Williams resigned after managing the Oakland Athletics to the 1973 World Series, in 1974, he became manager of the California Angels, whose uniform he wore for the game. Tony La Russa, who managed the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals in 2011, in 1979, Bob Lemon managed the American League team after having been fired by New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner
8.
1972 Major League Baseball season
The 1972 Major League Baseball season was the first to have games cancelled by a player strike. It was the last season in which American League pitchers would hit for themselves on a regular basis,1972 was affected by a players strike over pension and salary arbitration. The strike erased the first week and a half of the season, as a result, an uneven number of games were lost by each team, some as few as six, some as many as nine. The lack of makeups, even when they affected the playoffs,1972 marked the first year for the Texas Rangers, who had moved to Arlington from Washington, D. C. after the 1971 season. The team was one of the worst ever fielded by the franchise, manager Ted Williams hated it in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and resigned at the end of the season. To make room for the Rangers in the American League West Division, both the Chicago White Sox and the Milwaukee Brewers were the easternmost teams in the West Division, but only one of them could move. It was decided that Milwaukee, as the franchise, would make the move.
1972 would mark the Kansas City Royals final year at Kansas City Municipal Stadium, most teams switched from wool flannel uniforms to double knit uniforms made of nylon and rayon at the outset of 1972. The Pirates were first to double knits when they moved from Forbes Field to Three Rivers Stadium in July 1970. The Cardinals switched at the start of the 1971 season, the Giants wore flannels until midseason, going to double knits at home only, the flannels would not be phased out for the road uniforms for 1973. The Red Sox switched to double knits midway through 1972, only the Royals and Yankees wore flannels full-time during the 1972 season, and all three converted to double knits for 1973. January 19 – The Baseball Writers Association of America elects Sandy Koufax, Yogi Berra, Koufax makes it in his first try and, at age of 36, is the youngest honoree in history. February 8 – Commissioner Bowie Kuhn announces that the Special Committee on the Negro Leagues has selected Josh Gibson, march 16 – Reigning American League Cy Young and MVP award winner Vida Blue announces his retirement.
It will be a one as he will rejoin the Oakland Athletics in May. April 1–13 – The first players strike in baseball history wipes 6–8 games off the schedule of each MLB team. It is agreed that the games will be canceled altogether and not made up. The schedule imbalance would lead to the Detroit Tigers edging the Boston Red Sox by only one-half game to win the American League East Division championship, the strike results in the team owners adding salary arbitration to the collective bargaining agreement, and increasing pension fund payments. April 2 – With the sudden death of Gil Hodges, Yogi Berra is named manager of the New York Mets, april 16 – Chicago Cubs pitcher Burt Hooton pitches a 4–0 no-hitter over the Philadelphia Phillies at Chicagos Wrigley Field
9.
History of the Boston Braves
The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, the Boston Franchise played at South End Grounds from 1871 to 1914 and at Braves Field from 1915 to 1952. Braves Field is now Nickerson Field of Boston University, the franchise, from Boston to Milwaukee to Atlanta, is the oldest continuous professional baseball franchise. The Cincinnati Red Stockings, established in 1869 as the first openly all-professional baseball team, the original Boston Red Stockings team and its successors can lay claim to being the oldest continuously playing team in American professional sports. Two young players hired away from the Forest City club of Rockford, turned out to be the biggest stars during the NAPBBP years, pitcher Al Spalding and second baseman Ross Barnes. Led by the Wright brothers and Spalding, the Red Stockings dominated the National Association, the team became one of the National Leagues charter franchises in 1876, sometimes called the Red Caps.
Boston came to be called the Beaneaters by sportswriters in 1883, although somewhat stripped of talent in the National Leagues inaugural year, Boston bounced back to win the 1877 and 1878 pennants. The Red Caps/Beaneaters were one of the dominant teams during the 19th century. For most of time, their manager was Frank Selee. The 1898 team finished 102-47, a record for wins that would stand for almost a century. The team was decimated when the American Leagues new Boston entry set up shop in 1901, many of the Beaneaters stars jumped to the new team, which offered contracts that the Beaneaters owners didnt even bother to match. They only managed one winning season from 1900 to 1913, in 1907, the Beaneaters eliminated the last bit of red from their stockings because their manager thought the red dye could cause wounds to become infected. The American League clubs owner, Charles Taylor, wasted time in changing his teams name to the Red Sox in place of the generic Americans. The all-white outfits gave rise to the sobriquet Doves in 1907, clever monikers did nothing to change the National League clubs luck.
The team adopted a name, the Braves, for the first time in 1912. Their owner, James Gaffney, was a member of New York Citys political machine, Tammany Hall, two years later, the Braves put together one of the most memorable seasons in baseball history. After a dismal 4-18 start, the Braves seemed to be on pace for a last place finish, on July 4,1914, the Braves lost both games of a doubleheader to the Brooklyn Dodgers. The consecutive losses put their record at 26-40 and the Braves were in last place,15 games behind the league-leading New York Giants, who had won the previous three league pennants
10.
Mickey Mantle
Mickey Charles Mantle, nicknamed The Commerce Comet and The Mick, was an American professional baseball player. Mantle played his entire Major League Baseball career with the New York Yankees as a fielder and first baseman. Mantle was one of the best players and sluggers, and is regarded by many as the greatest switch hitter in baseball history, Mantle was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974 and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999. Mantle was arguably the greatest offensive threat of any center fielder in baseball history and he has the highest career OPS+ of any center fielder and he had the highest stolen base percentage in history at the time of his retirement. He had an excellent 0.984 fielding percentage when playing center field, Mantle was noted for his ability to hit for both average and power, especially tape measure home runs. He hit 536 MLB career home runs, batted.300 or more ten times, Mantle won the Triple Crown in 1956, leading the major leagues in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in, he wrote a book about his best year in baseball.
He was an All-Star for 16 seasons, playing in 16 of the 20 All-Star Games that were played and he was an American League Most Valuable Player three times and a Gold Glove winner once. Mantle appeared in 12 World Series including seven championships, and holds World Series records for the most home runs, RBIs, extra-base hits, runs and total bases. Mantle was born on October 20,1931 in Spavinaw, Oklahoma and he was of at least partial English ancestry, his great-grandfather, George Mantle, left Brierley Hill, in Englands Black Country, in 1848. Mutt named his son in honor of Mickey Cochrane, a Hall of Fame catcher, in his life, Mantle expressed relief that his father had not known Cochranes true first name, as he would have hated to be named Gordon. Mantle spoke warmly of his father, and said he was the bravest man he ever knew, No boy ever loved his father more, he said. His grandfather died at the age of 60 in 1944, when Mantle was four years old, his family moved to the nearby town of Commerce, where his father worked in lead and zinc mines.
As a teenager, Mantle rooted for the St. Louis Cardinals, Mantle was an all-around athlete at Commerce High School, playing basketball as well as football in addition to his first love, baseball. His football playing nearly ended his athletic career, kicked in the left shin during a practice game during his sophomore year, Mantle developed osteomyelitis in his left ankle, a crippling disease that was incurable just a few years earlier. Mantle began his baseball career in Kansas with the semi-professional Baxter Springs Whiz Kids. In 1948, Yankees scout Tom Greenwade came to Baxter Springs to watch Mantles teammate, during the game, Mantle hit three home runs. Greenwade returned in 1949, after Mantles high school graduation, to sign Mantle to a league contract. Mantle signed for $140 per month with a $1,500 signing bonus, Mantle was assigned to the Yankees Class-D Independence Yankees of the Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League, where he played shortstop
11.
La Jolla
La Jolla is a hilly seaside community within the city of San Diego, United States occupying 7 miles of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean within the northern city limits. The population reported in the 2010 Census was 46,781, Local Native Americans, the Kumeyaay, called this location mat kulaaxuuy, lit. land of holes. The topographic feature that gave rise to the holes is uncertain, it probably refers to sea-level caves located on the north-facing bluffs. It is suggested that the Kumeyaay name for the area was transcribed by the Spanish settlers as La Jolla, an alternative, pseudo-etymological suggestion for the origin of the name is that it is an alternate spelling of the Spanish word la joya, which means the jewel. Despite being disputed by scholars, this derivation of the name has been cited in popular culture. That supposed origin gave rise to the nickname Jewel City, during the Mexican period of San Diegos history, La Jolla was mapped as pueblo land and contained about 60 lots. When California became a state in 1850, the La Jolla area was incorporated as part of the chartered City of San Diego, in 1870 Charles Dean acquired several of the pueblo lots and subdivided them into an area that became known as La Jolla Park.
Dean was unable to develop the land and left San Diego in 1881, a real estate boom in the 1880s led speculators Frank T. Botsford and George W. Heald to further develop the sparsely settled area. In the 1890s the San Diego, Pacific Beach, and La Jolla Railway was built, La Jolla became known as a resort area. To attract visitors to the beach, the railway built facilities such as a bath house, visitors were housed in small cottages and bungalows above La Jolla Cove, as well as a temporary tent city, erected every summer. The La Jolla Park Hotel opened in 1893, the Hotel Cabrillo was built in 1908 by Squire James A. Wilson and was incorporated into the La Valencia Hotel. By 1900, La Jolla comprised 100 buildings and 350 residents, the first reading room was built in 1898. A volunteer fire brigade was organized in 1907, the city of San Diego established a fire house in 1914. Livery stable owner Nathan Rannells served successively as La Jollas volunteer fire captain, first police officer, the Bishops School opened in 1909.
La Jolla High School was established in 1922, the La Jolla Beach and Yacht Club was built in 1927. In 1896 journalist and publisher Ellen Browning Scripps settled in La Jolla and she was wealthy in her own right from her investments and writing, and she inherited a large sum from her brother George H. Scripps in 1900. Unmarried and childless, she devoted herself to philanthropic endeavors, particularly those benefiting her adopted home of La Jolla and she commissioned many of La Jollas most notable buildings, usually designed by Irving Gill or his nephew and partner Louis John Gill. Her donations launched the Scripps Memorial Hospital in 1924, the Scripps Metabolic Clinic, Ellen Browning Scripps founded Scripps College, a womens college, in 1926
12.
Warren Spahn
Warren Edward Spahn was a Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher who played his entire 21-year baseball career in the National League. He won 20 games or more in 13 seasons, including a 23–7 record when he was age 42, Spahn was the 1957 Cy Young Award winner, and was the runner-up three times, all during the period when one award was given, covering both leagues. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, Spahn won 363 games, more than any other left-handed pitcher in history, and more than any other pitcher who played his entire career in the post-1920 live-ball era. He is acknowledged as one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball history, the Warren Spahn Award, given to the major leagues best left-handed pitcher, is named after him. Regarded as a thinking mans pitcher who liked to outwit batters, Spahn once described his approach on the mound and his major league career began in 1942 with the Braves and he spent all but one year with that franchise, first in Boston and in Milwaukee.
He finished his career in 1965 with the New York Mets, with 363 wins, Spahn is the 6th most winning pitcher in history, trailing only Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Christy Mathewson, and Pud Galvin on MLBs all-time list. He led the league in eight times and won at least 20 games an additional five times. Spahn threw two no-hitters, won 3 ERA titles, and four strikeout crowns and he appeared in 14 All-Star Games, the most of any pitcher in the 20th century. He won the NL Player of the Month Award in August 1960 and August 1961 Spahn acquired the nickname Hooks, not so much because of his pitching, but due to the prominent shape of his nose. He had once been hit in the face by a ball that he was not expecting. In Spahns final season, during his stint with the Mets, Yogi Berra came out of retirement briefly and caught 4 games, Yogi told reporters, I dont think were the oldest battery, but were certainly the ugliest. Spahn was known for a high leg kick in his delivery. Photo sequences show that this high kick served a specific purpose, as his fastball waned, Spahn adapted, and relied more on location, changing speeds and a good screwball.
He led or shared the lead in the NL in wins in 1957–61, Spahn was a good hitter, hitting at least one home run in 17 straight seasons, and finishing with an NL career record for pitchers, with 35 home runs. Wes Ferrell, who spent most of his time in the American League, holds the record for pitchers. First signed by the Boston Braves before the 1940 season, Spahn reached the leagues in 1942 at the age of 20. He clashed with Braves manager Casey Stengel, who sent him to the minors after Spahn refused to throw at Brooklyn Dodger batter Pee Wee Reese in an exhibition game, Spahn had pitched in only 4 games, allowing 15 runs in 15 2⁄3 innings. Stengel said that it was the worst managing mistake he had made, I said no guts to a kid who went on to become a war hero
