A Couple of 20-Game Winner Accomplishments September 8th

On this day in Baseball History September 8th: A couple of milestones were reached by two 20-Game winners.

- September 8, 1939

Cleveland Indians starter Bob Feller becomes the youngest pitcher to win 20-games. Feller won his 20th game at the age of 20 years old against the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Feller's record would stand until August 25, 1985 when New York Mets starting pitcher Dwight "Dr. K" Gooden defeated the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium 9-3 to become the youngest 20-game winner in Major League Baseball history. Here is my August 25, 2014 post Dr. K Becomes the Youngest 20-Game Winner August 25, 1985.

Feller would finish the season with a 24-9 record and a 2.85 ERA with 24 complete games in 35 games started. Here is the box score for the September 8, 1939 game between the Cleveland Indians vs. the St. Louis Browns

- Click here to access Bob Feller's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

- Click here to access the official Bob Feller webpage

- September 8, 1963

Milwaukee Braves starter Warren Spahn ties legendary pitcher Christy Mathewson with 13 20-win seasons. Spahn pitched a complete game for his 20th against Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 at Connie Mack Stadium (aka Shibe Park before 1953), Philadelphia.

Mathewson had 12-consecutive 20-win seasons from 1903-1914. His first 20-game season came in 1901. The pitcher with the most 20-game seasons is Cy Young. Young had 15 20-game win seasons. You can also add on the 5 30-game win seasons to that list as well. Walter Johnson and Kid Nichols had 12 20-game win seasons. Spahn would finish the season with a 23-7 record with a 2.60 ERA with 22 COMPLETE GAMES!!!!! Mind boggling. Let me blow your mind, Spahn for his career had 382 complete games out of 665 games started. LOL.

Here is the box score for the September 8, 1963 game between the Milwaukee Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies.

- Click here to access Warren Spahn's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click here to access Christy Mathewson's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click here to access Cy Young's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click here to access Walter Johnson's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click here to access Kid Nichols' career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

Both Feller and Spahn had the 20-game historical moments on September 8th. While Feller was a tender 20-years of age when he achieved his first 20-game season, Spahn was the grizzled age of 42 when he reached his final 20-year season. Which one do you think we see sooner: a 20-year old 20-game winner or a 42-year old 20-game winner?

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

The Only Player to Play For The Boston Milwaukee AND Atlanta Braves

This question from Pete proved to be quite the tricky question to answer. For those of you who don't know, the Atlanta Braves started out in the city of Boston. After a number of monikers, the name of the team settled on The Braves from 1912-1935 and 1941-1952. They were called the Boston Bees from 1936-1940. Why? I haven't been able to find out as of yet. But for an interesting history on the Boston Braves check out Home of the Braves? 50 years after the Boston Braves' departure, it’s worth asking: did the wrong team leave town? by Mike Miliard. Back to the trivia question. So the Braves left Boston for Milwaukee for a period of 12 years before moving to Atlanta for the 1966 season. The player would have had to have played for the team for a window of at least 14 years from 1952 to 1966 to have played for the team in all three cities.

At first my mind gravitated to Hall of Famer Warren Spahn, which was the incorrect answer. Spahn played for Boston in 1942 before losing three seasons to military service. Spahn rejoined the team in 1946 and continued with the franchise through their move to Milwaukee. His contract was purchased by the New York Mets in 1964 and would become a free agent after being released during the 1965. Spahn would sign with the San Francisco Giants during the same season and be released at season's end.

Though Hall of Famer Hank Aaron signed as a free agent with the Boston Braves in 1952, he never played in Boston coming up with the Milwaukee Braves in 1954. He would play with the Braves in Atlanta until 1974. Aaron would play for two more seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers. After Aaron, the next logical choice for me was Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews which was indeed the correct answer.

Eddie Mathews' rookie season was 1952 with the Boston Braves and came into his own with the Milwaukee Braves as a potent tandem with Hank Aaron. While in Milwaukee, Mathews hit 452 of his 512 home runs. He would combine with Aaron to hit a total of 850 home runs while playing in Milwaukee. That is one crazy number considering that in 12 years, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig would combine for a total of 859 home runs.

Mathews would play the 1966 season in Atlanta before he was traded to the Houston Astros on December 31, 1966 with a player to be named later and Arnold Umbach for Bob Bruce and Dave Nicholson. Sandy Alomar Sr. was the player to be named later. He would later be traded to the Detroit Tigers during the 1967 season and play with them until the end of the 1968 season. He would be released and retire after the 1968 season.

Thanks to Pete for that one.

For Further Reading
- Click Here to read Guest Article: Looking Back at Aaron and Mathews by Andrew Godfrey from the Los Angeles Times blog page Bleacher Report: Los Angeles dated October 7, 2009
- Click Here to Access Eddie Mathews' Career Statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to Access Hank Aaron's Career Statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to Access Warren Spahn's Career Statistics from Baseball Reference.com

Sisco Kid

The Greatest Pitching Duel...Ever (In my opinion)

On the 30th Anniversary of Carl Hubbell's amazing 18 inning 1-0 shutout of the St. Louis Cardinals, the greatest pitching duel for the modern age was held in San Francisco. On July 2, 1963, the Milwaukee Braves faced the San Francisco Giants. On the mound for the Milwaukee Braves was their long time ace Warren Spahn (363-245 3.09 ERA). Taking the ball for the San Francisco Giants was their ace, "The Dominican Dandy" Juan Marichal (243-142 2.89 ERA).



The game lasted a total of 4 hours and 10 minutes and was a marathon shutout of 16 innings with both starters pitching complete games. The game ended 1-0 due to a game winning home run by Willie Mays (Spahn pitched 15.1 innings, having given up the game winning hit in the bottom of the 16th). Both Spahn and Marichal matched each other with keeping the the opposing team to nearly the same amount of hits (9-8 in favor of Marichal) and both teams left 11 men on base. Both pitchers combined for 428 pitches (227 for Spahn and 201 for Marichal). Marichal struck out 10 while walking 4, Spahn walked only 1 (an intentional walk to Mays in the 14th and was his first walk in 31.2 innings) and struck out 2 but helped his own cause by doubling in the 7th inning, all at the age of 42.

In an era of forced pitched counts and 6 inning starters, its amazing to think that not only one starter would pitch 15 plus shutout innings, but both starters matched each other with the ending being decided on one pitch. Arguably the best left handed starter dueled with the greatest Latino starter of all time in a game for the ages. As I said, amazing. To see the box score (printed July 4, 1963 in the New York Times) click the image to the right.