Warren Spahn
Warren Spahn is one of the greatest left-handed pitchers of all time, and he was able to change up his game enough over his long career that he was still a star players in his 40's.
Spahn first pitched for the Boston Braves in 1942, but didn't perform well in 4 appearances and was sent back to the minors. At the conclusion of the season, he joined the Army and was shipped out to Europe, where he fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was awarded a Purple Heart.
When he returned from war in 1946, he joined the Braves again and finished the season off solidly. Many feel that he lost precious years from his career by fighting in World War II, but he felt that the war helped prolong his career, by allowing him to come back more mature and stronger.
He pitched his first full season in 1947, and he led the league with 7 shutouts and a 2.33 ERA while also winning 21 games, the first of 13 times he would reach the 20-win plateau. The following season the Braves reached the World Series, and Spahn pitched well, striking out 12 in 12 innings of work while giving up only 4 runs, but the Braves lost the Series to the Indians.
Over the next 2 seasons he led the league in both wins and strikeouts, falling just one category short of the Triple Crown. He would lead the league in strikeouts in the next 2 seasons as well, making it 4 in a row. The next year, he led the league in wins and ERA, but not in strikeouts, missing one category for the Triple Crown for the third time in 5 years.
After a couple of down seasons, Spahn experienced a career renaissance in 1957, when he won his only Cy Young. That season also started a streak of 5 straight seasons leading the league in wins and 7 straight seasons leading in complete games, a streak that was still active when he was 42. He finally earned his World Series title in 1957, although he struggled in that season's Series.
The Braves returned to the World Series in 1958 to face the Yankees again, and this time Spahn pitched very well, pitching 2 complete game wins and recording 18 strikeouts, but the Yankees got revenge on the Braves that year. It would be his best and final postseason.
Spahn threw his first no-hitter in 1960, at the age of 39, becoming the oldest ever first-time no-hit pitcher, and he repeated the feat again the next season. He also won his only 2 Player of the Month awards in those two seasons, both coming in August, and both times after amassing a 6-0 record for the month. Spahn truly got better with age.
His most famous pitching performance came at age 42, when he and 25-year-old Juan Marichal each pitched a complete 16-inning game that was scoreless until Willie Mays hit a home run in the bottom of the 16th. At one point late in Spahn's career, Stan Musial said that Spahn would never reach the Hall of Fame, because he would never stop pitching.
Spahn did eventually retire, and when he did, he was #6 on the all-time wins list, a position he still holds. He is also the winningest left-handed pitcher of all time, and holds the NL record for home runs hit by a pitcher, with 35 in his career, and at least one in 17 straight seasons. He had two different long stretches as one of the top pitchers in the league, and is an obvious choice to appear on the list of the top players of all time.
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