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Friday, July 12, 2013

Warren Spahn’s 1957 Cy Young Award up for auction

Warren Spahn’s son doesn’t want to choose a sole heir among his five children, so he has put his father’s 1957 Cy Young award on the market.

Greg Spahn, the only child to baseball’s career winningest left-hander, will have more than 800 items—most of Warren’s Spahn’s memorabilia collection sold in 406 separate lots—at a live auction that begins Monday at the Javits Center in New York.

“I just felt like the time is right,” Greg Spahn said. “With everything that we sell, I’ll split the proceeds with the kids.”

Hunt Auctions has a price range between $75,000 and $125,000 for the Cy Young Award. Other expensive items include a 1958 National League championship ring, 300th career victory ball and Spahn’s personal Hall of Fame ring.

The event is being held in conjunction with Tuesday’s All-Star game at Citi Field.

Greg Spahn is retired from real estate sales and investments, but said he wants extra college money for his children.

Thanks to Mike A.

Repoz Posted: July 12, 2013 at 12:21 AM | 16 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: business, hall of fame, history

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1. Rob_Wood Posted: July 12, 2013 at 02:15 AM (#4491935)

I had a ceramic statue of Warren Spahn (with high leg kick) on my dresser as a kid. Yes, I am old.

2. ERROR---Jolly Old St. Nick

Posted: July 12, 2013 at 06:36 AM (#4491962)

I have the scorecard of Spahn's no-hitter in Ebbets Field. My wife tells me I am getting really old.

3. Harveys Wallbangers

Posted: July 12, 2013 at 07:57 AM (#4491974)

andy

if it helps at all I met greg spahn. when he was a kid. I was not.

4. Hack Wilson Posted: July 12, 2013 at 08:16 AM (#4491982)

I hope this doesn't ruin anybody's view of Spahn but here is a link to him in a Nazi uniform (scroll to the bottom) LINK

Actually:

Along with many other major leaguers, Spahn chose to enlist in the United States Army, after finishing the 1942 season in the minors. He served with distinction, and was awarded a Purple Heart. He saw action in the Battle of the Bulge and at the Ludendorff Bridge as a combat engineer, and was awarded a battlefield commission.

I was watching my favorite TV show, Combat, in, apparently, '63 and noticed one of the actors playing a German looked like Spahn. I hoped he would throw a hand grenade with his left hand, but the damn Germans used "potato mashers" instead of grenades.

5. SandyRiver Posted: July 12, 2013 at 08:43 AM (#4492002)

Spahn's no-hitters came in 1960 (Phillies) and 1961 (Giants). Hope #2 isn't signs of age - if so, I'm in that kind of trouble, too. Ebbets field was his un-favorite place to pitch (record: 3-12), though his ERA/peripherals were no worse than some other parks, like Forbes where he had a winning record. Of course, the Dodgers had a 'slightly' better team than the Pirates.

6. ERROR---Jolly Old St. Nick

Posted: July 12, 2013 at 09:18 AM (#4492021)

Spahn's no-hitters came in 1960 (Phillies) and 1961 (Giants). Hope #2 isn't signs of age -

Nah, but it does serve as a reminder that around here you're supposed to put little :-) thingys around posts like that if you don't want people to take you literally. But thanks for the concern. (smile)

7. Gonfalon Bubble Posted: July 12, 2013 at 10:17 AM (#4492076)

I hope this doesn't ruin anybody's view of Spahn but here is a link to him in a Nazi uniform (scroll to the bottom)

Good thing Marge Schott never saw that photo; she would have ordered 25 of those uniforms.

8. SandyRiver Posted: July 12, 2013 at 04:33 PM (#4492600)

#6 - Of course, I blew right thru your first post without considering that your track record for facts made it very unlikely that the "mistake" in #2 was an accident. ;)

9. Infinite Yost (Voxter)

Posted: July 12, 2013 at 04:45 PM (#4492618)

Funny how stuff changes. The Cy didn't exist early in Spahn's career, but he fared much better in MVP voting later in his career than early on, despite the fact that he was probably better when he was younger. I mean, it's no Colon . . . Hernandez kind of situation, but knowledgeable people really did think that wins mattered bakc in the day. I forget sometimes.

10. Fred Lynn Nolan Ryan Sweeney Agonistes Posted: July 12, 2013 at 04:56 PM (#4492626)

Another excuse to mention my favorite Warren Spahn fact:
20-12, 278 IP with a 124 ERA+ was Spahn's average season over a 17-year span.
Sure, it's 50 years ago, but it's not like he was pitching underhanded from 50 feet away, either.

11. ERROR---Jolly Old St. Nick

Posted: July 12, 2013 at 05:07 PM (#4492638)

#6 - Of course, I blew right thru your first post without considering that your track record for facts made it very unlikely that the "mistake" in #2 was an accident. ;)

Hey, no problem, and at least you didn't double down and try to claim that I "really" meant what I wrote and was just "backtracking". That's happened to me (and to others) more than a few times, maybe even to you.

----------------------------------------------------

Funny how stuff changes. The Cy didn't exist early in Spahn's career, but he fared much better in MVP voting later in his career than early on, despite the fact that he was probably better when he was younger.

According to BB-Reference, 10 of Spahn's best 13 seasons for ERA+ were from age 30 and afterwards. Of course he didn't become an established starter until he was 25, but until he finally hit a wall at 43, he was truly an ageless wonder.

12. Infinite Yost (Voxter)

Posted: July 12, 2013 at 05:22 PM (#4492657)

Yeah, actually not making age distinctions at all, but that's cool.

13. Never Give an Inge (Dave) Posted: July 12, 2013 at 07:01 PM (#4492763)

I would love to ditch work for a few hours on Monday and check this out. I've told this story here before, but when I was 12, I won a 1952 Warren Spahn card in a Topps contest. Topps used my name and photo in a commercial; then they found out that they had to pay me for the commercial or be in violation of SAG rules or something like that, which was even better. Not long afterwards, some family friends met Spahn at a baseball fantasy camp and told him this story. He wrote me a note saying "Dear Dave, Congratulations on your good fortune. Keep being lucky." with his signature at the bottom. Understandably, Spahn has been my favorite historical player ever since.

14. Charlie O Posted: July 12, 2013 at 08:26 PM (#4492823)

That is extremely cool, Dave.

15. ERROR---Jolly Old St. Nick

Posted: July 12, 2013 at 10:53 PM (#4492926)

How much did Topps wind up having to pay you? Whatever it was, it was probably a lot more than Spahn had gotten from them in 1952, which was something like $50.00.

16. Never Give an Inge (Dave) Posted: July 13, 2013 at 12:21 AM (#4492968)

Andy, it was a long time ago, but I remember it being about $2,500. Combined with a writing contest I won that same year I was pretty flush with cash for a 12-year-old (well, not really, since my parents put it all away in my college fund).

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Friday, July 12, 2013

Warren Spahn’s 1957 Cy Young Award up for auction

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