The old left hander. Warren Spahn is one of the greatest left handed pitchers to every throw a baseball and his 363 wins are the most ever by a left hander. It’s not even close. Steve Carlton comes in second and he’s a full 34 wins behind Spahn. And while 1957 isn’t Spahn’s best season, it’s the only one in which he won a Cy Young.
Spahn was definitely a workhorse. From 1947 through 1963, the lowest number of innings that Spahn threw was 245 2/3. He topped out at 310 2/3 in 1951 and the 271 innings he threw in 1957 came in second in the senior circuit. Only Pirates starter Bob Friend logged more and he beat Spahn by only six innings.
Spahn led the league in wins (21) and complete games (18). In addition, he was third with a 2.69 ERA, fifth with a 1.177 WHIP and second in shutouts (4). More simply put, Spahn was the best pitcher on one of the best pitching staffs in the National League.
The Cy Young wasn’t even close. Spahn captured 15 of the sixteen votes, and the only nay sayer went to Dick Donavon (an American Leaguer no less, back then the Cy Young wasn’t split by league). Spahn also finished fifth in the MVP voting and he even mustered a first place vote.
Spahn was lights out in August of 1957. He went 7-0 with a 1.82 ERA in 54 1/3 innings. And as expected, Spahn was death on left handed hitters. Lefties hit only .217/.289/331 against him. Not that righties did much better (.244/.292/.353). Oddly, Spahn was 14-3 on the road and he was only 7-8 at home which is especially odd because County Stadium was a pitchers park that year.
Here’s a look at Spahn’s 1957 numbers:
Wins 21
Losses 11
Games 39
Games Started 35
Complete Games 18
Innings Pitched 271
Hits 241
Runs 94
Earned Runs 81
Walks 78
Strikeouts 111
ERA 2.69
Runs Saved Above Average 22
Shutouts 4
H/9 8.00
BR/9 10.66
SO/9 3.69
BB/9 2.59
SO/BB 1.42
Neutral Wins 20
Neutral Losses 12
