Today In Brewer History: Happy Birthday, Warren Spahn

On this day in 1921 Warren Spahn was born in Buffalo, New York. The Boston Braves signed him as an amateur free agent in 1940 and he made his major league debut in 1942, making two appearances in April and two more in September. After his debut, however, his career took a three year hiatus while he served in the Army in World War II. He was awarded both a purple heart and bronze star for his actions overseas.

Spahn returned to the big leagues and had just finished his eighth season when the Braves moved to Milwaukee in 1953. Spahn pitched for the Braves in 12 of their 13 seasons in Milwaukee, winning 234 games and striking out 1493 batters over 3162 IP. He represented Milwaukee in the All Star game nine times, received MVP votes in nine seasons and won the 1957 NL Cy Young Award.

After leaving the Braves following the 1964 season Spahn pitched one more year, split between the Mets and Giants. He finished his major league career with 363 wins, the most ever for a left-handed pitcher, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973.

Spahn passed away in 2003, or he would have turned 91 today.

We'd also like to wish a happy birthday today to Mike Jones, the Brewers' first round pick (12th overall) in the 2001 draft. He turns 29.

Today is also the third anniversary of Dave Bush's near no-hitter against the Blue Jays in 2009. We covered that event in this space last year.