Frank Ernaga – hit for the cycle in his first five at bats versus Warren Spahn
On May 24, 1957, Frank Ernaga – 26-year old outfielder for the Cubs – made his first major-league appearance. In his fifth professional season (in 1956, Ernaga had gone .273-18-97 for the Double A Tulsa Oilers), the rookie was facing future Hall of Famer Warren Spahn, coming off his seventh twenty-win season (and on his way to a 21-11, 2.69 year and the World Series in 1957). Ernaga was not overwhelmed.
In his first major-league plate appearance, Ernaga took Spahn deep – a second-inning solo home run to left field. Two innings later, he launched an RBI-triple to left center. Before Ernaga’s next at bat ,Spahn had been lifted for a pinch hitter.
Flash forward to September 20 – the next time Ernaga faced Spahn. The southpaw got a measure of revenge, fanning Ernaga in the second inning. Ernaga faced Spahn again with two out in the fourth – and recorded an RBI single. He came up again with two-out in the sixth and launched an RBI double to center. That was Ernaga’s last 1957 at bat versus Spahn. At this point, he had faced the Braves’ ace lefty five times and recorded a single, double, triple and home run (.800 average) and four RBI. Ernaga, by the way, would get only on more at bat versus Spahn in his career (a foul pop out in 1958). In fact, Ernaga’s major-league career would encompass only two seasons (1957-58), 29 games and 43 at bats (.279-2-7). Spahn, of course, would become the MLB’s winnings left-hander and still be on the mound (at age 44) seven season after Ernaga’s final MLB plate appearance.
Thus, starts Baseball Roundtable’s “Who’s Your Daddy?” … Warren Spahn Edition.
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Who’s Your Daddy? What’s it all about?
That’s right, it’s time for the next edition of Baseball Roundtable’s “Who’s Your Daddy?” series … focusing on some of MLB’s premier pitchers – like Bob Feller, Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax and Nolan Ryan, as well as contemporary hurlers like Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer.
In this series, BBRT presents lineups of players who performed unexpectedly well against baseball’s top pitchers. (An explanation of the inspiration behind the Who’s Your Daddy? series can be found the end of this post.) As always, I would stress that the pitchers included in the Who’s Your Daddy? series are among the “best in the business.” They are selected not because of the players who performed well against them, but rather because success among hitters when they were on the mound was the exception rather than the rule.
Before we get started on this edition – focusing on Hall of Famer Warren Spahn, here are links to the previous editions of this series:
- Nolan Ryan, click here.
- Sandy Koufax, click here.
- Pedro Martinez, click here.
- Bob Gibson, click here.
- Randy Johnson, click here.
- Greg Maddux, click here.
- Justin Verlander, click here.
- Bob Feller, click here.
- Roger Clemens, click here.
- Max Scherzer, click here.
- Tom Seaver, click here.
- Mariano Rivera, click here.
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Now, let’s take a look at Warren Spahn and a lineup of players who fared pretty well against the legendary lefty.
Warren Spahn is the winningest southpaw in MLB history (363-245) and his 363 regular-season MLB victories are sixth-most all-time (had he not lost three prime years to military service, he would be higher on that list). Consider these Hall of Fame credentials. Spahn pitched 21 MLB seasons (1942-65 – missing 1943-45 for military service). He was an All Star in 14 of those seasons and the NL Cy Young Award winner in 1957. Spahn led the NL in victories eight times and won 20 or more games in 13 seasons (going 23-7, 2.60 in 1963 – at the age of 42). He also led the NL in ERA three times, complete games nine times, shutouts four times and innings pitched four times. Despite never fanning 200 batters in a season, Spahn led the NL in strikeouts for four straight seasons (1949-52) – it was a different game back then. Spahn threw a pair no-hitters – one at age 39 and one at age 40. Spahn’s final stat line was 363-245, 3.09, with 382 complete games (5,243 2/3 innings pitched), 63 shutouts, 1,434 walks and 2,583 strikeouts.
So who could handle this Hall of Famer’s stuff?
Note on chart: Baseball-References indicates game logs before 1973 are not complete. In the chart above, game logs (versus Spahn) are missing for Stan Musial (eight games); Del Ennis (six games); and Wes Westrum (two games). Throughout this post, I have noted instances of incomplete game logs.
Here’s the lineup.
Catcher – Bob Scheffing (.455 versus Spahn in 1947)
While the Spahn “Whose Your Daddy?” lineup reads a bit like a Hall of Fame primer (Mays, Musial, Clemente in the outfield, for example), little-known Bob Scheffing gets the start behind the plate. Scheffing first faced Spahn on July 19, 1946 (Spahn’s first-season back in the majors after three years of military service). Spahn was on his way to an 8-5, 2.94 record. The future Hall of Famer had a 4-0 lead with two outs and no one on in the bottom of the eighth, when the Cubs sent Scheffing up to pinch hit. Scheffing singled and scored the Cubs’ only run of the contest.
Scheffing went on to face Spahn a total of 26 times in 12 games over five seasons and hit a solid .360 against him.
Note: Two games (logs) versus Spahn are missing from Scheffing’s totals.
Scheffing played in eight major-league campaigns (like Spahn he missed three seasons due to military service) from 1941 to 1955. He played for the Cubs, Reds and Cardinals. He appeared in a total of 517 games, hitting .263, with 20 home runs and 187 RBI. His best season was 1949, when he got into 102 games for the Cubs, going .300-5-45. His ten career RBI against Spahn are the second-most he garnered against any pitcher (he had 12 RBI versus Joe Hatten); his two home runs against Spahn are the most against any pitcher (he also had two against Hatten); and his nine hits against Spahn are the fourth-most he had against any pitcher.
Honorable Mention: Gus Triandos faced Warren Spahn 14 times in six games and went six-for-thirteen (.462), including a four-for-four game (all singles) on May 24, 1965 (when Triandos was with the Phillies and Spahn was with the Mets). The fact that Triandos’ safeties all came in Spahn’s final two seasons clearly gives Scheffing the edge.
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First Base – Orlando Cepeda (.344, with ten long balls)
Orlando Cepeda managed a .344 average against Spahn, despite striking out in one of every 5.4 plate appearances. His ten regular-season long balls are the fourth-most against Spahn and his .625 slugging percentage is the sixth-best among players with at least 25 at bats versus the lefty.
Off to a Good Start
Between July 17 and August 30, 1962, Cepeda started three games against Spahn and homered in his first at bat in each of them.
Cepeda’s ten regular-season career home runs are the most he hit against any pitcher. He reached that number against both Spahn and Spahn’s teammate Lew Burdette.
Cepeda played 17 MLB seasons (1958-74 … Giants, Cardinals, Braves, A’s, Red Sox, Royals), hitting .297, with 379 home runs and 1,365 RBI. He was an 11-time All Star, the 1958 NL Rookie of the Year and the 1967 NL Most Valuable Player. Cepeda led his league in RBI twice (five times topping 100 RBI in a season) and home runs once (five times hitting 30+ home runs). He also hit.300 or better in ten campaigns). BBRT rates his best season as 1961, when he went .311-46-142; leading the league (and reaching career highs) in home runs and RBI.
Honorable Mention: In 1961, when Warren Spahn went 21-13 with the NL’s lowest qualifying earned run average (3.02), Reds’ 1B Gordy Coleman faced Spahn 17 times and collected 10 hits, three walks, two home runs and five RBI (.714 average, .765 on-base percentage, 1.215 slugging percentage). For his career (31 at bats) versus Spahn, Coleman hit .516-3-7.
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Things Turned Around Pretty Fast
In his rookie season (1959), Willie McCovey faced Warren Spahn ten times and collected four hits and a walk (.444 average), with one home run. Over the remainder of his career, McCovey faced Spahn 59 more times and collected just four more singles and one more walk – finishing with a .136 career average versus Spahn.
Second Base – Red Schoendienst (.313 average)
Warren Spahn was probably happy to have Red Schoendienst as a teammate from 1957 through 1960 (the Giants traded Schoendienst to the Braves on June 15, 1957 for Ray Crone, Danny O’Connell and Bobby Thomson). When he joined the Braves, Schoendienst had a .320 career average against Spahn (with 73 hits in 66 games). He had faced Spahn in one game in 1957 and had gone four-for-five.
Schoendienst faced Spahn only five times after leaving the Braves- and went zero-for-five – dropping his career average against the left-hander to .313. Schoendienst’s 73 career safeties against Spahn are second only to Stan Musial. They are also the most hits Schoendienst had against any pitcher. The redhead twice reached double digits in hits against Spahn in a season (ten hits in 1949 for a .435 average and ten hits in 1954 for a .345 average).
Note: Eight games (logs) versus Spahn are missing from Schoendienst’s totals.
Schoendienst enjoyed a 19-season MLB career (1945-63 … Cardinals, Giants, Braves), during which he hit .289, with 84 home runs, 773 RBI and 1,223 runs scored. The Hall of Famer was a ten-time All Star and hit .300 or better in nine seasons – reaching at least 190 hits four times. His best season was probably 1953, when he went .342-15-79, with 107 runs scored for the Cardinals – all career highs. He led the NL in hits once (200 in 1957), doubles once (43 in 1950) and stolen bases once (26 as a rookie in 1945).
Honorable Mention: Pete Rose hit .531 in ten games (starting all ten at second base) versus Spahn (17-for-32), with two home runs and five RBI. While those stats are impressive, BBRT took into account that all Rose’s at bats were Spahn came after the southpaw’s 42nd birthday.
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Third Base … Ken Boyer (11 home runs in 51 games)
Cardinals’ third sacker Ken Boyer hit .301 in 51 games versus Spahn – more telling was his 11 career regular-season home runs off the Hall of Famer – the third-most of any batter (trailing only Willie Mays and Stan Musial). Boyer’s 27 RBIs are also the third-most against Spahn (again trailing only Mays and Musial) and his 50 hits are seventh. Boyer faced Spahn in 11 seasons and hit over .350 in four of them.
Note: One game (log) versus Spahn is missing from Boyer’s totals.
It’s in the Genes
Ken Boyer was one of three brothers (joined by Clete and Cloyd) to play in the major leagues.
Boyer played 15 MLB seasons (1955-69 … Cardinals, Mets, White Sox, Dodgers). He was a career .287 hitter, with 282 home runs, 1,141 RBI and 1,104 runs scored. He was a seven-time All Star, five-time Gold Glover and the 1964 National League MVP. Boyer hit 20+ home runs in eight seasons and drove in 100+ runs twice (leading the NL with 119 RBI in 1964). He hit .300+ in five seasons, a high of .329 in 1961). His best season was was 1961, when he hit .329-24-95 and won a Gold Glove (although some might pick his 1964 MVP campaign; .295-24-199).
Honorable Mention: Don Hoak (Pirates) hit .345 (39-for-113) versus Spahn, with eight doubles, five home runs and 17 RBI. While his average topped Boyer, the Cardinal gets the edge due to his power numbers (11 home runs versus five), 27 RBI versus 17. Still, I could have gone with Hoak or Boyer on this one and felt justified. Note: One game (log) versus Spahn is missing from Hoak’s totals.
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Note: Eight games (logs) from versus Spahn from Musial and one from Ken Boyer are missing from the chart totals;
Shortstop … Pee Wee Reese (two homers, 11 RBI, 23 walks)
Pee Wee Reese’s 38 hits are the 19th-most against Spahn – and the most by any shortstop. Reese also showed a bit of punch off Spahn, with nine extra base hits. In addition, Reese’s 23 career walks versus Spahn are third among all hitters and give him a solid .391 on-base percentage.
Pee Wee Reese played 16 MLB seasons (1940-58 … all for the Dodgers) and, like Spahn, lost three seasons due to military service. Reese was a ten-time All Star and led the league in runs scored, stolen bases and walks once each. His career line was .269-126-885, with 1,338 runs scored and 232 stolen bases. Reese scored 100+ runs in two seasons, stole 20 or more bases in five and twice drew 100+ walks.
Take Your Base, Out of Respect, Pee Wee
Pee Wee Reese drew an NL-leading 29 intentional walks in 1947 – tied for 27th highest season total all-time.
Honorable Mention: Maury Wills hit .339, in 19 games versus Spahn. That gaudy number attracted BBRT at first. But digging deeper, I found reasons to relegate Wills to honorable mention. Seven of his 21 hits versus the left-handed mound master came in 11 1965 at bats – when Spahn was 44-years-old and in his final MLB season. Going into that final season, Wills was hitting .275 against Spahn. Also, Wills did not do a lot of damage with his 21 hits. He had only three extra base hits, just one RBI, scored just five runs off those hits and recorded just one stolen base (four tries) while Spahn was on the mound.
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Outfield – Stan Musial (96 hits, 14 home runs, 45 RBI, .318 average)
Stan Musial, the only left-handed hitter in this lineup, played from 1941-1963 (missing one season due to military service), and Spahn played from 1942-1965 (missing three seasons while in the military). As you might expect, these two warriors faced each other a lot of times (353 to be exact). Little wonder Stan the Man is first in hits, second in home runs and first in RBI against Spahn. In 18 seasons versus Spahn, Musial hit .350 or better seven times. In seven games in 1948, he touched up Spahn for 19 hits and four walks in 23 plate appearances (.526 average/.609 on-base percentage). From June 3, 1947 through September 22, 1948, Musial ran off an 11-game hitting streak versus Spahn in which he hit .500 (16-for-32) with a double, triple and four home runs. Still, Spahn “held” Musial to a .318 average over 100 games – 13 points below Musial’s .331 career mark. 
Note: Eight games (logs) versus Spahn are missing from Musial’s totals.
Musial played 22 seasons for the Cardinals and was an All Star in 20 of them. He was the National League Most Valuable player in three seasons. And, Stan The Man was a “leader.” He led the NL in batting average seven times, doubles seven times, runs scored five times, hits five times, triples five times and RBI twice. Musial had 200 or more hits in six seasons, 100+ runs ten times, 50 or more doubles three times, twenty triples twice, 30 or more home runs five times and 100+ RBI 10 times. He hit over .300 in 17 full seasons – .330 or better 13 times.
Side Note: Those who follow Baseball Roundtable know how, when I begin to do research “one thing leads to another.” Working on this post, I found that Sam “Toothpick” Jones may have been Stan Musial’s greatest nemesis (holding him to six hits in 49 at bats – a .122 career average). Look for a post on Jones in the near future.
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Outfield – Willie Mays (18 home runs)
No one hit more home runs off Warren Spahn than Willie Mays, who took the Hall of Fame lefty deep 18 times. Next on the list is Stan Musial with 14 dingers, but in 79 more at bats. Mays took Spahn yard once in every 12.4 at bats during his career. Mays also had the second-most RBI versus Spahn (40), second-most walks (25) and third-most hits (68). All this with a solid .305 average against Spahn. In 14 seasons versus Spahn, Mays hit .300+ eight times (.400 or better in five of those campaigns). Mays’ 18 home runs against Spahn are the most he launched off any pitcher. Also among Mays’ top five long ball victims are Vernon Law (14), Don Drysdale (13), Lew Burdette (12)and Bob Buhl (11).
Nice Set of Bookends
As a rookie in 1951, Willie Mays homered in his first career plate appearance versus the Braves’ Warren Spahn (May 28). It was Mays’ fourth MLB game and his first major league hit. Fourteen seasons later (on April 25, 1965), in Spahn’s final season, Mays homered in his final plate appearance versus the lefty (then a New York Met.) In between, Mays took Spahn deep 16 more times, notching the most career regular-season home runs against him.
Willie Mays played 22 MLB seasons (1951-73, missing 1953 due to military service). He final stat line was .302 (3,283 hits) – 660-1,903, with 2,062 runs scored and 338 stolen bases. He was an All Star in 20 seasons, a 12-time Gold Glover, the 1951 NL Rookie of the Year and the League’s Most Valuable Player in 1954 and 1965. Mays led the NL in runs scored twice (scoring 100+ runs in 12 seasons); hits once; triples three times; home runs four times (topping 40 dingers in six times); stolen bases four times: and batting average once (.345 in 1954). While he never led the league in RBI, he did drive in 100 or more runs in ten seasons.
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Outfield – Roberto Clemente (.425 average)
Roberto Clemente hit .425 against Spahn during his career – raking at .400 or better against the lefty in eight of the 11 seasons he faced him. Like Willie Mays, Clemente foreshadowed his success again Spahn, homering in his first plate appearance against him (May 3, 1955). In his last game against Spahn (August 23, 1965), Clemente went three-for-three, with a triple and two RBI.
Note: Note: Six games (logs) versus Spahn are missing from Clemente’s totals.
It’s a Numbers Game
Warren Spahn and Roberto Clemente, who both wore number 21, were both inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973
Clemente played 18 MLB seasons (1955-72), all for the Pirates. He was an All Star in 12 of those campaigns, a Gold Glover 12 times and the 1996 NL Most Valuable Player. Clemente was a four-time batting champion (hitting .300+ in 12 seasons – a high of .357 in 1967). He also led the NL in hits twice (getting 200+ hits in four seasons) and triples once. He scored 100 or more runs in three seasons and drove in 100+ in two. His final line was .317 (3,000 hits)-240-1,305, with 1,416 runs scored.
A Truly “Grand” Slam
On July 25, 1956, Roberto Clemente came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, with the bases load, no outs and his Pirates trailing the Chicago Cubs 8-5. He hit the first pitch from Jim Brosnan off the light standard in left field and, as Cubs’ LF Jim King chased down the ball, all three base runners AND Clemente circled the bases – giving Clemente what remains MLB’s only walk-off, inside-the-park Grand Slam. (Further proof that “In baseball we count everything.)
Honorable Mention: Got to give a shout out here to outfielder Wally Post – a career .266 hitter – who hit .322, with ten home runs and 18 RBI in 49 games against Spahn – despite a slow start. (In his first seven at bats against Spahn, Post was 0-for-7, with four strikeouts.) Post played 15 MLB seasons and went .266-210-699.
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Pitcher … Bob Rush (.417 average)
Bob Rush faced Warren Spahn 12 time in six games and handled himself pretty well – five hits (one double) for a .417 average. This performance comes as a bit of a surprise as Rush was a career .173 hitter. Rush did, however have a solid year at the plate in 1952, when he hit .292 (28-for-96), with five doubles, a triple and 15 RBI. He did not face Spahn that season.
In the six games he faced off against Spahn, Rush went 2-4, with a 5.01 earned run average, while Spahn went 4-2, with a 2.06 ERA. For his career (1948-60), Rush went 125-152, with a 3.65 ERA.
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Who’s Your Daddy? The Inspiration.
On September 24, 2004, in the middle of a tight pennant race, the Yankees handed future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez and the Boston Red Sox a tough 6-4 loss. Martinez went 7 1/3 innings giving up nine hits and five earned runs. The game came just five days after (in his previous start) Martinez had lasted just five frames against the Bronx Bombers (eight hits, eight earned runs) in a 16-7 loss.
After that second loss, Martinez candidly commented, “What can I say? I just tip my hat and call the Yankees my daddy.” Little did he know that his comment – and a Yankee fans’ chant of “Who’s your daddy?” would follow him into future starts in New York (all the way to his final MLB start – against the Yankees for the Phillies – in Game Six of the 2009 World Series.)
The concept of “Who’s your daddy?” became the inspiration for Baseball Roundtable to take a look at the players who “had the number” of some of MLB’s premier pitchers. Again, you can find links to the previous “editions” of “Who’s Your Daddy?” near the top of this post.
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Primary Resource: Baseball Reference.com
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