Former Braves, Yankees Star Johnny Sain Passes Away at 89…
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Former pitching star for the Boston Braves and New York Yankees, Johnny Sain passed away Tuesday in Illinois at 89.
Yahoo Sports reports that “Sain had a stroke in 2002 and had been in poor health.”
Sain broke into baseball with the Boston Braves in 1942 and had his career interrupted due to enlistment into the armed forces during World War 2. In 1946, he resumed his career with the Braves and ran off 3 straight 20 win years from 1946-48 in tandem with Hall of Famer Warren Spahn. Sain slumped in 1949 but came back to finish 1950 with a 20-13 mark.
It was about this pitching tandem that Boston Post sports editor Gerald Hern composed the poem which was published on September 14, 1948; “Spahn and Sain” which read;
First we’ll use Spahn
then we’ll use Sain
Then an off day
followed by rain
Back will come Spahn
followed by Sain
And followed
we hope
by two days of rain.
The Spahn/Sain tandem was a forerunner of some of the great contemporary pitching tandems such as; Spahn/Burdette, Koufax/Drysdale, Marichal/Gaylord Perry, Tommy John/Don Sutton, Glavine/Maddux, Schilling/Randy Johnson.
Sain’s career encompassed 11 seasons where he pitched 6 1/2 seasons for the Boston Braves, 3 1/2 seasons for the Yankees and hs final season with the Kansas City Athletics. He compiled a 139-116 career mark.
Baseball Library records that after his playing years, Sain went on to become a highly successful pitching coach;
He became an instructor and ML pitching coach with the A’s, Yankees, Twins, Tigers, Angels, White Sox, and Braves. He became known for developing 20-game-winners in tight, four-man rotations. Whitey Ford, Jim Kaat, Earl Wilson, Denny McLain, Clyde Wright, Stan Bahnsen, and Wilbur Wood all had their biggest seasons under Sain’s supervision. Loved by his pitchers, often hated by his jealous managers, he coached five ML teams that won pennants. Jim Bouton has called Sain “the greatest pitching coach who ever lived.” When Sain was fired by Yogi Berra, Bouton said, “What general likes a lieutenant that’s smarter?”
Johnny Sain, gone at 89.
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