Johnny Sain

Position: Pitcher
Bats: Right  •  Throws: Right
6-2, 185lb (188cm, 83kg)
Born: September 25, 1917 in Havana, AR
Died: November 7, 2006  in Downers Grove, IL
Buried: Havana Cemetery, Havana, AR
High School: Havana HS (Havana, AR)
Debut: April 17, 1942 (9,241st in major league history)
vs. NYG 2.1 IP, 0 H, 3 SO, 0 BB, 0 ER, Sv
Last Game: July 15, 1955
vs. BAL 1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 SO, 1 BB, 1 ER
Full Name: John Franklin Sain
View Player Info from the B-R Bullpen
View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject

Nine Players Who Debuted in 1942

Warren Spahn
Larry Doby
Tommy Holmes
Johnny Pesky
Johnny Sain
Ewell Blackwell
Allie Reynolds
Willard Marshall
Jim Russell
Connie Ryan

All-Time Teammate Team

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Notable Events and Chronology 

SearchSearch Events, Dates and More Date (Newest)Title (A - Z)

January 14, 1940

91 players in the Detroit farm system are set free by commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis

July 28, 1943

In a Red Cross charity game played at Yankee Stadium, retired outfielder Babe Ruth leads a Yank-Lands club, a combination of former Yankee and Indian ballplayers, against the Cloudbusters, a U.S. Navy team from the Chapel Hill Naval Pre-Flight School based at the University of North Carolina. ‘The Bambino,’ appearing as a pinch-hitter in his only plate appearance in the 8-5 loss to the servicemen, is walked by 25 year-old Navy pilot trainee and Boston Braves right-hander Johnny Sain.

May 11, 1946

In front of the largest crowd in 13 years, the New York Giants defeat the Boston Braves, 5 – 1, in the first night game played at Braves Field

July 12, 1946

Johnny Sain just misses a perfect no-hitter when Grady Hatton’s pop fly drops among three Braves behind third base. No one else gets on as the Braves win, 1 – 0, in Cincinnati.

April 24, 1947

Johnny Mize of the New York Giants becomes the first major leaguer to hit three home runs in a game on five different occasions

July 8, 1947

Clutch pinch hits by Luke Appling and Stan Spence lead the American League to a 2 – 1 win over the National League in the All-Star Game 

August 8, 1947

Schoolboy Rowe becomes the first major leaguer to appear in different All-Star Games representing teams from the National League and American League

July 9, 1948

Johnny Sain becomes the National League’s first 11-game winner

July 15, 1948

The Boston Braves stop the host Chicago Cubs, 2 – 1, behind Johnny Sain, then battle to a 1 – 1 tie in 13 innings in the nitecap. Alvin Dark’s hitting streak of 23 games is stopped in the opener, but he has two hits and scores the run in the second game. Bob Rush pitches all 13 innings for the Bruins.

August 27, 1948

Johnny Schmitz leads the Cubs to a 1 – 0 win over the first-place Braves at Wrigley Field. Schmitz allows just six hits, including two triples, but doubles and scores the game’s only run in the bottom of the 9th. Johnny Saintakes the loss.

September 14, 1948

“Spahn and Sain and pray for rain.”

October 6, 1948

Boston Braves beat Bob Feller and the Cleveland Indians, 1 – 0

October 11, 1948

Cleveland Indians defeat the Boston Braves to win the 1948 World Series

April 19, 1950

Sid Gordon of the Boston Braves hits the first National League grand slam of the season

April 23, 1950

Boston Braves and Philadelphia Phillies start the match in daylight and finish under the lights, a first in the majors

September 23, 1950

The Braves’ Johnny Sain fails in his attempt to win his 20th game, but hits his first major-league home run, off Larry Jansen, in a 4 – 3 loss to the visiting Giants. With two outs in the 10th, Sam Jethroe loses Don Mueller’s fly ball in the sun and Mueller legs out a triple. Hank Thompson’s single wins it for Jansen. A Saturday crowd of 5,535 watch the Braves drop out of 2nd place, while the Giants move to within three games of the Phils.

August 12, 1951

Roy Campanella breaks up a pitching duel between Don Newcombe and Boston’s Johnny Sain with a three-run homer‚ his second of the game‚ and the third time in 9 games he’s collected a pair of homers. Campy’s 5 ribbies give the Dodgers a 7 – 2 win.

August 28, 1951

The Braves sell P Johnny Sain to the Yankees for $50,000 and a young pitcher named Lew Burdette. It is another late-season insurance measure for the New Yorkers.

September 3, 1951

Newly-acquired pitcher Johnny Sain tosses a 5-hitter to beat the A’s, 3 – 1. The A’s top the Yankees in the nitecap, 3 – 2.

September 26, 1952

1952 – The Yanks clinch their 4th straight pennant, an 11-inning, 5 – 2 win at Philadelphia behind Ed Lopat and Johnny Sain.

October 5, 1952

Brooklyn wins 6 – 5 in 11 innings over Yankees

May 8, 1953

After 13 straight losses to New York, the Red Sox win a dramatic 11-inning, 2 – 1 thriller at Fenway Park. Billy Goodman’s homer off starter Johnny Sain gives starter Hal Brown the win. Dick Gernert’s 2nd-inning home run is the other Boston score. In Boston’s previous win over New York, August 9, 1952, all the scores came on solo homers.

October 2, 1953

Snider leads Dodgers past Yankees in game four

November 7, 2006

Johnny Sain passes away at age 89

Biography

“Spahn and Sain and pray for rain,” was the Braves’ motto for the 1948 stretch drive, as they pushed toward their first pennant since 1914. That season Spahn was actually not much more effective than the Braves’ third and fourth starters, Bill Voiselle and Vern Bickford. Sain, however, led the NL with 24 wins, 39 starts, 28 complete games, and 314 innings.

A rookie in 1942, he spent 1943-45 in the military, but lost no time establishing himself upon his return. He won 20 each year from 1946 to 1948, slumped in 1949, but came back with a 20-13 mark in 1950. Although Sain could strike men out when the occasion demanded, the 6’2″ Arkansan had pinpoint control and a let-’em-hit-it philosophy. In three of his 20-win seasons, he led the league in hits allowed. Sent to the Yankees in August 1951 for Lew Burdette and $50,000, he contributed 11-6 and 14-7 marks to the 1952 and ’53 Yankee pennants, then led the AL with 22 saves in 1954.

An excellent-hitting pitcher (.245), Sain averaged .346 in 1947 and .353 in 1954, and led the NL with 16 sacrifice hits in 1948. 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?”

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Factoids, Quotes, Milestones and Odd Facts

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