TULSA, Okla. - Warren Spahn's fans and former teammates fondly recalled his trademark high kick Saturday but credited smarts for making him baseball's winningest left-hander.
Hank Aaron, Lew Burdette and commissioner Bud Selig were among the 200 friends and family members to pay their respects to the Hall of Fame player, who died Monday at his Broken Arrow home at 82.
"I believe he was so good because he was so smart in a very practical, plainspoken way," Hall of Fame president Dale Petrosky said.
Spahn, who led the dominant Milwaukee Braves teams of the late 1950s, had 363 wins and won 20 13 times. He helped pitch the Braves to a 1957 World Series championship and NL pennants in 1948 and 1958.
At Saturday's service at Boston Avenue United Methodist Church, flowers in the shape of a baseball and the number "21" sat near portraits of Spahn in his Braves uniform. A U.S. flag draped the casket in honor of his Army service.
Former shortstop Johnny Logan, who played with Spahn from 1951-61, praised his control and said Spahn knew how to pitch to opponents' weaknesses."
"All the young players respected him. He was the winner," Logan said.
HALL BALLOT: Dennis Eckersley and Paul Molitor headline the 15 newcomers on the Hall of Fame ballot. Former MVPs Kevin Mitchell and Terry Pendleton, Cy Young winner Doug Drabek and World Series star Joe Carter also are on the ballot released by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Bruce Sutter, Jim Rice, Andre Dawson, Ryne Sandberg, Lee Smith and Rich Gossage are the leading returning candidates.
NOT INTIMIDATED: Curt Schilling is a winner, a workhorse and a fanatic about preparation.
Even better, he isn't afraid of the Yankees.
The Red Sox acquired the right-hander, 37, from the Diamondbacks after he waived his no-trade clause and agreed to a deal that guarantees him $37.5-million over the next three years.
"I like the thought of playing in the biggest rivalry in sports in front of some incredible fans," Schilling said. "Being a part of that was certainly an attraction to all of this."
