Warren Spahn, pitcher.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Warren Spahn was not just a good pitcher during his 21-year major league career. He was a dominant pitcher. His death Monday at his Oklahoma home at the age of 82 winnows the true big league stars of the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s to just a handful.

Spahn's record speaks for itself. His 363 wins to his credit were the most of any left-hander in the history of the game, and ranked fifth among all pitchers, behind Cy Young (511 victories), Walter Johnson (417), Grover Alexander and Christy Mathewson (373 each). Spahn won 20 games in a season an astonishing 13 times. He led the National League in victories eight times, with five of those coming in successive seasons (1957-61). He was a 14-time All-Star. He holds the National League record for most innings pitched at 5,243. Moreover, he hit 35 home runs during his career.

Spahn pitched for the Boston Braves, then followed the team to Milwaukie, (but not to the Braves' current home in Atlanta). His career mirrored those of many of his contemporaries, in baseball and in all walks of life, whose lives were interrupted by service in the U.S. military during World War II. Spahn served in the U.S. Army in Europe, beginning in 1943, and was wounded and decorated for bravery, receiving both a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge and the battle for the bridge at Remagen, Germany. He was discharged in 1946 at the age of 25 and immediately resumed his major league career, which lasted until he was 46 years old.

He was known as a colorful figure on the mound, with an incredibly high leg kick before each delivery. But most of all, he was a winner. He helped, with longtime pitching teammate Johnny Sain, lead to Braves to two National League championships and one World Series title, over the New York Yankees in 1957.

Warren Spahn was a true big league star for all time.