a patch for warren spahn

warren spahn passed away in november of 2003 at the age of 82.  he had pitched for the braves' franchise in boston and milwaukee for 20 seasons, along with a final season split between the mets and giants, and so the atlanta braves wore a patch in his honor during the 2004 season.  the patch was shaped like home plate, with spahn's retired number 21 inside.

this 2005 fleer national pastime jd drew card gives a good view of the patch

but that is actually a dodger card.  i looked through my collection to see if i could do better by the winningest left-hander in history than that.

here's a 2005 fleer ultra chipper jones card

but the patch is tough to see.  how about this 2005 topps opening day andruw jones card?

that was the frontrunner for a while, but then i found this 2005 upper deck chipper jones card

that's the one in the binder.

spahn was a first-ballot hall of famer, going in with 83.2% of the vote in 1973.  he is sixth all-time in wins with 363 - the highest total for any pitcher in the modern era - and 63 of those wins came in games in which spahn threw a shutout - also the highest total for any pitcher in the modern era and sixth all-time.  those numbers would have been greater had he not lost three seasons to service in world war ii during which he was awarded the purple heart.  in 1999, spahn was named to the all-century team and in 2003 a statue of him was unveiled at turner field. i will assume that the braves take it with them when they move in a couple of years.