Warren Spahn & Johnny Sain Signed Braves 8x10 Photo Inscribed "Pray For Rain" (JSA COA)

Photo measures 8" x 10" in size and has been hand signed in blue felt-tip pen by Warren Spahn (D 2003 HOF) and Johnny Sain (D 2006). Sain added the inscription "Pray For Rain" along with his autograph.

In 1948, Sain won 24 games against 15 losses and finished second in the voting for the Most Valuable Player Award. Sain and teammate Spahn achieved joint immortality that year when their feats were the subject of sports editor Gerald V. Hern's poem in the Boston Post which was eventually shortened to the epigram "Spahn and Sain; then pray for rain." According to the Baseball Almanac, the original doggerel appeared in Hern's column on September 14, 1948:

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 poem was inspired by the performance of Sain and Spahn during the Braves' 1948 pennant drive. The team swept a Labor Day doubleheader, with Spahn throwing a complete game 14-inning win in the opener, and Sain pitching a shutout in the second game. Following two off days, it did rain. Spahn won the next day, and Sain won the day after that. Three days later, Spahn won again. Sain won the next day. After one more off day, the two pitchers were brought back, and won another doubleheader. The two pitchers had gone 8-0 in twelve days' time.

The photo includes an official James Spence Authentication (JSA) hologram and matching COA for authenticity purposes.

Authentication: JSA COA

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