Warren Spahn was one of the greatest left-handed pitchers that Major League Baseball has seen. He may even be one of the best pitchers in baseball history. His career statistics are more than impressive, even for a Hall of Fame player. One issue to consider is that his vintage baseball cards just do not cost that much compared to peers and rivals of that era. Predicting prices for vintage card is not possible, but it does seem fair to ask if Warren Spahn Cards are undervalued against his peers.

Collectors Dashboard evaluates collectibles as an alternative asset class. The same capital that could have been invested into stocks or bonds is being used to buy high-end collectibles. Warren Spahn would definitely fit within this view, but not as much as other pitching greats.

True sports collectors and hobbyists would want to own a rookie or high-end Spahn card because of his prowess and stats as a pitcher. The so-called sports investors would simply be looking at his cards hoping to sell for a profit. Collectors Dashboard does not predict prices ahead, and there should be a reminder that there is no such thing as a guaranteed profit in any asset class.

A STOP-STARTING POINT & MILITARY

It might seem fair to jump right into a player’s career stats, but there is a lot to what made Warren Spahn who he was on the field. The most impressive aspect of 363 wins is that “Spahnie” still holds the record for being the left-hander with the most MLB wins to-date. Many other key pitching records from vintage baseball card pitchers have been slaughtered as the game has evolved and as pitchers have changed. This “winningest-lefty” record stands firm after nearly 60 years, and Spahn has the most wins of all pitchers (left and right-handed) since World War 2.

As for his cards being undervalued versus peers, it may not sound like having a $252,000 rookie card auction price (see below) is undervalued. That sale is of a perfect grade and is definitely an outlier. It’s the bulk of the rest of his cards that are still quite affordable for vintage card collectors and sports card investors.

Spahn’s rookie year would have been 1942 at the age of 21, but after just 15 innings pitched he finished that year in the minor league before enlisting into the U.S. Army to serve in World War 2. For those who prize military service, Spahn saw combat in the well known Battle of the Bulge and at the notorious Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen.

He was awarded a Purple Heart for a shrapnel injury, a Bronze Star for bravery, and received a battlefield commission during his service that further delayed his return to the U.S.. Spahn also pitched for the Army teams in 1953 and then overseas in Germany in 1945 after Germany surrendered.

STATS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS

After World War 2, Spahn rejoined the majors in 1946. He did not get his first big league win until he was 25. And Spahn did not retire until he was 44 years old. His pitching stats were amazing.

The left-handed record of 363 wins is versus 245 losses, with a .592 W-L percentage. This would have been above .600 without the less than stellar final two seasons (see below). Spahn ended with a career 3.09 ERA. With the exception of his last year in 165, his career was spent entirely with the Braves – in Boston from 1946 to 1952 and Milwaukee from 1953 to 1964.

Spahn’s pitch included a high kick, and he was a precision pitcher. Sandy Koufax and Steve Carlton may have thrown harder for lefties, but Spahn’s endurance led to his status. He claimed to never try to fight a batter with speed over the middle of the plate. Of the 16-inch width, he just wanted to duel with batters over the left 3-inches and the right 3-inches. He simply out-smarted the batters rather than having a wide selection of pitches.

His pitching seemed to get even better as he aged from his thirties and into his early forties. He helped the Braves defeat the Yankees in the 1957 World Series. It was also in 1957 that Spahn won the Cy Young award. With 2 no-hitters in his career, the first was at age 39 and the second was at age 40. Spahn led the National League with wins in 8 seasons, and he led the league with completed games in 9 seasons.

When Spahn hung up his cleats in 1965, at that time he held the MLB record for career strikeouts for left-handed pitchers at 2,583 strikeouts. His wins above replacements (WAR) was also listed as 92.4.

His stats per game would have been even better had he hung up his hat before the 1964 and 1965 season. In those two seasons he did win 13 games, but he lost 29 games. In 1964 his ERA 5.29 and it was 4.01 for a combined Mets and Giants final season. Outside of his 4 games in 1942 (at age 21), Spahn’s last two MLB years were his two worst years on those metrics.

AND FOR THOSE RELATIVE VALUES VERSUS PEERS

Warren Spahn collectors are blessed with an opportunity of having two key rookie cards. There is the 1948 Leaf set and the 1948 Bowman set. As of September 2021, the PSA population report was just 965 total graded cards for the 1948 Leaf and there were 1,432 graded cards for the 1948 Bowman. The Leaf set is visually better to look at, and it has more key cards than the 1948 Bowman set had at that time. (Image below courtesy of Heritage Auctions)

The 1948 Leaf card was counted as being in Joe Orlando’s book “The Top 200 Sports Cards in the Hobby” from 2002. Spahnie’s Bowman rookie card did not make that list. Orlando even noted at that time that people might question why his Leaf rookie isn’t worth more money if he was such a great pitcher.

A perfect PSA 10 of the 1948 Leaf Warren Spahn sold through Heritage Auctions in May 2021 for $252,000 after the same exact card sold for $192,000 in April 2018. For the 1948 Bowman rookie, a Memory Lane auction fetched $29,733.60 in June 2021 after a PSA 8 fetched $15,600.00 in May 2021 via Heritage Auctions. Those are outlier sales more than they are the norm, and by a mile.

Now try this on for size — look at the Top 10 Baseball Rookies from 1950 to 1955 for a price comparison of some of baseball’s top priced cards.

For another reference, Goldin Auctions has not had a $10,000 sale of any Warren Spahn cards according to its past auction searches. PWCC Marketplace also had a 1948 Bowman PSA 5 rookie Spahn card for $550, or best offer and a 1848 Leaf Warren Spahn PSA 4 at a fixed price of $1,000.  (Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions)

Here is some recent sales price data for more common “collector” grades that are in the PSA 4 and 5 categories:

• For the 1948 Leaf rookie, Spahn cards since May of 2021 have generally fetched less than $1,000 in PSA 4 and 5 grades.
• Sales since May 2021, no PSA 6 sale has come even close to reaching $1,000 in auction and PSA 5 sales are under $500 and PSA 4 sales were closer to $300.

A look into eBay’s cards for sale show that Warren Spahn’s post-rookie cards are quite affordable for collectors. That is meant to be quite affordable on a relative basis and on an absolute dollar basis. These are the available grades and guidelines that are for sale in Buy It Now or were in auction formats as of September 22, 2021:

• 1949 Bowman, showing his high kick, PSA 6 for $900 to $990 and PSA 5 for less than $800.
• 1950 Bowman, visually more attractive and showing that high-kick, $1,180 for a PSA 7; PSA 5 and under all under $500.
• The larger 1951 Bowman can be purchased for less than $400 and $500 even for PSA 6 and PSA 5 grades.
• The 1951 Topps Red Back Cards always seem to be affordable for any player, but most recent PSA 8 sales have fetched just under $200 in eBay auctions and a PSA 8 was last seen at $195 in a Buy It Now (with some priced higher).

The prized 1952 Topps Warren Spahn can still fetch high prices as the set is so desired by collectors and sports card investors. Still, PSA 5 and PSA 4 card sales have been seen for $500 and lower. Heritage sold a PSA 8.5 for $15,600 in August 2021, but the reality is that mid-grade cards preferred by many collectors remain quite affordable.

It would be a major task to go in and list each annual sale of the many Warren Spahn cards after that desired 1952 Topps set. To prove the point on affordability, here are eBay sales of cards graded PSA 6, 7 and 8 that sold in auction format for $100 to $400 within the last month:

• 1964 Topps Warren Spahn Milwaukee Braves #400 PSA Graded 7 sold for $85.00 on 9/20/2021
• 1953 Topps #147 Warren Spahn PSA 6 EX-MT sold for $333.00 on 9/19/2021
• 1957 Topps #90 Warren Spahn PSA 6 sold for $100.00 on 9/15/2021
• 1959 Topps #40 Warren Spahn (Born 1931 error) PSA 7 sold for $159.59 on 9/14/2021
• 1959 Topps #40 Warren Spahn (Born 1921 correct) PSA 7 sold for $102.50 on 9/14/2021
• 1957 Topps #90 Warren Spahn PSA 7 sold for $227.50 on 9/12/2021
• 1956 Topps (White Back) Warren Spahn #10 PSA 6 sold for $150.50 on 9/9/2021
• 1956 Topps Warren Spahn #10 PSA 7 sold for $202.50 on 9/7/2021
• 1953 Topps #147 Warren Spahn Boston Braves HOF PSA 6 EX-MT sold for $355.00 on 9/6/2021
• off-center 1948 Bowman Warren Spahn #18 PSA 8 (OC) sold for $380.00 on 9/4/2021
• 1956 Topps Warren Spahn #10 PSA 6 EX-MT (White Back) sold for $151.50 on 8/30/2021

And for even less… Spahn’s final card in a Mets uniform of the 1965 Topps #205 graded up at PSA 8 sold for just $90.05 after 17 bids on August 24, 2021. That is less than some of the speculative players who are still in their early 20s now.

Without considering rookies and oddities, Spahn cards from the late 1950s and in the 1960s sell at a steep discount to Sandy Koufax cards. They trade in-line or a slight discount with many Bob Feller and Whitey Ford cards with the same grades and years. His cards also line up as cheaper than most Bob Gibson cards in similar grades and years.

AND FINALLY…. 

Collectors Dashboard is not trying to predict future prices at all. This service is also not meant to just be a price guide. And there still needs to be a reminder and disclaimer that there are no guarantees in any investment – particularly in sports collectibles.

All that said, despite some high prior sales seen occasionally, it just doesn’t cost much to buy the pitcher with the most wins as a left-handed pitcher and the same pitcher with the most wins since World War 2. Collectors can also buy many of Warren Spahn’s cards in strong conditions with a very affordable price tag. It is easy to buy Warren Spahn cards, even in good graded condition, for under $100.

There are a few things that should be used to characterize Spahn and his pitching, as well as the value of his vintage baseball cards. Spahn was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1973 later than he would have based on his last MLB date. According to the Hall of Fame’s “Inside Pitch” series said his delay was because he just kept on pitching. That said:

But because he pitched in the Mexican League in 1966 and appeared in three games with the Pacific Coast League’s Tulsa Oilers (while he was also the team’s manager) in 1967, the BBWAA ruled that Spahn had not yet retired and would not be eligible for Hall of Fame election until 1973.

The great Stan Musial of the Cardinals said of Spahn:

I don’t think he’ll ever get into the Hall of Fame – he won’t stop pitching.

Spahn had been asked after his career if he thought World War 2 cost him even more on his stats (and potentially 400 wins). His response was the he did not know about that. Spahn said that he matured a lot in those three years and that he was better equipped to face big league hitters at 25 than he was at 22. He also claimed that he might not have been able to pitch until age 44 had he been slinging hard pitches for all those earlier years. And in the end, pitching baseballs was admittedly less stressful than serving in combat operations during a war.

There is another issue to consider here that would account for the discount to Warren Spahn for collectors and investors. Playing for the Boston Braves and then the Milwaukee Braves wasn’t exactly the biggest attraction for collectors. What if he had pitched his whole career for the Yankees or the Dodgers? At least he had teammates like Hank Aaron and Ed Mathews for a reference.

(1952 Topps image courtesy of Heritage Auctions)