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Lon Warneke is a forgotten star pitcher of the pre-World War II era. During a 10-year run from 1932-1941, Warneke tallied 172 complete games – 29 of them shutouts. The decade of excellence included 175 victories against 100 losses, a 121 ERA+, and 38.7 WAR.

Warneke regularly finished in the NL’s top-10 in notable statistical categories. This includes Triple Crown classifications of wins (8x), ERA (7x), and strikeouts (6x), as well as complete games (6x), and shutouts (8x).

Warneke’s finest season came with the NL champion Cubs in 1932. That year he put up league-leading totals in wins (22), ERA (2.37), shutouts (4), and pitchers’ WAR (6.9). The performance earned Warneke a second-place finish to Philadelphia’s Chuck Klein.

The ’32 campaign was a memorable one for Klein. His 420 total bases came courtesy of 226 hits, 50 doubles, 15 triples, and 38 home runs. Klein remains one of just 18 men to top 400 total bases in a single season.

Shown here is an autographed photo of Klein, the 1932 National League MVP.

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Lon Warneke was selected for three of baseball’s first four All Star Games and five of the first nine. Playing for the National League, he represented the Cubs in his first three appearances and the Cardinals in his final two.

In the inaugural event, the pitcher made history with his bat. Hitting in the top of the 6th inning with one out, Warneke hit the first triple in All Star play.

Future St. Louis teammate Pepper Martin then grounded out to third to score Warneke. On a roster that included 8 Cooperstown men, it was a pitcher who scored the Senior Circuit’s first-ever run in the Mid Summer Classic. On the hill he pitched four innings and allowed just one run.

In an interesting twist, Warneke also gave up the first All Star triple hit by an American Leaguer. That came in 1934 when Cleveland’s Earl Averill hit a line drive to the gap in right-center off of him.

In Warneke’s third All Star appearance he retired the final 7 American League hitters to preserve the NL’s 4-3 win. By doing so, he earned the National League’s first Mid Summer save. In All Star play, Lon Warneke was a man of firsts.

In the collection is this letter written by collector George Hipp.

In the correspondence of May 9, 1955, collector writes, “I would feel honored if you would indicate your willingness to sign a ball for this collection. I have many greats so far including Connie Mack, Cy Young, Clark Griffith, Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Hornsby, Cochrane, Schalk, Greenberg, Feller, Lee, Hoyt, etc.”

At the bottom of this vintage letter Warneke agrees to sign a ball and pens his name.

Similar letters to autograph hound Hipp can be found on the pages of Larry French and George Uhle.

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When Cubs manager Charlie Grimm tabbed right-hander Lon Warneke as the Opening Day pitcher in 1934, the choice was an easy one. The previous two years, the 6’2″ hurler was outstanding, with a combined 40-19 record and a 2.18 ERA.

In 1932 Warneke led the league in wins (22), ERA (2.37), shutouts (4) and pitchers’ WAR (6.9) to finish second in the MVP vote. He followed that up with a 6.6 WAR campaign in which he lowered his ERA to a cool 2.00 in an 18-win season.

The Cubs kicked off 1934 at Cincinnati when Grimm tabbed Warneke. The hurler faced a Reds team that boasted Hall of Famers Ernie Lombardi, Jim Bottomley, and Chick Hafey. After Warneke struck out side in the second inning, Chicago threatened.

Cooperstown catcher Gabby Hartnett lead off the third a single for his team’s first hit of the season. Warneke popped out on a bunt attempt that went foul for the first out. Woody English struck out to bring up Chicago Hall of Fame second baseman Billy Herman.

After a passed ball pushed Hartnett to second, Herman singled to center to score him. Behind Warneke, it was all the offense the Cubs needed.

Meanwhile Warneke was dominant. He struck out a man in every inning but the first. By striking out the side in the second, and two men in both the 5th and the 7th, Warneke entered the ninth with a dozen Ks. He also had yet to surrender a hit.

Three weeks after his 25th birthday, Warneke was three outs away from a no-hitter. Two-time batting champion Lombardi led off. He saw three pitches then sat down as Warneke’s 13th strikeout victim of the game. Now just two outs from his gem, Warneke took the sign from catcher Hartnett with Adam Comorosky at the plate.

The Cincinnati left-fielder hit a ball back through the box and into centerfield to end the no-hit bid. Reds fan’s booed. Warneke quickly retired the next two batters to settle for a one-hitter.

In his next start, the pitcher faced a tall order. Combating the eventual World Series champion Cardinals in St. Louis, Warneke squared off against Dizzy Dean. The Hall of Famer was on his way to his finest season. Warneke quieted the Redbirds bats by allowing only a 5th-inning double on his way to a second-consecutive one-hit performance.

Shown here is the autograph of Gabby Hartnett, Warneke’s catcher for the two one-hit games that opened the season. The Cooperstown man has added the inscription “April 26, 1932”.

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It’s every pitcher’s dream to pitch a no-hit game. After tossing four near-miss one-hitters in 8 years, Lon Warneke had every right to believe that dream would never come true.

In 1934 playing for the Chicago Cubs, Warneke sure came close. On Opening Day at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field he waited until one out in the 9th to surrender his first hit. Proving his mastery was no fluke, Warneke twirled a one-hit performance in his very next start.

Five years later in 1939, Warneke was with the Cardinals when he authored his third one-hit game. The only Cubs knock came when former teammate Stan Hack hit a grounder to first then beat Warneke to the bag.

In 1941, Warneke repeated the single-safety performance once more. After allowing a leadoff single to Heinie Mueller, the right-hander allowed nothing more the rest of the way.

The dominant yet snake-bit Warneke seemed destined to settle for the near misses.

That changed on August 30, 1941 at the same Cincinnati venue of his 1934 Opening Day gem. Pitching for the Cardinals, Warneke dominated the defending champs’ lineup that included the last two NL MVPs. Under the guidance of catcher Walker Cooper, Warneke mowed down the Frank McCormick and Ernie Lombard-led Reds, one after another.

Warneke allowed two baserunners and faced just one over the minimum.

In the bottom of the 5th McCormick got aboard on an error by second baseman Frank Crespi. He was immediately erased in a strike-’em-out-throw-’em-out double play. In the 7th Warneke issued a walk to Lonnie Frey before quickly retiring the side.

For their part, Warneke’s Cardinals managed only five hits – one by the pitcher himself – and two runs. When Warneke retired pinch-hitter Ernie Koy for the final out, he had his masterpiece. Purely dominant, Warneke allowed only two balls to leave the infield.

Catcher Cooper praised the hurler in the next day’s Associated Press story, “Lon was pitching to spots all day. He never made a bad pitch.”

Shown here is a government postcard signed by Warneke’s no-hitter battery mate Walker Cooper. The reverse of the card can be seen on Cooper’s page by clicking here. It features a Boston postmark of July 16, 1951. That day the 8-time All Star was the starting catcher for Beantown’s 9-4 win over the Chicago Cubs at Braves Field. For the season Cooper hit .313 with a .518 slugging mark and a career-best 142 OPS+.

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Imagine a pitcher umpiring a game played by his own team. That’s what Lon Warneke did as a 31-year old for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1940.

The turn of events started with heavy rainfall in Cincinnati. The downpour flooded Crosley Field, forcing an April 23rd contest to be rescheduled. The Reds and Cardinals determined they’d make up the game on May 13th.

When the team’s arrived to the park, they found out that NL president Ford Frick neglected to schedule umpires. NL arbiter Larry Goetz who lived minutes from the ballpark got the call. He hustled to the game and took up residence behind the plate.

With no other umpires available, Reds coach Jimmie Wilson positioned himself in back of first base while Warneke umpired third. The hodgepodge crew called all 14 innings of an 8-8 tie game that ended because of darkness. In the boxscore Goetz, Wilson and Warneke are listed as the umpires.

The experience foreshadowed Warneke’s second career in baseball.

Immediately after he retired as a player in 1945, Warneke started umpiring in the Pacific Coast League. Starting at age 36 he stayed in the PCL for three seasons. In December of ’48, Frick placed Warneke with Cooperstown’s crew chief Jocko Conlan.

When Warneke umpired the 1952 All Star Game and two years later in the World Series, he became the only man to play and ump in both of his sport’s showcase events. After the 1955 season, he retired from the game for good.

Shown here is a handwritten letter from Warneke’s umpiring partner Jocko Conlan. The content includes reference to the famously combative Leo Durocher.

Conlan and Durocher had a long-running feud. It boiled over in the fourth inning of a game between the Pirates and the Dodgers for whom Durocher was coaching. Los Angeles first baseman Norm Larker hit a popup that bounced foul along up the line along first. Dodger manager Walt Alston argued with Conlan that Pittsburgh catcher Hal Smith touched the ball before it went foul.

As Alston returned to the dugout, Conlan walked over and ejected Durocher, saying the Dodger coach had tossed a towel onto the field. Durocher stormed toward Conlan to confront him. After kicking dirt onto the umpire, Durocher elevated his game and kicked Conlan on the shin. Incensed but unhurt by the blow by virtue of his shin guards, Conlan returned fire, kicking The Lip.

The two exchanged another round of kicks before Durocher left the field having taken the worst of the exchange.

In this letter Conlan writes, “I’ve had a lot of excitement on the field and enjoyed it. Durocher excitement should never have happened. It was a foul ball and he was there only to show off.”

Further evidence of the ill-will is seen as Conlan closes the topic, “Why talk about him?”

Interestingly, Warneke himself had a difficult incident with Durocher. On May 20, 1951 the two had a loud confrontation because of a call Warneke made at second base. It continued after the game when Durocher followed him into the umpire’s dressing room and continued hurling insults at Warneke. For his actions The Lip was fined $100.

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Willie Mays made perhaps the most memorable catch in baseball history. It came on baseball’s biggest state in the 1954 World Series. Lon Warneke witnessed the famous snare – depicted in the autographed picture above – as an outfield umpire.

The date was September 29, 1954. The cavernous Polo Grounds played host to Game 1 of the World Series as the Giants took on the Indians.

Cleveland jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first behind Vic Wertz‘ two-run triple. New York clawed back to tie the score in the third.

The contest remained knotted at two apiece as the Indians came to bat in the top of the eighth inning. Hall of Fame center fielder Larry Doby walked to lead off the inning. Cleanup man Al Rosen – the ’54 AL MVP – singled Doby to second.

Up came the red-hot Wertz. The Cleveland first baseman already had seven total bases thanks for a 4-for-4 effort that included a double and a triple.

Wertz slugged a 2-1 pitch deep to centerfield. In many ballparks the 420-foot blast would be a home run. Not in the Polo Grounds. Mays turned his back on the ball and sprinted to make a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch.

The image remains etched into the collective consciousness of baseball fans even today.