CHICAGO, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Johnny Sain, a former All-Star pitcher for the Boston Braves and Major League pitching coach for several teams, has died at the age of 89.
Sain died Tuesday in a suburban Chicago nursing home, where he had been since suffering a stroke in 2002, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Sain was selected to three All-Star teams, posted a 139-116 record over 11 seasons, and guided a generation of pitchers while coaching for Oakland, the New York Yankees, Minnesota, Detroit, the Chicago White Sox and the Atlanta Braves.
"Johnny Sain belongs in the Hall of Fame for a combination of his accomplishments as a great pitcher and pitching coach," former Major League pitcher Jim Bouton told the Tribune. "He's the greatest pitching coach who ever lived."
Sain and Warren Spahn combined to give the 1948 Boston Braves a potent 1-2 pitching punch. Between them they won 39 games while helping Boston to the World Series.
A slogan that season went "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain." The phrase was taken from a poem that appeared in the Boston Post and spoke about how the Braves would win by using their two top pitchers, followed by a day off and another day of possible rain.
