Pray for Rain
by Gerald V. Hern
Johnny Sain andWarren Spahn,c. 1951
Language	English
Subjects	Warren Spahn Johnny Sain
Publisher	The Boston Post
Publication date	September 14, 1948

"Spahn and Sain", commonly referred to as "Pray for Rain", is a poem by Gerald V. Hern, published inThe Boston Post on September 14, 1948. The poem was an ode toBoston Braves pitchersWarren Spahn andJohnny Sain who were both considered to be the team's best pitchers and who won a combined 212 games as teammates.^[1]

In 1948, theBoston Braves won what turned out to be their final pennant during their tenure at Boston, behind the pitching of future Hall of FamerWarren Spahn and his teammateJohnny Sain.^[2] The remainder of the rotation was seemingly so thin that in September,Boston Post writer Gerald Hern wrote a poem about the pair:^[3]

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 received such a wide audience that the sentiment, usually now paraphrased as "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain", is now considered a part of baseball lore.^[4]

• Spahn & Sain atBaseball Almanac

• 1948 poems
• Baseball poems
• American poems
• Cultural depictions of baseball players
• Boston Braves

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