Spooner had a breakout year in 1954 when he won 21 games with 262 strikeouts in 238 innings for the Fort Worth Cats of the Texas League.
[2] He shut out the pennant-bound New York Giants 3–0, allowed only three hits, all singles, and struck out 15 batters, setting an MLB record for most strikeouts by a pitcher in his debut.
[1] In his two starts for the 1954 Dodgers, Spooner threw two complete game shutouts; in 18 innings, he gave up seven total hits and no runs.
[5] During spring training prior to the 1955 season, Spooner entered a game without warming up properly and injured his arm.
He was added back into the rotation in late June, removed from it at the end of July, and was then given some spot starts in August and September, finishing the season at 8–6 as the Dodgers won the National League pennant.
In his final appearance with the Dodgers, Game 6 of the 1955 World Series, he was shellacked, giving up five runs in one-third of an inning against the New York Yankees and taking the 5–1 loss.
[8] Brooklyn, however, would win the Series' decisive Game 7 for its first, and only, world championship before the franchise moved to Los Angeles in 1958.
As his baseball career wound down, Spooner moved to Vero Beach, Florida and found work as a manager in the citrus industry.