Talk:Walter Johnson

1907

Apparently Cobb's estimation of Johnson as a "rookie" when he faced him in 1907 was a bit overstated. Johnson had played the entire season with the Weiser Kids of the Idaho State League, had set a minor league record with 77 consecutive innings pitched without a run scored which still stands, and had turned down contract offers from several teams, including the Senators, wishing to finish out the season before risking anything on a move. (Thomas, Henry W. (1995) "'The Weiser Wonder': Walter Johnson in Idaho" Grandstand Baseball Annual) --Dystopos (talk) 21:08, 13 April 2016 (UTC)

Trivia

Before he was signed 1907, a scout said Johnson had to know where he was throwing, or there'd be dead bodies all over Idaho. Ump Billy Evans claimed not to get second-guessed calling his strikes, because batters had their eyes shut, too. (Others couldn't see them anyhow.) And Ty Cobb got hits off him by crowding the plate, one of the few batters willing to risk it, because he knew Johnson didn't really want to kill him. (Or so Ken Burns' "Baseball" said.) Trekphiler 05:07, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

Hitting

Perhaps there should be something on his prowess as a hitter? 547 hits is probably a record for career pitcher. Mglovesfun

I've shortened the following section a bit:

"That 1.14 ERA in 1913 should have been lower if not for one of manager Clark Griffith's traditions. For the last game of the season, Griffith often treated the fans to a farce game. The farce game in 1913 saw the 43 year old Griffith playing a ball off his head while playing right field. He also misplayed a liner that resulted in an inside-the-park homer, and he also was one of eight pitchers to appear in the game. Griffith played Walter Johnson in Center Field until bringing him in to pitch in the 8th inning. In that appearance, Johnson lobbed pitches to two hitters that resulted in hits before he was sent back to playing Center Field. The subsequent pitcher (actually a catcher making his only Major League pitching appearance) then allowed the two runners to score. Some record books still indicate that Johnson had a 1.09 ERA for 1913. The official scorekeeper ignored the game, but later, Johnson was charged with those two runs, raising his ERA."

I felt like this section was too long for one single game for a pitcher who pitched over 800 games. I've decided to add to the article by adding some hitting stats. Mglovesfun 14:53, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Ancestry

I hope the change I just made to the article will dispel the myth that Walter Johnson was of Swedish, or Scandinavian, descent. His biography, written by his grandson, puts that falsehood to rest in its very first sentence. Any doubts? Or do I need to quote that sentence, or the last paragraph of Shirley Povich's foreword to the book? DutchmanInDisguise (talk) 04:56, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

It looks solid to me, I don't think quoting the books is needed. Dan D. Ric (talk) 06:13, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

I just deleted another reference to Walter's nonexistent Swedish ancestry by removing him from the "American sportspeople of Swedish descent" category. I see the same person who put him in that category also added him to an "American sportspeople of British descent" category. At the moment he's the only person in that category. I question whether the category is relevant to anybody, especially to Walter, whose Brit ancestors were several generations back in his family tree. I say Delete him from that category too. The category itself seems as phony as the people with bronze statues category somebody was trying to drum up a few days ago.

What does anybody else think? DutchmanInDisguise (talk) 01:52, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

Cobb/ Johnson Matchup

The Johnson/Cobb matchup having the most ABs against each ohter in history a fact or an opinion? Records were not kept that well back then, and I have never actually heard someone say it as a fact. It can be inferred because of overlapping careers. Id prefer it said that "It is possible they could have more ABs against each other in history" rather than saying it as fact, unless someone can a credible source for it. Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.162.31.142 (talk) 17:06, 14 October 2009 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Walter Johnson (disambiguation) which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RM bot 03:45, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Walter Johnson was a badass who should get top billing, and that's that.98.71.245.241 (talk) 00:25, 7 April 2010 (UTC)

File:Walter Johnson and Calvin Coolidge shake hands FINAL.jpg to appear as POTD soon

Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that File:Walter Johnson and Calvin Coolidge shake hands FINAL.jpg will be appearing as picture of the day on January 9, 2011. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2011-01-09. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page so Wikipedia doesn't look bad. :) Thanks! howcheng {chat} 18:56, 5 January 2011 (UTC)

Walter Johnson’s Jersey number was 26. 2601:98A:400:7940:31AB:4A63:69C5:D79B (talk) 04:05, 10 September 2023 (UTC)

Picture of the day

U.S. President Calvin Coolidge shaking hands with baseball player Walter Johnson and presenting him with a "diploma" for the Washington Senators winning the 1924 American League championship. Johnson was one of the most accomplished pitchers in Major League Baseball history. He established several pitching records, some of which remain unbroken, including career shutouts (110) and most consecutive seasons leading the league in strikeouts (8).Photo: National Photo Company; Restoration: Staxringold

Second Division?

In the context of American baseball,what does this mean:

"Although his Hall of Fame plaque reads that he pitched 'for many years with a losing team,' during his career the Senators finished in the first division 11 times, and the second division 10 times."  ???

Baseball isn't like British football where the good teams move up a division and the bad teams move down.

Walter Johnson played for the Senators from 1907-1927, and the Senators had 12 losing seasons and 9 winning seasons in that stretch. But they played in the American league the entire time and MLB didn't have divisions back then (just two leagues). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.141.98.34 (talk) 04:29, 4 May 2014 (UTC)

• Back when each league had eight teams, the teams that finished in first through fourth place were said to finish in the first division, ie the top half of the league. 5th through 8th place constituted the "second division." Indrian (talk) 05:36, 4 May 2014 (UTC)

  Players in the 1st division also got a cut of the world series loot. So at the end of the season teams in 3rd through 6th place often had mini-pennant races to see which would finish in the first division. 64.201.125.92 (talk) 17:06, 16 October 2022 (UTC)

One commentator might have considered that the Hall of Fame would know something about the 1st and 2nd division. There's a lot of people who think they know something about baseball history who are clueless. Missaeagle (talk) 17:08, 16 October 2022 (UTC)

Barney?

I don't think so. I'd deleted the nickname 'Barney' and was reverted by an editor pointing out that it is attributed on page 94 of a 1995 book by Johnson's grandson. Walter Johnson is commonly known by the nickname 'The Big Train', and there's a nickname for you. Barney? Because his grandson says so? Let's banish that from the page, hopefully never to be seen again, and The Big Train will be smiling above. If we have to dig deep into a book by his grandson then it's not a common nickname. After looking around it seems some people who knew him nicknamed him Barney after Barney Oldfield, for his "flamboyant motoring habits". My grandpa was known among his grandchildren as 'Silver Dollar giver at Christmas', but I wouldn't put it in a Wikipedia article about him. Randy Kryn (talk) 23:53, 31 October 2019 (UTC)

I do think so. I started following baseball 70+ years ago and was well aware of the "Barney" nickname, although I was aware it wasn't used as much as "Big Train". So it didn't come as a surprise when Hank mentioned it in his book. DutchmanInDisguise (talk) 00:57, 1 November 2019 (UTC)

Okay, thanks, I just never heard of it before, and it came across as an insult (this is Walter Johnson, the dignified possibly greatest pitcher in history, Satchel Paige would pitch the second game of that double-header). I bet we could have a good talk about old(er) time baseball. Randy Kryn (talk) 01:06, 1 November 2019 (UTC)

Time of breaking the strikeout record

Are Cy Young and Tim Keefe’s strikeout numbers from the 19th century not being counted? It says in the text that Walter Johnson broke Christy Mathewson’s strikeout record, but Cy Young and Tim Keefe each had more strikeouts than Mathewson, albeit they played some or all their careers in the 19th century. Jay72091(2) (talk) 19:09, 27 May 2024 (UTC)