Walter Johnson

Walter Perry Johnson
Pitcher
Born: November 6, 1887 Humboldt , United States
Died: December 10, 1946 Washington, DC , United States
Suggested: Right	Threw: Right
Debut in Major League Baseball
August 2,  1907  with the  Washington Senators
Last MLB assignment
With the  Washington Senators on September 30, 1927
MLB statistics (until end of career)
Shutouts	110
Earned run average	2.17
Wins-loss	417-279
Teams
Washington Senators (1907-1927)
Awards
Major League Baseball All-Century Team
member of
Baseball Hall of Fame
Recorded	1936
Quota	83.63%

Walter Perry Johnson (born November 6, 1887 in Humboldt , Kansas , † December 10, 1946 in Washington, DC ) was an American baseball player for the Washington Senators in the US professional league Major League Baseball . The pitcher known as the "Big Train" is considered to be one of the greatest throwers of the Deadball era , won the World Series in 1924 and in 1936 was one of the very first players to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame .

Career

Johnson was discovered at the age of 19 by a Washington Senators scout who was impressed by his fastball . After he signed a contract there for $ 350 a month, he made his professional debut in 1907. In the first three years Johnson won only 32 of his 70 games, but earned the name “Big Train” for his powerful fastball. In his fourth year (1910) he won 25 of his 42 games, threw the league record of 313 strikeouts and gradually developed into the best pitcher of his generation. Over the next 15 years, he led the strikeout standings twelve times, won the MVP twice, and had two years winning more than 30 games. In 1908 he managed the feat of throwing a shutout in three consecutive games.

Despite his outstanding individual achievements, he was denied team success for a long time. Among the Senators, Johnson made it into the 1924 World Series as a 36-year-old veteran . Washington won this series in seven games. Johnson also reached the 1925 World Series but lost that final. After his retirement in 1927, Johnson worked as a coach with the Senators, and later with the Cleveland Indians. In 1936 he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of the very first players with Babe Ruth , Ty Cobb , Honus Wagner and Christy Mathewson .

Johnson is the all-time MLB leader with 110 shutouts, and his 3,508 strikeouts were an all-time MLB record until 1983. His earned run average was nine times below the magical limit of 2.00. With 417 games won, Johnson is the second most successful thrower of all time after Cy Young . Three triple crowns (i.e. most games won, most strikeouts and lowest ERA) demonstrate his complete repertoire.

Throwing technique

Johnson was considered one of the first "power pitchers" of the MLB. His favorite throw was fast, straight, which he Ball (fastball) with his Seitarm-throwing technique (ger .: side poor lent) precision and its extremely long arms quickness. Contemporaries compared the litter with the rushing of an express train, which is why Johnson earned the honorary name "Big Train". His fastball was measured in 1914 with a traffic light barrier at 99.7 miles per hour (converted 159.7 km / h) and by the 1917 US Army at 134 feet per second (converted 147.0 km / h).

“He had a side arm technique with a flowing, effortless movement. But his balls were like bullets. "

- Fred Lindstrom

Private life

Johnson was born in 1887 to Swedish immigrants. His parents initially worked as farmers, but soon moved to California because they expected more money from the oil fields there. Johnson was considered a gentleman off the field and enjoyed great respect from his colleagues. In 1946 he died of a brain tumor .

Awards and records

• Won the 1924 World Series
• Triple Crown (1913, 1918, 1924)
• American League Most Valuable Player (1913, 1924)
• 110 shutouts (all-time MLB record)
• 639 innings in a row pitched without an opposing home run (all-time MLB record)
• 417 games won (all-time MLB list: rank 2)
• 531 complete games (all-time MLB list: 4th place)
• 3,508 strikeouts (eternal MLB list: 9th place; record was only broken in 1983)

Web links

Commons : Walter Johnson  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

• Player information and statistics from MLB  or  ESPN  or  Baseball Reference  or  The Baseball Cube  or  Baseball Reference (Minor League) (English)
• Official website
• ESPN article on Johnson
• Walter Johnson in the Hall of Fame (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The Fastest Pitcher in Baseball History , baseball-almanac.com.
2. ↑ Original quote: “He had a slingshot delivery with nice, easy movement, which didn't seem to be putting any strain at all on his arm. But he could propel that ball like a bullet. " - Fred Lindstrom ( Memento of the original from July 29, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.