Pitcher, Washington
Senators
Age: 22
4th season
with Senators
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’1” Weight: 200
Prior to 1910:
Born in Kansas,
Johnson’s family moved west to California where he first began pitching in
sandlot games. A sidearm pitcher who threw from a short windmill windup,
Johnson relied on his impressive fastball and moved on to Tacoma of the
Northwestern League, where he failed to catch on. Playing semiprofessionally in
1906 for $90 per week with Weiser of the Southern Idaho League, he went 7-1
before returning home to California.
Returning to Weiser the next year, he went 14-2 with a 0.55 ERA and 214
strikeouts over the course of 146 innings pitched. The 19-year-old phenom drew
the attention of major league teams and signed with the Senators, who he joined
in July. In his first taste of major league action, Johnson produced a 5-9
record over 14 games during the second half of the 1907 season, with a 1.88 ERA
and 71 strikeouts over 110.1 innings pitched. With the seventh-place Senators
in 1908 he was 14-14 with a 1.65 ERA and 160 strikeouts. With the club dropping
into the cellar in 1909 and providing inadequate run support, Johnson had a
fine 2.22 ERA over 296.1 innings but compiled only a 13-25 record with 164
strikeouts.
1910 Season Summary
Appeared in 45
games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Pitching
Games – 45 [1,
tied with Jack Coombs & Ed Walsh]
Games Started –
42 [1]
Complete Games
– 38 [1]
Wins – 25 [3]
Losses – 17 [5,
tied with Bob Groom & Joe Lake]
PCT - .595 [13]
Saves – 1 [9,
tied with twenty-one others]
Shutouts – 8 [2,
tied with Russ Ford]
Innings Pitched
– 370 [1]
Hits – 262 [1]
Runs – 92 [10,
tied with Cy Morgan]
Earned Runs – 56
[18, tied with Eddie Plank, Farmer Ray & Bill Donovan]
Home Runs – 1
Bases on Balls
– 76 [10]
Strikeouts – 313
[1]
ERA – 1.36 [3]
Hit Batters – 13
[6, tied with Eddie Cicotte]
Balks – 0
Wild Pitches – 21
[1]
League-leading
games started were +4 ahead of runner-up Jack Coombs
League-leading
complete games were +3 ahead of runner-up Jack Coombs
League-leading
innings pitched were +0.1 ahead of runner-up Ed Walsh
League-leading
hits allowed were +2 ahead of runner-up George Mullin
League-leading
strikeouts were +55 ahead of runner-up Ed Walsh
League-leading
ERA was -0.44 lower than runner-up Eddie Cicotte
League-leading wild
pitches were +7 ahead of runner-up Cy Morgan
Midseason
Snapshot: 11-12, ERA – N/A, SO - 172 in 204 IP
---
Most
strikeouts, game – 14 (in 9 IP) vs. St. Louis Browns 8/31
10+ strikeout
games – 9
Fewest hits
allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 1 (in 9 IP) vs. Phila. A’s 4/14, (in 9 IP) at St.
Louis Browns 9/25
Batting
PA – 143, AB – 137,
R – 14, H – 24, 2B – 6, 3B – 1, HR – 2, RBI – 12, BB – 4, SO – 34, SB – 2, CS –
N/A, AVG - .175, GDP – N/A, HBP – 0, SH – 1, SF – N/A
Fielding
Chances - 119
Put Outs – 23
Assists – 90
Errors – 6
DP – 3
Pct. - .950
---
The Senators
went 66-85 to finish seventh in the AL, 36.5 games behind the pennant-winning
Philadelphia Athletics. After Johnson pitched a one-hit shutout in the
season-opening game in which William Howard Taft became the first US President to
throw out the first ball of the season, the Senators (also called Nationals)
struggled through a 30-46 first half. Never winning more than four straight
games, and despite an 18-14 August record, the club settled into seventh place
due to a 10-game September losing streak (in which Johnson suffered two losses
due to minimal run support).
Aftermath of 1910:
Nicknamed “The Big Train” as the result of the sound his legendary fastball made, and “Barney” after racecar driver Barney Oldfield, due to his driving habits, Johnson continued to pitch brilliantly for a mediocre team, going 25-13 with a 1.90 ERA and 207 strikeouts in 1911 and 33-12 while leading the league in ERA (1.39) and strikeouts (303) in 1912. By 1913, he had added a curve to his pitching arsenal that ultimately relied on his overpowering speed. Johnson again topped 30 wins in 1913 with a 36-7 record and also led the league in complete games (29), shutouts (11), ERA (1.14), innings pitched (346), and strikeouts (243) while lifting the Senators to a second place finish. He received league MVP recognition for his performance. The gentlemanly Johnson was esteemed for his modesty and sportsmanship, in addition to his pitching talent. He didn’t brush back opposing batters out of fear of inflicting a fatal injury, nor did he engage in disputes with umpires, and avoided brawls. His careful pacing allowed him to pitch many innings without injury. In 1914 “the Big Train” posted a 28-18 record with a 1.72 ERA and league-leading 225 strikeouts over the course of 371.2 innings. His success continued for the remainder of the decade, as he never won fewer than 20 games in any season from 1910 to ’19. He also topped the AL twice more in ERA during the same period. He regularly paced the circuit in strikeouts as well. The Senators finished as high as second twice during the decade, and third on two more occasions, primarily on Johnson’s pitching success. He finally had an off year in 1920, due to sickness, a sore arm, and leg injuries. His record dropped to 8-10 with a 3.13 ERA and only 78 strikeouts over 143.2 innings, his fewest since his rookie year. Nevertheless, he also pitched the only no-hitter of his career against the Boston Red Sox. He rebounded with a 17-14 tally in 1921, topping the American League with 143 strikeouts. Following 15-16 and 17-12 records in 1922 and ’23 and contemplating retirement, he was 23-7 in 1924 as he won the League Award as AL MVP and the Senators gained their first league pennant. In the World Series against the New York Giants, Johnson lost twice before winning the dramatic seventh game in relief. Johnson returned in 1925 and was 20-7 with a 3.07 ERA as Washington again topped the American League. This time he was 2-1 in the World Series against Pittsburgh, taking the loss in a rainy Game 7. Johnson played two more seasons before retiring in 1927. Over the course of a 21-year career with the Senators, “the Big Train” produced a 417-279 record with a 2.17 ERA and then-record 3509 strikeouts over 5914.1 innings pitched. He hurled 531 complete games that included 110 shutouts. He had two 30-win seasons and 12 with 20 or more wins. Pitching for a club that often provided minimal run support, he notched a record 38 wins by a score of 1-0 and suffered 26 losses by the same score. Johnson topped the AL in strikeouts 12 times and his career total remained the major league record until 1983. Twice during his career, he struck out three straight batters on nine pitches with the bases loaded, highlighting his ability to bear down in clutch situations. Following a year of minor league managing with the Newark Bears of the International League in 1928, Johnson managed the Senators from 1929 to ’32 and the Cleveland Indians from 1933 to ’35. His major league teams compiled a record of 529-432 with the Senators finishing second in the AL in 1930 and third in 1931 and ’32. He later became a county commissioner in Maryland and lost an election for the US House of Representatives. Johnson was one of the first five players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936, ten years before his death at age 59.
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Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league
in one of the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum
of 10), runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20); or pitchers who
led a major league in wins, strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a
minimum of 10). Also included are participants in annual All-Star Games between
the National and American Leagues since 1933. This category also includes Misc.
players who received award votes, were contributors to teams that reached the
postseason, or had notable seasons in non-award years.
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