Walter Johnson

Walter Perry Johnson—known as "Barney" and "the Big Train"—was a right-handed pitcher who spent his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career with the Washington Senators, from 1907 to 1927. He later managed the Senators from 1929 to 1932 and the Cleveland Indians from 1933 to 1935. Widely considered one of the greatest pitchers ever, Johnson still holds the all-time record for shutouts with 110, ranks second in wins with 417, and fourth in complete games with 531. He held the career strikeout record from 1919, when he passed Christy Mathewson’s 2,507, until 1983, when Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan, and Gaylord Perry each surpassed his total of 3,508.

Playing career

On July 22, 1923, he became the first pitcher to reach 3,000 strikeouts, a feat unmatched until Bob Gibson did it on July 17, 1974. Johnson led the league in strikeouts 12 times, including eight consecutive seasons—both all-time records. He is the only pitcher in history with more than 400 wins and more than 3,500 strikeouts. In 1936, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of its first five inductees.

Early life

Born on November 6, 1887, in Humboldt, Kansas, Johnson was the second of six children. Though often called "the Big Swede" by sportswriters, his ancestors actually came from the British Isles. After his fourteenth birthday in 1902, his family moved to Olinda, California, an oil boomtown near Brea. He split his youth between baseball, working in oil fields, and horseback riding.

At Fullerton Union High School, he struck out 27 batters in a 15-inning game against Santa Ana High School. He later moved to Idaho, working for a telephone company while pitching for a team in Weiser in the Idaho State League. Catcher and scout Cliff Blankenship spotted him, and Johnson signed with the Washington Senators in July 1907 at age 19.

Johnson was the premier power pitcher of his era. Ty Cobb recalled his first encounter with the rookie: on August 2, 1907, Cobb saw Johnson’s easy windup and a pitch that "hissed with danger." In 1917, a Connecticut laboratory measured his fastball at 91 miles per hour, a velocity likely unmatched in his day except possibly by Smoky Joe Wood. Johnson threw sidearm, making his pitches especially tough for right-handed batters, as the ball seemed to come from third base. His mechanics generated powerful shoulder rotation and excellent balance.