Spring 2019 Premium Auction Closing May 11
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/12/2019
The incomparable ace Walter Johnson has written and signed this letter dating to 1939. Johnson, who played with the Washington Senators from 1907 to 1927, was a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s inaugural class in 1936. “The Big Train” won 417 games in his MLB career, easily the second most of all-time, while recording 115 shutouts, an MLB record. Johnson’s best season came in 1913 as the righty hurler won 36 games against seven losses while tossing 11 shutouts and striking out an MLB-high 243 batters.
This handwritten letter is addressed to a “Mr. DeGast”. It is dated to January 16th of 1939, when Johnson was in his early 50’s. in the letter, Johnson details travel plans relating to a trip to Hagerstown, Maryland in early February. The letter is handwritten in blue pen and was sent from Germantown, Maryland. Johnson has signed off on the letter by writing “Very Truly Yours” and signing his name below. The letter exhibits folding and creasing marks from its mailing but is otherwise in excellent condition. This item comes with a LOA from JSA (X91314).