1939 Walter Johnson Presentational Hall of Fame Plaque (Family LOA)

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/18/2018

In 1936, the National Baseball Hall of Fame held its first ballot for the eventual opening of its shrine for the planned ceremony in 1939. Located on the shores of Lake Ostego in Cooperstown, New York, five members of the inaugural ballot were selected after an extensive balloting that canvased players from the 19^th and 20^th centuries and even current players. The five legends that were chosen were Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson.

Johnson’s stats were eye-popping enough, with 417 career victories, 3,508 strikeouts and 110 shutouts. However, the best analysis came from Johnson’s peers as arguably the greatest hitter of all-time and fellow inaugural Hall of Fame inductee Ty Cobb was quoted in regards to Walter Johnson - “The first time I faced him, I watched him take that easy windup. And then something went past me that made me flinch. The thing just hissed with danger. We couldn't touch him. Every one of us knew we'd met the most powerful arm ever turned loose in a ball park."

Presented here is the high quality black and white photograph of the actual bronze plaque presented to “The Big Train” during the July 12th, 1939 ceremony. Framed to a dimension of 10 x 13 inches in a leather matte, gold lettering reads “NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME COOPERSTOWN, N.Y.”. The portrait image of Johnson in his Washington Senators cap dominates the plaque with the scribe “WALTER PERRY JOHNSON WASHINGTON-1907-1927 CONCEDED TO BE FASTEST BALL PITCHER IN HISTORY OF GAME. WON 414 GAMES WITH LOSING TEAM BEHIND HIM MANY YEARS HOLDER OF STRIKE OUT AND SHUTOUT RECORDS”. The frame displays handling and storage wear, but the plaque itself is in excellent condition, free of any defects. Championship artifacts are always a valuable commodity in the collection hobby, however, a Hall of Famer is a symbol of immortality. This is quite possibly the greatest piece of Hall of Fame memorabilia ever offered. This item comes with a LOA from Carolyn Johnson Thomas, the daughter of Walter Johnson and Hank Thomas, the grandson of Walter Johnson.