This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/27/2017
The popular baseball saying goes “If Cy Young didn’t exist, it would be called the Walter Johnson Award”. This speaks to the greatness of “The Big Train”, a tall, powerfully built farm boy from small-town Kansas who frightened even the great Ty Cobb with the velocity and danger of his fastball. Johnson pitched 21 seasons in the Major Leagues, all with the Washington Senators. He led the league in wins six times, accumulating 417 big league victories, a mark that still stands as the second most of all-time. In an era of baseball where strikeouts were rare, Johnson punched out batters with outstanding ease. With over 700 more strikeouts than Cy Young, who pitched almost 1,500 more innings than Johnson, “The Big Train” remains at number nine on the all-time strikeout list.
Perhaps Johnson’s best season came in 1913, his seventh in the Majors. The Senators ace accumulated a record of 36-7, with a league leading 1.14 ERA, 11 shutouts, and 243 strikeouts. He even chipped in from the opposite side of the plate, hitting two home runs with a .261 batting average and even stealing two bases. Johnson was awarded the 1913 American League MVP, and the brand new automobile that came with the award, for his troubles.
Postseason success eluded the Senators during Johnson’s spell with the team until 1924, when the 36 year old Johnson turned in his best performance in years. His 23 wins led the American League, and he won the second American League MVP award of his career. The Senators finished 92-62, winning the pennant by a mere two games over the New York Yankees. They faced the New York Giants in the Fall Classic, in a series that would go the absolute distance. The final game, Game 7, took place at Griffith Park in Washington, and quickly devolved into a war of attrition. Game 7 went 12 innings, with who else but an overworked Johnson coming into the ballgame in the eighth inning to pitch. He went four strong innings, holding off a ferocious Giants attack to secure the first World Series title for the Senators.
Johnson, who retired after the 1927 season, was one of the five inaugural members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Along with Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, and Christy Mathewson, few are more worthy of the title “Hall of Famer” than “The Big Train”.
Johnson signed the sweet spot of this red-stitched Pennant baseball in blue steel-tip fountain pen. His signature, while aged, projects beautifully and clearly. On the spot usually reserved for the stamped signature of the president of the American or National League, this ball has been stamped with the slogan of the Little Tavern Shops, Inc. company. It reads “Compliments of Little Tavern Shops, Inc. / Famous for 5¢ Hamburgers”. The baseball itself remains in excellent condition. This item comes with a LOA from JSA (Y83600).