On the blog today, we keep building on my future custom "Minor League Days: Legends Edition" set by adding "The Big Train", my personal pick as greatest pitcher ever, Walter Johnson:
Funny
enough, Johnson's only time in the "true" Minors was after his Big
League tenure, appearing in one single game for the Newark Bears in
1928, facing one batter, whom he walked.
That was it!
99.9%
of his time on a mound was for the Washington Senators between 1907 and
1927, producing one of the all-time greatest careers the game has ever
seen.
Perhaps the greatest all-time pitcher PERIOD when you consider all the bad teams this guy pitched for.
All Johnson did while pitching his entire career for the Washington
Senators was win 417 games (second all-time), throw 110 shutouts
(all-time high), whiff 3509 batters (the record until the late-70's),
and post a stellar 2.17 earned run average.
Can you imagine if Johnson pitched for good teams most of his career!? He'd probably have an extra 50-100 wins thrown in!
His 1913 season is just too sick: a 36-7 record with a 1.14 E.R.A,
and 243 strikeouts, all league highs, as well as leading numbers in
complete games (29), shutouts (11), winning percentage (.837)and WHIP
(0.780).
Needless to say he won the first of two M.V.P. awards that year,
with his other award coming in 1924 when at the age of 36 he went 23-7
with a 2.72 earned run average and 158 K's (again winning the pitching
Triple Crown) as he led Washington to a World
Series win over the New York Giants.
He actually won a third "Triple Crown" in 1918 as well, when he posted a 23-13 record with a 1.27 E.R.A. and 162 strikeouts.
All told he led the league in wins six times, E.R.A. five times,
shutouts seven times and strikeouts twelve times, twice topping 300 for a
season (1910 & 1912).
And for you "modern" analytics fans out there, how about EIGHT seasons of 10+ WAR, with an INSANE 15.2 mark in 1913!?
And the year before THAT he posted a WAR of 14.3!
He was really a player from out of this world pitching among children. Incredible.
