Walter Johnson

Fan Teaser: Week 179 Solution

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Walter "The Big Train" Johnson
No cropping necessary. If you train your eyes well you might be able to figure
out who this is? But can you figure out why we’ve chosen him for this week’s Fan Teaser?
(Photo from the National Baseball Hall of Fame archives)

Did you successfully figure out that the ballplayer pictured above was Walter “The Big Train” Johnson?

Johnson pitched for 21 seasons with the Washington Senators from 1907-27.

By the time Johnson retired he’d amassed more career pitching victories (417) than any other pitcher not named Cy Young (511), the most shutouts all time (110, a record that still stands), and the most strikeouts (3,509, still good for 10th all-time; though Max Scherzer is within 21 of surpsassing him).

We chose Johnson as this week’s subject because of his final Opening Day start, which occurred April 13, 1926, against the Philadelphia Athletics. It’s widely regarded as the greatest Opening Day performance (pitching or hitting) of all time. Johnson threw a 15-inning complete game shutout, allowing three hits, walking three more, and fanning nine en route to the 1-0 Senators’ victory. His Game Score of 111 is still the highest ever for an Opening Day as is his Win Probability Added score of 1.552.

Of course, the fella on the bump for the A’s that date wasn’t too shabby either, though I doubt most have heard of Eddie Rommel, who pitched a 14.1 complete game, scattered nine hits, and walked six, before allowing Joe Harris‘ 15th inning single that scored teammate Bucky Harris to end an Opener that only last two hours, 33 minutes.

Any chance that Opening Day performance will ever be equaled <snickers, knowing the answer>? There were three Opening Day shutouts this season and in only one of those three did the starting pitcher pitch into the seventh inning (Max Fried for the New York Yankees).

Johnson went on to become a member of the inaugural National Baseball Hall of Fame induction class of five in 1936. The others were Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, Ty Cobb, and Babe Ruth.

Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor News alum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.

The Fan Teaser: Week 144 Solution

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One of the original Fab Fives for this week’s #FanTeaser. Who comprises this quintet and what’s significant about them?

Nearly 90 years ago, the Baseball Writers Association of America conducted its first vote to select an innaugural class for the nascent National Baseball Hall of Fame. The structure in Cooperstown, NY, was still three years away from being open for business, but on February 2, 1936, the first Hall of Fame Class was announced. It included five players who really – even then – needed no introduction:

  • Ty Cobb – Upon his retirement, Cobb had amassed a then-record 4,191 hits and a career batting average of .366. See his HoF bio here and his career stats here.
  • Walter Johnson – The hard-throwing righthanded pitcher still owns the career record with 110 shutouts among his 417 career wins. See his HoF bio here and his career stats here.
  • Christy Mathewson – The rightie won 20 or more games in 13 of his 17 big league seasons. He won 33 during the 1904 season and finished third! (Jack Chesbro collected 41 and Joe McGinnity 35) See his HoF bio here and his career stats here.
  • Babe Ruth – One of the original dual threat players, not only did Ruth club a then-record 714 career home runs, but he also won 94 games as a pitcher, and still holds the career Slugging Percentage record with a .690 mark. See his HoF bio here and his career stats here.
  • Honus Wagner – A native Pennsylvanian, Wagner spent the majority of his career with his homestate Pirates. Known these days more for his ultra-rare T206 baseball card than his statistics, it’s worth noting that Wagner played every position but catcher during his 21 seasons and finished with 643 career doubles, still 10th best in the game’s history. See his HoF bio here and his career stats here.

The plaques from the original National Baseball Hall of Fame class.

It would not be until June 12, 1939, that the first induction ceremony in the quaint upstate New York village.

This Sunday the Class of 2025 will receive their bronze plaques in Cooperstown. The class is comprised of Dick Allen, Dave Parker, CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki, and Billy Wagner (no relation to Honus;-).