Historic 1936 Throw by Gehrig and Walter Johnson

[gonefishin]

A few years ago I obtained a large 3 ring binder with tons of original 1936 newspaper baseball clippings. I occasionally read the stats, articles, etc. I came across 2 separate clippings which I thought were very interesting and something I didn't know.

Walter Johnson was going to throw a coin across the Rappahannock River in an attempt to duplicate, or disprove, the rumor that George Washington had thrown a coin across this same river in his youth.

The day before, on Feb 21, 1936 Lou Gehrig attempts the same toss. Gehrig makes the toss on his 5th attempt, tossing the coin 430 feet.

The next day on Feb 22, 1936 Walter Johnson makes the attempt. He throws the coin across on 2 of 3 attempts. His furthest throw went 317 feet.

If you're a fan of Gehrig and Johnson, and who isn't, wouldn't it have been great to get the coin thrown across the river!

Happy Memorial Day and enjoy the articles.

P.S. I have ton's more from 1936!

[Hankphenom]

I've read--and written--a thousand times about WaJo's feat, but until now had never heard about Gehrig's. How can that be? And 430 feet--that strikes me as nothing less than astonishing. I'm not sure why Walter even went through with his act the next day, the whole idea being to confirm that it was possible for George Washington to have done something similar. Once Gehrig did it, you'd think that would be that, but Johnson had enormous press coverage with newsreels, many reporters, etc. Thanks for adding to the history of that famous event.

[Snapolit1]

For the life of me I cannot fathom how someone could possibly Throw a coin 400 feet. Seriously. A physicist could weigh in better than me, but the light weight of a coin would Seemingly make that impossible. I can throw a baseball maybe 200 feet but I certainly couldn’t throw a coin or a bottle cap that far.

[Michael B]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

For the life of me I cannot fathom how someone could possibly Throw a coin 400 feet. Seriously. A physicist could weigh in better than me, but the light weight of a coin would Seemingly make that impossible. I can throw a baseball maybe 200 feet but I certainly couldn’t throw a coin or a bottle cap that far.

A silver dollar may have enough heft to make it.

[gonefishin]

I had no idea that either had occurred. My binder contains so many interesting news articles that I simply enjoy reading. There are a lot of obscure articles that have really educated me about that era. It was DiMaggio's rookie year so there are numerous articles about him.

I'm glad you enjoyed the articles and even learned something! Maybe it's time to get an underwater metal detector and scoured the bottom on the river!

[michael3322]

Originally Posted by gonefishin

I had no idea that either had occurred. My binder contains so many interesting news articles that I simply enjoy reading. There are a lot of obscure articles that have really educated me about that era. It was DiMaggio's rookie year so there are numerous articles about him.

I'm glad you enjoyed the articles and even learned something! Maybe it's time to get an underwater metal detector and scoured the bottom on the river!

Thanks for sharing!

[mrreality68]

unique piece of history but that is pretty cool and over 400 feet. wow

[ValKehl]

Thanks gonefishin for this interesting info. I, too, had never heard of Gehrig's throw. FWIW, Gehrig's throw was across the Harlem River, whereas Johnson's throw was across The Rappahannock River.

I'm thinking the difference in the distance of their throws, 430' by Gehrig vs. 317' by Johnson, is possibly/probably explained by their age difference - Gehrig was 32 and still at the peak of his career, whereas Johnson was 48 (if my math is correct).

[D. Bergin]

I wonder how far Uncle Rico could have thrown that coin?

https://youtu.be/PBd1JEgH62w