Player #54D (Part 1): Walter P. "Barney" Johnson. "The Big Train". Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1907-1927. 417 wins and 34 saves in 21 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. 1913 and 1924 AL Most Valuable Player. 3-time triple crown. 6-time AL wins leader. 5-time AL ERA leader. 12-time AL strikeout leader. He had a career ERA of 2.17 in 5,914.1 innings pitched. He pitched a no-hitter in 1920. He holds the MLB record with 110 career shutouts. MLB All-Time Team. Inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame in 1936. One of his best seasons was 1913 as he posted a record of 36-7 with a 1.14 ERA in 346 innings pitched.
Deveaux talks about Walter's best season: To emphasize just how dominant 25-year-old Johnson had become, in 1913 he had an astonishing, and heart-breaking, five one-hitters. The St. Louis Browns earned the title of being Johnson's "jinx team," breaking a surreal string of scoreless innings during the course of a 10-5 Washington victory on May 14. In this game, Johnson passed the record of 53 scoreless frames, previously held by Jack Coombs. The Big Train, who had had his string of 16 consecutive wins interrupted by St. Louis the previous summer, struck out six Brownies in the first three innings, firing nothing but fastballs. Coincidentally, the batter Walter retired in the first inning to set the new mark was Pete Compton, the same Pete Compton who had broken Barney's win streak less than nine months earlier.
Finally, with one out in the fourth, Gus Williams doubled and Del Pratt singled to bring home a run for the Browns, the first Johnson had surrendered in 55.2 innings, the equivalent of more than six full ballgames. It is interesting to note that the one out Walter got in the fourth inning, oddly enough, is not officially part of the streak. The modern way of calculating is bizarre to say the least -- it is such that outs in innings in which the streak is broken don't count. Hence, for years, the record was considered to be 56 innings.
In either case, the accomplishment stood as the major-league record for 55 years, until broken by Don Drysdale in 1968, the so-called "Year of the Pitcher." Drysdale's record of 58.2 was later topped by another Dodger, Orel Hershiser, who bumped the mark up to 59. While Drysdale no longer owns the National League record, Walter Johnson's record of 55.2 still stands as the American League standard, and it was the record of which Walter was proudest. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)
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