1907-1910 Weiser Wonder - Walter Johnson PC, new to the hobby

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by Leon

I don't know Hank. He was some really big news in Weiser, as you well know, and I would think they might have wanted to capitalize on his stardom at any time after 1907..... And actually, and this might not be correct, but it's there, baseball-reference has him as being on Washington, at least a little bit, in 1907, 1908, 1909, (all of the years in question here). During those years on Washington he had a combined W-L of 32 and 48, so capitalizing on that record seems strange. To me it seems whomever put this out might have wanted to capitalize on his Weiser stardom and not his less than stellar play in Washington during that period. I certainly appreciate your ongoing participation in a fascinating discussion. Thank you so much.

Who knows, maybe another PC will pop up with an earlier postmark and this date can be put to rest. Until now I think many collectors were dating this postcard quite a bit later.

There's almost no chance this postcard was made during his time at Weiser, in my opinion. He was never called "The Weiser Wonder" during that time, but WAS called that almost immediately thereafter in Washington and elsewhere around the American League. And despite his deceptive 5-9 record in 1907, he was considered in many quarters a "Wonder" from the very start of his career. He had the 4th-best ERA in the American League at 1.88 and finished 2nd behind Waddell in SO/IP. He finished every game he started except his first, and pitched two consecutive shutouts toward the end of the year. Five of his losses were by 1 run for a 49-102 team. Turn those into victories and he would have been 10-4, not a bad first two months in the big leagues. It's entirely possible for this postcard to have been produced sometime in the latter part of 1907, the town capitalizing on the nickname he had often been called beginning with his debut on August 2. Or it could have been made at any time in the years following, up to late 1910. Regardless, Leon has brought us significant new information about a "WONDERful" (sorry, couldn't resist) card.