Walter Johnson Vs. Christy Mathewson

[ksfarmboy]

Greatest player from Kansas.

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by ksfarmboy

Greatest player from Kansas.

Is that one of the ones sold by Doug Allen's wife on eBay?

[ksfarmboy]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

Is that one of the ones sold by Doug Allen's wife on eBay?

Yes it was Hank.

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by ksfarmboy

Yes it was Hank.

I got one, too. Pure serendipity except for the fact that I was looking during the few days they were up. There were five of them made, not sure how many sold, but they are really gorgeous.

[FrankWakefield]

Hank, how tall are they?

The remind me of the Walter's likenesses at Nationals Park.

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

Hank, how tall are they? The remind me of the Walter's likenesses at Nationals Park.

They are about a foot and a half tall, made of bronze. Doug Allen, former president of Legendary Auctions (the old Mastro outfit after he got busted), had a mold made from one of the 50 plaster versions created after Walter's great victory in the '24 Series and had five of the bronzes made. When Doug went to jail, his wife put at least two of these up on eBay with a starting bid of $1,000. I was the only bidder on the one I got, and to this day I can't understand why, given the striking quality of this beautiful statuette. The statue at Nats Park, by the way, is kind of grotesque, in my opinion.

[Seven]

A lively discussion and debate for sure. From a collecting standpoint, I find Mathewson slightly more interesting. The Mystique and aura around him is hard to beat. Both were fine pitchers in their day, but I believe Johnson gets the edge. More dominant for a longer stretch of time.

Now, on the subject of the debate concerning Johnson's fastball or quite frankly the athletic ability of anyone playing any sport back in those days; Just like when studying history, when looking at this issue we have to compare them relative to their peers. However fast the "Big Train" was throwing, it certainly does not compare to how fast Gerrit Cole tops out on the gun.

But Johnson pitched in a different time. He was arguably the best, of his era. Whatever his fastball measured at, was probably the fastest at that time. And adding that context he's arguably the best. All of these players from back in the day didn't have the strict diets, access to modern medicine, training and equipment. They worked jobs in the offseason, took trains with sleeper cars across the country to pay games. All things that the pampered athletes of today couldn't even dream of.

I'll say this much, in my rankings, Johnson is certainly up there as one of the greatest pitchers of all time, I would only ever consider putting Satchel Paige above him.