Yesterday was a big day in Nationals' history. In 1907, a young pitcher named Walter Johnson made his major league debut with the Senators against the Detroit Tigers. Ty Cobb got the first hit off of him, a drag bunt down the first base line. Cobb would later say that his greatest embarrassment was batting against Johnson on a dark day in D.C.
The Tigers beat Johnson, 3-2, but he would go on to become perhaps the best pitcher in the history of the game. Only Cy Young had more wins (Johnson won 417) and no one threw more shutouts (110). Johnson was both utterly dominant and remarkably durable: he won 200 games in only 8 seasons and 300 in only 14. And, in a link to today's team, which is so fond of one-run games, Johnson won more games 1-0 (38) than any pitcher in history and lost 24 1-0 games.
By the way, on August 2, 1927, exactly 20 years after his debut, the Tigers beat Johnson 7-6 on Walter Johnson Day in Griffith Stadium.
Was it too much to ask the Nationals' marketing department to recognize the history of their own team by organizing a Walter Johnson Day in the Nationals' inaugural season?
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2 comments:
Seeing as how the Nationals have “Established 1905” on their team emblem, it really is a shame they didn't do something for Walter Johnson Day. If only Shirley Povich were still with us to set them straight.
Good point about the emblem. If the Nats were really creative, they'd buy Walter Johnson's house in Bethesda, which seems to up for sale every 18 months, and turn it into a museum.
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