Walter Johnson
"Big Train"
A Long Limbed Feller Throwing Whistling Steam Side Armed Heat
Walter Johnson was a special sort of pitcher making his fame pitching the fast ball as a right handed side armed pitch throwing whistling steam, smoke, heat and every other adjective to describe the baseball coming to home plate making the hitters flinch as it whistled and hissed crossing the plate..
Some of the remarkable things belonging to "Big Train" Walter Johnson in the compilation of his pitching feats is his astounding record and pitching super accolades were accomplished while with the Washington Senators which is now the Washington Nationals
Walter Johnson was known around the American League as "The Big Train." He was nicknamed “The Big Train” by sportswriter Grantland Rice, who was reminded of an express train by Walter’s size and the velocity of his pitches (some also say it was because he always seemed to be pulling his team along).
"Baseball Fans can you even comprehend how Walter Johnson the dynasty winning climate may have been different in baseball had "Big Train" along with Christy Mathewson had both been with John McGraw and the New York Giants?"
"Talk of famous baseball players and a duo of baseball-hall-of-fame-players for which every pitcher only dreams about the accomplishments of these two is truly Baseballs Field Of Dreams."
"The fat Lady would sure be singing a different tune and Bobby Thompsons "shot heard around the world" would have been there goes those Giants cleaning the board once again."
WALTER "Big Train" JOHNSON
Washington Senators (1907-1927)
Washington Senators (1929-1932) Cleveland Indians (1933-1935)
Johnson won renown as the premier power fast ball pitcher of his playing days. Ty Cobb recounted the pitching speed of Walter's heat best by his similar comment to the effect, "flinch you must just a tad, for you could not see it, however you heard the ball hissing as it flashed by."
Although a lack of precision instruments prevented accurate measurement of his fastball, in 1917, a Bridgeport, Connecticut munitions laboratory recorded Johnson's fastball at 134 feet per second, which is equal to 91.36 miles per hour (147.03 km/h), a velocity which was virtually unique in Johnson's day, with the possible exception of Smoky Joe Wood.
Johnson, moreover, pitched with a sidearm motion, whereas power pitchers are normally known for pitching with a straight-overhand delivery.
Some "power pitchers," such as Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, have thrown it at speeds of 95–104 mph (152.9–167.3 km/h) (officially) and up to 107.9 mph (173.6 km/h) (unofficially),[1] relying purely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit.
Others throw more slowly but put movement on the ball or throw it on the outside of the plate where the batter cannot easily reach it. The appearance of a faster pitch to the batter can sometimes be achieved by minimizing the batter's vision of the ball before its release. The result is known as an "exploding fastball": a pitch that seems to arrive at the plate quickly despite its low velocity.
Fastballs are usually thrown with backspin, so that the air current effect creates an upward force on the ball, causing it to fall less rapidly than might be expected. A pitch on which this effect is most marked is often called a "rising fastball", as the ball appears to rise to the batter. Colloquially, use of the fastball is called throwing heat or putting steam on it, among many other variants.
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