» June 9, 1907: Throwing the only perfect game of his career, Weiser (Idaho) P Walter Johnson beats Emmett, 11-0. He strikes out 14, and the game helps bring him to the attention of the Washington Nationals.

» August 2, 1907: Walter Johnson, 19, debuts with Washington and loses to Detroit. The first hit off him is a bunt single by Ty Cobb, who also helps Detroit's cause by throwing out three runners from RF, two of them at home plate. Sam Crawford's inside-the-park home run is the margin in Detroit's 3-2 win. Johnson exits in the 8th, trailing, 2-1. Detroit also wins the 2nd game of the doubleheader and moves into first place.

» August 7, 1907: Washington's Walter Johnson wins the first of his total 416 victories, 7-2 over Cleveland. Cleveland manages just four hits.

» September 7, 1907: In Boston, Walter Johnson tops the Red Sox, 1-0, for the first of his 38 career 1-0 wins. On the 12th, he will shut out the Highlanders 2-0.

» September 12, 1907: In a 2-0 win against the Yankees at Hilltop Park, Washington's Walter Johnson strikes out five batters, though it'll be recorded as four K's. Researcher John Schwartz, in the 1990s, will find the extra K, resulting in Johnson's lifetime total of 3,509. The issue crops up again on Opening Day, 2001, when Roger Clemens ties (or beats) the mark.

» February 27, 1908: In Fullerton, CA, Walter Johnson, Washington's young phenom, is operated on for an infection of the mastoid area behind the right ear. The doctors remove a section of the bone, and the recuperation will keep Johnson sidelined until late May.

» June 11, 1908: In his first start since his February operation, Walter Johnson is hammered by the St. Louis Browns in leaves in the 4th inning. He won't pitch again until the 23rd.

» July 28, 1908: Walter Johnson's (1–5) recuperation from his operation seems complete as he pitches 15 innings against the Browns with neither team scoring. Washington pulls out a 2–1 victory in the 16th as Johnson K's 15, Big Train's highest strikeout total for his career. He will win 11 of his next 13 decisions.

» August 14, 1908: The National's Walter Johnson hurls a 1-0 victory over the White Sox, allowing just two hits, the first a 9th inning single by Sox P Doc White.

» August 21, 1908: Nationals catcher Gabby Street stands at the base of the Washington Monument and catches the 13th ball dropped from the top, 555 feet up, duplicating the feat performed by Pop Schriver of the Chicago Colts on August 24, 1894. Billy Sullivan of the Chicago White Sox will repeat the catch on August 24, 1910. Street gets a $500 prize for his morning's efforts, then spends the afternoon behind the plate catching Walter Johnson's 3-1 win over Detroit.

» August 28, 1908: The Senators give some support to Walter Johnson, scoring eight runs against Cleveland to win 8-0. Johnson's last outing was a 1-0 loss to the Tigers on the 24th.

» September 4, 1908: In New York, Walter Johnson opens a series against New York by besting Jack Chesbro, 3-0, allowing six hits in the Washington win.

» September 5, 1908: Washington and Walter Johnson top the Highlanders, 6-0, as the New Yorkers manage just four hits.

» September 7, 1908: On Labor Day, Manager Joe Cantillon starts the Big Train in place of one pitcher who is sick, and another who returned to Washington to be with his sick wife. Only three Senators' pitchers made the trip to NY. Walter Johnson shuts out the New York Highlanders for the 3rd time in four days, 4-0, topping Jack Chesbro and allowing just two hits and no walks. In the three games, Walter allows 12 hits, walks one, and strikes out 12. Johnson will pitch 130 shutouts during his career, 23 more than runner-up Grover Alexander. This is one of a record (topped in 1972) seven shutouts tossed today, out of 16 games.

» September 12, 1908: A day after beating the A's Eddie Plank, 2-1, Washington's Walter Johnson is forced to start again, this time replacing sore-armed Charley Smith. Remarkably, Johnson records his 5th complete game victory in nine days.

» September 18, 1908: The White Sox stay close to the top when Ed Walsh tops Walter Johnson to win 1-0. The Sox manage just three hits off the Senators' ace.

» September 20, 1908: in St. Louis, Rube Waddell strikes out 17 Washington Nationals in 10 innings to beat Walter Johnson 2-1.

» September 24, 1908: Washington's Walter Johnson three-hits Cleveland to win, 2-1. The loss stops Cleveland's win streak at 10.

» September 26, 1908: Washington's Walter Johnson loses 5-4 to Cleveland when he makes a throwing error.

» October 7, 1908: The last-place New York Highlanders close out the season losing 1–0 in 11 innings to Walter Johnson and the Senators. Johnson, who missed 10 weeks , ends up at 14–14, with a 1.65 ERA.

» April 24, 1909: Sidelined much of April with the flu, Walter Johnson makes his 1st appearance of the year. He should've stayed in bed as the Highlanders rough him up for six runs before he's lifted in the 3rd. Behind Joe Lake, New York rolls to a 17-0 win over Washington.

» May 10, 1909: The White Sox edge the Senators 1-0 in 11 innings, handing Walter Johnson his 2nd straight 1-0 loss on his way to a 20th century record ten losses by shutouts. For the Nationals, it is their 3rd straight 1-0 loss, tying a mark set by the Browns two weeks ago.

» May 20, 1909: After five losses, Walter Johnson picks up his first win, outdueling Cleveland's Addie Joss 3-2. Johnson strikes out 10 and drives in the winning run.

» June 19, 1909: Walter Johnson has a strange day beating the New York Highlanders 7-4. He gives up just three hits, but is unusually wild, issuing seven walks, uncorking four wild pitches, and hitting one batter, while fanning 10.

» June 29, 1909: Pitching against the Highlanders, Walter Johnson gives up a solo homer to Ray Demmitt in the 7th, the first home run he's allowed since his debut in 1907. Demmitt's shot is the only score for New York, as Johnson beats them for the 2nd time in 10 days.

» July 31, 1909: For the 2nd time in two years -- the first was on May 25, 1908 -- Bill Burns has a no-hitter broken up with two outs in the 9th, when Washington's Otis Clymer singles. But Burns and the White Sox win 1–0, besting Walter Johnson in the first of two games. Burns is the only pitcher to suffer this fate twice, until Dave Stieb of Toronto does on September 24 and 30, 1988.

» August 16, 1909: The A's jump on Walter Johnson, scoring six runs in five innings, before relief comes in. Before exiting, Johnson hits his first ML homer, off Harry Krause, who will lead the A.L. in ERA with a sparkling 1.39.

» August 17, 1909: Walter Johnson gives up four hits in topping the A's Chief Bender in 12 innings. The Nat's win 1-0, but the overwork will take its toll on the young ace. He will develop a sore arm and in his next two outing he will give up 27 hits.

» September 21, 1909: Rest seems to have cured Walter Johnson's sore arm, as the Nats' ace shuts out Detroit, 2-0, his first appearance since August 29th. He will finish the season at 13-25, 10 of the losses coming in shutouts. Five of the shutout losses were to the White Sox.

» October 2, 1909: In the first game of a season-ending doubleheader against Washington, Jim Curry plays second base for the Athletics and goes 1-for-4 against Walter Johnson. At 16 years, six months, and 22 days, Curry is the youngest player in American League history and the youngest major league position player in the 20th century (his birth date is reported as both 1889 and 1893). Walter Johnson's 6-5 loss to Philadelphia seals the last-place finish for Washington with 110 losses-Johnson and Bob Groom suffering 51 of them. Three years later, when Washington rises to 2nd place, Johnson and Groom will combine for 56 wins. Today, Groom and P Dolly Gray play the outfield for the Nationals. The last place finish costs Pongo Joe Cantillon his job. The new manager is Jimmy McAleer.

» April 14, 1910: With the weather perfect, President and Mrs. William Howard Taft, along with Veep Sherman, surprise the Nationals by showing up for the season Opener. Jimmy McAleer suggests Taft throw out the first ball, and he becomes the first president to do so. Walter Johnson catches it, then pitches the first of his 14 Opening Day Washington games, striking out 9. An easy fly hit by Frank "Home Run" Baker into the overflow crowd—a ground-rule double—mars his 3–0 pitching gem over rival Eddie Plank. Gabby Street is behind the plate for Johnson, the only opener in which he catches for Walter.

» April 28, 1910: The Red Sox manage 16 hits in 12 innings against Walter Johnson, but strike out 12 times, as the Nats edge Boston, 2–1.

» May 10, 1910: The White Sox tally seven runs in five innings against Walter Johnson to coast to a 10–3 win. Johnson's record is now 2–5, and the Washington Post suggests that the Nats "trade this phenom for a couple of good fielders."

» May 14, 1910: Cleveland edges Washington 1–0, beating Walter Johnson. Nap Lajoie is 2-for-4 with a double for the winners. Johnson will win his next four outings against Cleveland.

» August 11, 1910: The White Sox trade P Frank Smith, whose best days are behind him, and 3B Billy Purtell to the Red Sox in exchange for 2B Amby McConnell and 3B Harry Lord. On July 10th, a Walter Johnson fast ball broke Lord's finger, and the stellar play of his substitute Clyde Engle has made Lord expendable. Lord becoming the one threat in the weak White Sox lineup, hitting .297 through the end of the year, but the Sox will still finish last in hitting, slugging, and homers.

» August 23, 1910: Chicago's Ed Walsh tops Walter Johnson, 1–0, the 3rd straight time Walsh has beaten the Big Train and Washington by that score.

» September 5, 1910: Jack Coombs begins a streak of 53 shutout innings, topping Doc White's 46 of 1904. Three years later Walter Johnson will top Coombs.

» September 15, 1910: Cleveland tops Washington, 3–0, with Walter Johnson losing to the Naps after four straight wins against them. The victory goes to Fred Blanding in his major league debut. Nap Lajoie scores a run but is 0-for-3.

» September 25, 1910: Walter Johnson tosses the first of his two career one-runner games, missing a perfect game when a grounder skips by SS George McBride for a single. Johnson's one-hitter is good for a 3–0 victory over the Browns.

» October 12, 1910: With the AL season ending a week earlier than the NL, the champion A's tune up with a 5-game series against an AL all-star team, which includes Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Doc White, Ed Walsh, and Walter Johnson. The A's drop four out of five to the all-stars, but Connie Mack will later state, "Those games, more than anything else, put the Athletics in a condition to outclass the National League champions."

» October 26, 1910: The Washington Post headlines a rumored trade with Walter Johnson going to Detroit for Ty Cobb. Detroit president Frank Navin scoffs at the story, saying he would never trade Cobb, but praising Johnson "as the best pitcher in the country."

» April 12, 1911: President Taft throws out the first ball at Washington's opener, and holdout Walter Johnson signs a 3-year contract at $7,000 a year.

» April 15, 1911: Walter Johnson ties a major-league record by striking out four batters in the 5th inning of Washington's 6–2 loss against Boston. The 5th inning runner scores the games 1st run, and Boston scores three more in the 6th, plus runs in the 7th and 9th to beat the Nationals ace.

» April 28, 1911: In Philadelphia, Walter Johnson picks up his first win of the year, edging the A's 2–1. Frank Baker hits a solo home run off Johnson, the first home run over the fence the Washington ace has allowed: there have been two inside-the-park homers hit of Walter.

» May 13, 1911: At Hilltop Park, Fred Merkle has six RBIs in one inning—on a double and a Fred Merkle inside-the-park home run—as the Giants tee off on three St. Louis pitchers for 13 runs in the first inning, including seven before an out is recorded. Merkle adds a 3-run double in the inning and then scores the last run on the front end of a successful double steal. The spree ties a first inning major-league record enjoyed by the Boston Beaneaters against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1900, and it remains a Giants club record through the 20th century. John McGraw decides to save starter Christy Mathewson for another day and lifts him after one inning, but the official scorer credits Matty with the win. McGraw wants to give Marquard some experience in pitching without pressure and brings in Rube to finish. He works the last eight innings and strikes out 14, setting a 20th century National League record, and a since broken ML record, for strikeouts by a reliever: Walter Johnson will K 15 batters in 1913 and Randy Johnson will match it in 2001, while Denny McLain will rack up 14 in 1965. The Giants roll, 19–5, pinning the loss on Harry Sallee.

» May 23, 1911: Detroit beats Washington's Walter Johnson, 9–8. Detroit loads the bases in the 8th inning for Ty Cobb, already 3-for-4 with three stolen bases, and Walter Johnson, in relief of Gray, walks him to force in what will be the winning run.

» May 25, 1911: The Tigers lose to Walter Johnson and the Senators, 6–2, although Ty Cobb nicks him for two hits.

» June 3, 1911: Led by Ty Cobb's three hits, including two triples, the Tigers beat the Senators' ace Walter Johnson, 7–2.

» July 1, 1911: The A's pound Walter Johnson for 13 runs, the most he'll allow in his career, and beat Washington, 13–8. Frank Baker hits his 2nd of five career homers off Johnson in the 6th with a man on.

» July 24, 1911: An AL all-star team plays the Naps in Cleveland, raising $12,914 for the late Addie Joss's family. The all-stars win 5–3. Joe Wood and Walter Johnson pitch for the all stars, while Cy Young twirls for the Naps.

» August 4, 1911: Lee Tannehill of the White Sox, the only SS to execute two unassisted double plays in one season, makes both of them in the same game versus Washington. Walter Johnson still wins 1–0 for the Senators.

» September 23, 1911: Walter Johnson gives up a 2-run homer in the 6th inning to Joe Jackson, the 8th four-bagger the Big Train has allowed this year. Johnson had given up just two in the previous four seasons. Cleveland whips the Senators 6–1.

» October 15, 1911: In an exhibition game in New York, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, Gabby Street and other white major leaguers take on the Lincoln Giants, a star-studded black team featuring Pop Lloyd, Dick McClelland, and Louis Santop. Johnson K's 14 to give the white all-stars a 5–3 win.

» April 11, 1912: The Champion Athletics open at home, lacing seven hits and beating Walter Johnson and the Senators, 4–2. Jack Coombs takes the victory.

» April 15, 1912: In New York, Walter Johnson wins a duel against the Yankees Jack Quinn, 1–0.

» April 19, 1912: Behind the pitching of Walter Johnson, Washington wins its home opener 6–0 over the World Champion Athletics. Only 10,000 fans show up as shocking news of the Titanic sinking keeps people away. President Taft skips the game and Veep Sherman does the tossing of the first ball.

» May 8, 1912: The White Sox beat Washington 7–6, snapping Walter Johnson's five-game win streak. Johnson gives up two 2-run home runs, one to Harry Lord in the 1st and another to Ping Bodie in the 5th. A Johnson fastball breaks the arm of 3B Lee Tannehill, an injury that will hamper the infielder's throwing ability, and ends the career of the 10-year veteran. Sox starter Joe Benz leaves with an injury after pitching one 1/3 inning. Ed Walsh pitches the next five 2/3 innings, allowing three runs, and Frank Lange allows the same in his two innings.

» May 25, 1912: New York SS Jack Martin gets plunked twice by Walter Johnson, who hits three batters in the game. The second time Martin is hit the fast ball shatters his jaw. He will be out of action for five weeks. Johnson, who consciously avoids throwing at batters will, nevertheless, hit 205 batters in his career.

» June 6, 1912: In Chicago, Walter Johnson takes over for Paul Musser in the 6th inning with Washington ahead, 2–1, and holds Chicago scoreless the rest of the way. Washington tallies another seven runs for the 9–1 win, awarded to Johnson under the practices at the time.

» June 26, 1912: Boston's Smoky Joe Wood outguns the Nationals ace Walter Johnson to win, 3–0. Wood allows three hits to Big Train's 4. Johnson fans 10 batters in the loss.

» July 3, 1912: Walter Johnson picks up a win and is given a rare rest in the 6th inning as Washington coasts to a 10–2 win over the Highlanders. Johnson will rack up an AL record 16 straight wins before he is beaten.

» July 22, 1912: Walter Johnson beats Detroit and strikes out the first five batters (Davy Jones, Donie Bush, Ty Cobb, Sam Crawford, Charlie Deal) in the game. He then gives up a double to George Moriarty before striking out Baldy Louden.

» August 5, 1912: At Comiskey Park, Walter Johnson relieves Carl Cashion with two outs in the 8th and stops the White Sox. Johnson throws another two innings of hitless ball and drives in the winning run to give Washington an 8–7 win. Johnson has now won nine out of 10 decisions with the White Sox this season.

» August 16, 1912: Walter Johnson and Joe Wood are in pursuit of Rube Marquard's 19-game win streak. Johnson picks on the White Sox for his 14th straight, a 2-hitter, tying Jack Chesbro's 1904 mark. The Washingtonians win, 2–0, beating "our meatball expert" (Chicago Record-Herald) Joe Benz with eight hits. A week later Joe Wood will win number 13 in a row.

» August 20, 1912: In Washington, Walter Johnson wins his AL record 15th straight, downing Cleveland 4–2. Big Train is topped in the nitecap when Washington hurler Carl Cashion tosses a 6-inning no-hitter, winning 2–0. The only baserunners reach on two errors by SS George McBride. Johnson's effort takes one hour: 55 minutes, while Cashion's six innings finish in just 65 minutes: the game is called to allow Cleveland to catch a train to Boston. Cashion will win only 11 other games in his ML career.

» August 23, 1912: The Tigers fall to Walter Johnson, 8–1, Big Train's 16th win in a row. He is now 29–7.

» August 26, 1912: Walter Johnson's 16-game winning streak ends under AL rules of the time. In the 2nd game of a doubleheader against the Browns, he relieves Tom Hughes with one out and two on in the 7th inning of a 2–2 game. The two runners score on a Pete Compton single up the middle and the Nationals lose, 4–3. The two runs are charged to Johnson, not Hughes, giving him the defeat. Under the NL's rules, Johnson would not be charged with the loss. After the season, AL president Ban Johnson will change the rules to conform with the senior circuit, but he will deny he does it because of this game.

» September 2, 1912: Walter Johnson goes 10 innings against the A's, who beat the Big Train, 9–7.

» September 6, 1912: In one of the more dramatic matchups in history, Walter Johnson, who had won 16 straight games before losing two games, takes the mound in a doubleheader nightcap against Joe Wood, who is seeking his 14th straight win. Wood strikes out nine and beats the visiting Senators 1–0 for his 30th win. Boston's lone run comes in the 6th on back to back doubles by Tris Speaker and Duffy Lewis. Speaker's double would normally be an easy fly out, but the ball drops into the overflow crowd cordoned off by ropes.

» September 15, 1912: In the 2nd game of a doubleheader, Boston's Joe Wood wins his 16th straight game as he bests the Browns 2–1 in a game called after eight innings because of darkness. Wood scores the winning run in the 8th, scoring from 3B on a wild pitch by Earl Hamilton. Earlier in the year, Walter Johnson posted a streak of 16 straight wins.

» September 27, 1912: Eddie Plank goes 19 innings for the A's against Bob Groom and Walter Johnson of the Nationals, and takes a 5–4 loss when Eddie Collins' wild throw lets the winning run score. Johnson relieves Bob Groom at the end of the 9th, and pitches 10 innings of scoreless relief.

» October 3, 1912: In New York, the Senators clinch 2nd place, a game ahead of the A's, by edging the Highlanders, 4–3. Walter Johnson's notches his 33rd win (or 32nd by some counts).

» October 6, 1912: At the Remington Arms Company in Bridgeport Connecticut, Walter Johnson and Nap Rucker fire fast balls through a tunnel of fine wires in an attempt to clock their fastballs. In street clothes, both throw three pitches. The rudimentary test clocks Johnson at 122 feet per second (82 mph) and Rucker at 113 feet per second, both on their 3rd throw.

» April 10, 1913: President Woodrow Wilson, who receives a gold pass from Ban Johnson, throws out the first ball at Washington's home opener at National Park. Under new manager Frank Chance, New York is playing its first official game as Yankees. New York starter George McConnell, 8–12 last year as a 35-year-old rookie, allows just six hits but loses to Walter Johnson 2–1. Danny Moeller drives in both Nat runs with a single. After giving up an unearned run in the first, Johnson begins a string of shutout innings that will reach a record 55 2/3 before the St. Louis Browns score in the 4th on May 14th. Johnson scatters eight hits today, including one by 1B Charlie Sterrett. Regular first sacker Hal Chase, though left-handed, fills in at second base for injured player/manager Frank Chance.

» May 10, 1913: Walter Johnson two-hits the White Sox to run his consecutive scoreless innings pitched to 52 2/3.

» May 14, 1913: At St. Louis, Walter Johnson tops Jack Coombs record of 53 straight scoreless innings when he stretches the record to 56 innings. But after Washington scores six runs, Johnson lets up against the Browns and Del Pratt's 4th inning single drives in a run that snaps the skein. Ahead 9–1, Johnson is relieved by Joe Boehling and Washington wins, 10–5.

» May 18, 1913: In Detroit, 25,000 show up to see Walter Johnson battle the Tigers. Washington wins 2–1, with Detroit's only score coming on a Ty Cobb steal of home in the 7th.

» May 30, 1913: In a Memorial Day doubleheader in Washington, Red Sox OF Harry Hooper hits lead-off homers in both games to help sweep the Senators. Boston wins the opener, 4–3, then the nitecap, 1–0, on Hooper's leadoff homer against Walter Johnson. Hooper, a future Hall of Famer, will total just four homers on the season.

» June 2, 1913: In the 2nd game of a doubleheader with the A's, Walter Johnson serve up a 4th-inning homer to Home Run Baker as the Senators lose 4–3.

» June 14, 1913: At Chicago, Walter Johnson stops the White Sox, 8–3. Sox C Ray Schalk hits his first ML homer off Johnson and it will be his only roundtripper this year.

» June 25, 1913: In Washington, Frank Baker, a nemesis for Walter Johnson, cracks a three run homer in the 3rd inning to key a 14–2 A's victory over the Washington ace.

» June 27, 1913: Washington's Walter Johnson tops the A's, 2–0, to start a 14-game winning streak. He won't lose for another two months.

» July 3, 1913: The Red Sox tally 15 hits off Washington's Walter Johnson, but lose 1–0 in 15 innings. This a ML frustration record for most hits in a shutout. Ray Collins takes the loss.

» July 6, 1913: At St. Louis, the Senators push across two runs in the top of the 9th to take a 3–2 lead, Walter Johnson, the 4th Washington pitcher, shuts out the Browns in the 9th and is awarded the win. As reported in Sporting Life, Prexy "Ban Johnson rules that when a pitcher leaves the box at the end of an inning he shall not receive benefit of any runs made in the following inning. He says all runs should aid the reliever, not the previous pitcher."

» July 25, 1913: A 15-inning 8–8 tie game between St. Louis and the Nationals is called for darkness. Reliever Walter Johnson fans a major-league record 15 in the last 11 innings, but he hits rookie catcher Sam Agnew with a pitch, breaking his jaw. Browns P Carl Weilman sets a major-league record by striking out six times. He becomes the first player in history to strike out six consecutive times in a game, as Johnson gets him four times, and Joe Engel and Long Tom Hughes once each. Johnson's strikeout mark for relievers will last this century before another Johnson breaks it, in 2001.

» August 2, 1913: It's Walter Johnson Day in Washington. President Wilson is on hand to help mark the Big Train's 6th anniversary in a Nationals uniform. Johnson is presented with a silver cup filled with 10-dollar bills ($674) and returns the favor with a 3–2 win over Detroit, his 24th win of the year.

» August 24, 1913: In Chicago, Walter Johnson wins his 14th straight, a 2–1 decision over the Sox. Johnson fans the side in the 8th inning, then with two on and two out in the 9th, strikes out Eddie Collins.

» August 28, 1913: Walter Johnson's 14-game winning streak is ended, although it takes Boston 11 innings to beat him 1–0. Boston manages a 2nd inning single by Steve Yerkes and doesn't have another baserunner until Yerkes singles again in the 11th., and reaches 3rd on the ball goes through the legs of CF Clyde Milan. A fielder's choice, and single wins it. Johnson strikes out 10, five in a row, and walks none.

» September 29, 1913: Walter Johnson wins his 36th game and 11th shutout of the year, defeating the league champion Athletics 1–0 on George McBride Day, a day honoring the Nationals' captain and SS.

» October 4, 1913: Washington manager Clark Griffith uses an unheard-of eight pitchers in an end-of-season farce game with Boston, including five in the 9th inning. At age 43, he pitches one inning himself, and coach John Ryan, also 43, catches. Griffith also plays RF, where he plays one off his head and misplays Hal Janvrin's liner into an inside-the-park homer. On the other end of the scale, 17-year-old Merito Acosta plays outfield alongside Walter Johnson in CF. Johnson then comes in the 8th inning to lob pitches to two hitters. Both batters, Clyde Milan and Steve Yerkes lace hits to send Johnson back to CF, and then, in relief, Nats catcher Eddie Ainsmith, in his only ML pitching appearance, gives up two triples to allow the base runners to score. The Sox score in the 9th on Janvrin's 2nd inside-the-park homer. Joe Gedeon, in his only pitching appearance, retires the last two batters as Washington wins, 10–9, beating Fred Anderson who goes the distance. The two runs "allowed" by Johnson will have historical repercussions: his ERA goes from 1.09 to 1.14, and Bob Gibson's 1.12 ERA in 1968 will put Johnson's ERA in 2nd place on the all-time list. The eight pitchers sets a major-league record that won't be matched until the Dodgers, September 25, 1946.

» October 8, 1913: Christy Mathewson ties the Series, shutting the Athletics out for 10 innings to beat Eddie Plank 3–0. Mathewson also brings in the winning run with a double in the 10th. In the 9th, Matty is saved twice by pitcher Hooks Wiltse, playing 1B. Wiltse entered the game in the 3rd as a pinch runner for Fred Snodgrass, pressed in to action at 1B. The A's put runners on 2B and 3B with no outs in the final inning, and the next two batters hit shots to 1B. Both times Wiltse guns out a runner at home and Matty gets the last out to send the game into extra innings. Before the game, Walter Johnson (36–7, 243 strikeouts, 11 shutouts) is presented the Chalmers Award, and an automobile, as the AL's MVP. Joe Jackson is 2nd in the voting.

» October 28, 1913: In the only time the two future immortals face each other, Walter Johnson and Christy Mathewson square off in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Johnson, backed by the White Sox, wins the battle, 6–0, pitching the distance, while Matty exits after four innings. The game is delayed for nearly two hours when the stands collapse, injuring 52 people and killing one fan. The governor of Oklahoma narrowly escapes injury in the tragedy.

» April 14, 1914: At Fenway Park, 24,741 fans are on hand as the Red Sox open the season against Washington. Walter Johnson doesn't allow a hit till the 6th inning as he shuts out the Sox 3–0. Johnson walks none and strikes out 8. Ray Collins takes the loss.

» May 8, 1914: When the Senators relieve with Walter Johnson, the A's greet him with six runs in three innings to drive the Big Train from the mound. Johnson throw the one and only beanball of his career, a fast ball at the head of Frank "Home Run" Baker, a particular nemesis of Johnson's. The beanball misses Baker, whom Johnson calls "the most dangerous batter that I ever faced." Baker had hit .385 against the Nats ace up till this game (4 seasons); he'll hit just .207 off him in the next nine years. When the dust settles, the game ends in a 9–9 tie.

» June 21, 1914: Against Detroit P George Boehler, Walter Johnson connects for a 5th inning grand slam and it is the difference as Washington wins, 7–3.

» June 24, 1914: Washington's Walter Johnson is enroute to a 2–1 home win over the A's when newsboys come through the stands hawking the latest edition of the papers headlining the wedding that evening of the ace to Hazel Roberts. The fiancee is supposedly spotted by the crowd, but the real Ms. Roberts slips by unnoticed.

» June 27, 1914: The A's top Walter Johnson and Washington, 4–2. Eddie Collins is 2-for-4 with a run and RBI for the A's.

» July 6, 1914: At Washington, it is a battle of the Johnsons -- Boston's Rankin Johnson vs. the Nats' Walter Johnson. George McBride's steal of home in the 4th inning is the only score, and Walter wins the 16th 1–0 game of his career.

» August 31, 1914: Walter Johnson relieves in the 8th inning with his Senators holding a 3–2 lead over the White Sox. On the first pitch, Jack Fournier hits a home run to tie the game. Fournier's next at bat up comes in the 10th and he homers again to give the Sox a 4–3 win. This is the first time Johnson has been reached for two home runs in a game by the same batter (Lou Gehrig will match it August 13, 1926). Last night the Sox beat Johnson 2–1 and Fournier was 3-for-3 with two triples against the "Big Train."

» September 21, 1914: The White Sox score in the 4th inning on a Walter Johnson wild pitch, one of four that Johnson uncorks in the game. But he strikes out 12 batters in 13 innings as the Nats finally break through against Chicago's Red Faber for a 6–1 win. The record book gives Johnson all four wild pitches in the 4th inning, but it appears that Eddie Collins, who opened with a single, stole 2nd and advanced on a grounder to 3rd, scored the Pale Hose's only tally on a just one wild pitch.

» October 5, 1914: At Fenway Park, Washington's Walter Johnson wins his 28th game of the year, a 9–3 win over the Sox. Babe Ruth, pinch hitting for pitcher Ray Collins, strikes out on three pitches.

» December 4, 1914: Walter Johnson accepts a $6,000 bonus from the FL Chicago Whales and signs a three-year contract for $17,500 per year. Clark Griffith threatens to take Johnson to court, claiming he has paid Johnson for the reserve option in his contract. American League Prexy Ban Johnson asserts that Johnson was on the market and is "damaged goods," worth getting rid of. Griffith travels to Coffeyville, KS, to persuade his franchise player that the option clause is legal and binding. Two weeks later Griffith signs Johnson for three years at $12,500 per year and returns the bonus to the Feds.

» December 8, 1914: After weeks of rumors, the bomb drops: Connie Mack sells Eddie Collins, generally regarded as the game's finest position player, to the White Sox for $50,000. Collins signs a 5-year contract worth $75,000 and gets $15,000 as a signing bonus. The deal breaks up the A's "$100,000 infield" and raises conjecture that Mack, too, will leave to manage the Yankees. Ban Johnson reportedly had a hand in the negotiations, sending the A's star to counter the box office effect of the Chifeds signing Walter Johnson.

» December 19, 1914: Washington manager Clark Griffith meets with Walter Johnson in KC and convinces the star to re-sign for $12,500, considerably less than his recent contract with the Chifeds, with the assurance that Griffith would convince the Washington management to spring for a bigger contract later. Washington will later sign Johnson to $16,000 a year for five years. Griffith gets $6,000 from Charles Comiskey to allow Johnson to repay his Chifed signing bonus.

» April 14, 1915: With government offices closed to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's death, many government workers, including President Woodrow Wilson, are among the 15,556 fans on hand for the Washington opener against the Yankees. Wilson throws out the first ball and the rest is all Walter Johnson, who allows just two singles and issues three walks, all to Andy High. High added two steals. The Senators score seven runs against the Yankees starter Jack Warhop to coast to a 7–0 win.

» July 19, 1915: The Nationals come out running, stealing a major-league record eight bases (tied in the National League in 1919) against the Cleveland Indians in the first inning. Sore-armed catcher Steve O'Neill is the victim of three SBs by Danny Moeller including 2B, 3B and home, two each by Clyde Milan and Ed Ainsmith, and one by George McBride in the 11–4 Washington win. Walter Johnson (15-8) allows just two hits in six innings before taking the afternoon off. Reliever Nick Altrock gives up the Cleveland scores.

» August 2, 1915: On the 8th anniversary of Walter Johnson's debut, the Big Train tops the Browns, 5–1. The losing pitcher is George Sisler, who has a single off Johnson.

» August 7, 1915: In Chicago, the White Sox top the Senators 6–2. Relieving for the losing pitcher Jim Shaw is future Hall of Famer Sam Rice, who will pitch only eight more times before going to the outfield for two decades. Playing RF in the game for Washington is Walter Johnson, filling in for the injured Danny Moeller.

» August 10, 1915: In Washington, Detroit 3B Ossie Vitt is hit by a Walter Johnson fastball and, after being knocked out for five minutes, leaves the game with a concussion. A rattled Johnson then allows four runs in the first inning, two runs on a 2-run homer by George Burns, and another four through the 6th inning to lose (he will be 17–2 at home this year). Ty Cobb, observing Johnson's fear of hitting a batter, will begin crowd the plate on the Washington ace from here on. Cobb will average .435 for the rest of his career against Walter, after topping .222 only once in the previous eight years.

» August 14, 1915: In the first matchup of Babe Ruth and Walter Johnson, the Babe comes away the winner, 4–3. He also goes 2-for-3 and scores a Boston run in the come from behind victory. Ruth is hitting .370, 2nd in the American League behind Ty Cobb.

» August 22, 1915: In the 2nd inning of Game One of a doubleheader versus Detroit, the crowd sees the Senators score a run with no times at bat., the only time its ever happened. Chick Gandil and Merito Acosta walk; Buff Williams sacrifices, and George McBride hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Gandil, and the Tigers catch Acosta off 2B when OF Bobby Veach throws to Ossie Vitt. Washington's Walter Johnson goes on to win, 8–1, and snap the Tigers' 9-game win streak.

» August 29, 1915: George Sisler again pitches against Walter Johnson and this time wins, 2–1. He will be 4–4 for the Browns and 1–2 next year before moving permanently to 1B. Sisler is helped in the 8th inning when Brownie 2B Del Pratt nabs pinch runner Horace Milan, in his ML debut, with a hidden ball trick. Horace is the brother of teammate Clyde "Deerfoot" Milan.

» October 2, 1915: In the first of two games, Walter Johnson gives Washington a 3–1 win over the Red Sox. Babe Ruth pitches the final three innings, allowing one Nats hit.

» April 12, 1916: Before 20,000 at the Polo Grounds, the Yankees and Nationals battle 11 innings before the Nats push across an unearned run against starter Ray Caldwell to win 3–2. Walter Johnson strikes out 10 and walks none in the win. Frank Baker, after sitting out last season in a salary protest, has two of the five hits for New York, while Clyde Milan homers for the Nats.

» April 17, 1916: At Fenway, Babe Ruth and Walter Johnson square off with the young Red Sox lefty emerging the winner, 5–1 over the Washington ace. Ruth scatters eight hits in six innings and strikes out 6, while Johnson gives up 11 hits. Rain starts falling in the 7th and the game is called.

» June 1, 1916: Boston's Babe Ruth tops Walter Johnson, 1–0, for his 2nd straight shutout, allowing just three hits. The Sox get their only run in the 8th inning when Mike McNally scores from 2B on an infield force out. McNally will set a major-league record this year of playing 87 game without an extra base hit: Luis Gomez will top it by two games in 1975. Both pitchers strike out six, while Ruth adds a hit by pitch on Joe Judge. Ruth strikes out twice against Johnson.

» June 9, 1916: Walter Johnson beats Cleveland, 7–4, for a Washington win.

» August 7, 1916: At St. Louis, the Browns score two runs in the 7th against Nats starter Bert Gallia to tie the game. Ayers relieves and Walter Johnson pitches the last 1 1/3 innings, allowing a tally in the 10th for a 3–2 St. Louis win. The official scorer kindly gives the loss to Gallia.

» August 12, 1916: At Fenway, Babe Ruth squares off against Washington lefty Harry Harper and both pitchers leave after seven innings, with Boston trailing 1–0. Ruth, with two strikeouts at the plate, is lifted for pinch hitter Hal Janvrin. Washington reliever Walter Johnson makes two errors in the 8th and gives up two runs in the 9th as Boston wins, 2–1.

» August 15, 1916: Boston's Babe Ruth outduels Nationals' ace Walter Johnson, winning 1–0 in 13 innings. Johnson allows just five hits through 12 innings, while Ruth surrenders just an infield single—by Clyde Milan in the 11th—from the 7th inning on. Milan also robs Ruth of a homer in the 12th by grabbing a ball heading into the RF stands. Ruth is now 3–0 in his meetings with Johnson.

» September 9, 1916: In Washington, Boston's Babe Ruth tops the Senators and Walter Johnson, 2–1. Ruth gives up four hits while Johnson allows 8. It is the Babe's 4th win this season versus Johnson. Washington wins the nitecap, 4–3, in 10 innings.

» September 12, 1916: Walter Johnson and Babe Ruth, both pitching on two days rest, square off. Washington scores two runs in the 9th when John Henry lines a bases loaded double off Ruth to tie the game, 2–2. Boston scores in the 10th, but Washington tallies twice off Ernie Shore to win, 4–3. Johnson is the winner.

» September 17, 1916: St. Louis Browns P George Sisler wins 1–0 over Walter Johnson. It is his last win, as he soon becomes a regular 1B. He will also play two games as a left-handed 3B.

» September 21, 1916: Rookie Tris Speaker goes 4-for-6 and drives in a run as Cleveland edges Washington and Walter Johnson, 3–2.

» September 26, 1916: Washington manager Clark Griffith excuses several regulars for the remaining games of the season so he can use some new players. Included in the excused is 25-game winner Walter Johnson. In a league-leading 371 IP, he did not give up a home run, an all-time record.

» November 29, 1916: In Kansas City, Walter Johnson and Grover Cleveland Alexander face each other for the first time. The exhibition game between the two stars features Zach Wheat, Casey Stengel, Max Carey, Hal Chase and others. The "Johnsons" prevail over the "Alexanders", 3–2.

» April 11, 1917: In Philadelphia, Walter Johnson and the Nationals shut out the A's, 3–0. Johnson strikes out 11 in outgunning Bullet Joe Bush.

» April 21, 1917: At Washington's home opener, President Wilson is absent, but Veep Thomas Marshall does the tossing of the first ball. Walter Johnson rolls to a 3–0 win over the A's, beating Joe Bush. Johnson allows just three hits and strikes out 11.

» May 7, 1917: Red Sox P Babe Ruth allows just two singles in outpitching Washington's Walter Johnson. Ruth knocks in the only run with an 8th inning sacrifice fly. Ruth strikes out 3, while Johnson fans seven and gives up four hits. It is the 3rd time that Johnson has lost to Ruth by a 1–0 score. Ruth is now 6–0 with six complete games.

» May 11, 1917: At Washington, Walter Johnson gives up a bases-loaded double to Cleveland's Bobby Roth and the Indians beat the Senators, 4–3. It is the first bases loaded hit to clear the sacks off Johnson.

» June 23, 1917: In the first of two games at Boston, Babe Ruth starts for the Red Sox and walks the leadoff man, griping to plate umpire Brick Owens after each pitch. On ball 4, Ruth plants a right to the umpire's jaw and is ejected. Ernie Shore hastily relieves. The runner Ray Morgan is then caught stealing, and Shore retires all 26 men he faces in a 4–0 win, getting credit in the books for a perfect game. Ruth is not fined, but draws a 10-day suspension. Boston's Dutch Leonard then beats Walter Johnson, 5–0, in the nitecap. Ruth is suspended for his actions, a ban that will last nine days. He also is fined $100.

» July 5, 1917: In the first of two games in New York, Home Run Baker hits a 13th inning inside the park homer off Walter Johnson to give the Yankees a 5–4 win. It is Baker's 5th home run off Walter.

» July 19, 1917: The Browns Allen Sothoron defeats the Senators and Walter Johnson, 4–2.

» August 6, 1917: Veteran Eddie Plank, 41, hooks up with Washington's Walter Johnson in a brilliant 11-inning duel, won 1–0 by Johnson. For Plank, this is the last game of his oustanding career, and he will announce his retirement in a week, citing stomach problems as the reason. Pitching for the hapless Browns doesn't help as Plank's 1.79 ERA this season results in just a 5–6 record.

» August 10, 1917: Four days after shutting out the Browns, Walter Johnson pitches a 1-hitter against the Chicago White Sox. Tomorrow, three Nationals—Jim Shaw (6.2 innings), Doc Ayres, and George Dumont will duplicate Big Train's performance, also against Chicago (as noted by Steve Boren).

» September 3, 1917: At Shibe Park, the A's host their biggest crowd in three years and celebrate by sweeping a pair from the Senators, 7–4 and 9–2. Joe Bush, reinstated today by Connie Mack after being suspended for two weeks, starts for the A's but is lifted after three because of wildness. Roy Grover and Amos Strunk have three hits apiece in the opener. In the 2nd game, the Mackmen jump on Walter Johnson, knocking him off the rubber in the 3rd inning, and Jing Johnson coasts to the win.

» September 11, 1917: Walter Johnson allows just two hits to beat Dutch Leonard to give the Nats a 4–3 win over the Red Sox. All the runs are unearned for Boston.

» September 15, 1917: The Senators toss shutouts in both games today with the A's. Harry Harper wins the opener 5–0, and Walter Johnson follows with a 4–0 victory.

» September 22, 1917: In Washington, Walter Johnson fans Ty Cobb in the 1st inning, and then laughs about it. The next time up, in the 3rd with two on, Cobb lashes an inside-the-park homer and Detroit beats the Big Train, 4–3. It is Cobb's only career homer off Johnson.

» October 3, 1917: After six losses to Babe Ruth, including three by 1–0 scores (one in 13 innings), Walter Johnson finally emerges a winner against the Boston lefty. Johnson contributes a bases loaded double in the 8th to help visiting Washington win 6–0. Ruth gives up 11 hits and his ERA balloons to 2.01 for the year.

» June 30, 1918: In the 10th, Babe Ruth hits his 11th HR to beat Walter Johnson 3-1 and boost the Red Sox back into first place. Ruth is playing CF when not pitching.

» July 25, 1918: Walter Johnson gives up one hit (a triple by George Sisler) in the first 11 innings of a 15-inning, 4- hit 1-0 win.

» August 19, 1918: Walter Johnson beats St. Louis 4-3 in 14 innings. The Big Train will work in 15 extra-inning games, including two of 18 innings, one of 16 innings, and another of 15 innings.

» April 23, 1919: The season opens in Washington with General March, Army Chief of Staff, throwing out the first ball. Walter Johnson wins a 1-0, 13-inning duel with the A's Scott Perry.

» May 11, 1919: Walter Johnson retires 28 consecutive batters during a 12-inning scoreless tie against Jack Quinn and the New York Yankees. Future football immortal George Halas, batting leadoff for New York, fans twice and goes 0-for-5.

» June 9, 1919: Browns 1B George Sisler beats Washington 2-1 with two hits off Walter Johnson, driving in one run and scoring the other. He also makes an assist and putout when he gets a glove on a ground ball hit wide of 1B. The ball bounds toward 2B, and Sisler gets back to 1B to take the throw in time.

» March 26, 1920: Walter Johnson is wild and hittable in his first intersquad game, hitting three batters and walking 2. One of the batters he hits is Bucky Harris who takes a pitch that glances off the side of his head. Johnson gives up seven runs in three innings.

» May 14, 1920: Walter Johnson wins 9-8 over Detroit for his 300th victory.

» July 1, 1920: Walter Johnson pitches a no-hitter, his first, against the Red Sox at Fenway. An error by Bucky Harris costs him a perfect game, but Harris's hit drives in Washington's only run. The next day Johnson comes up with the first sore arm of his life and is useless for the rest of the year, finishing 8-10.

» April 13, 1921: With former president Woodrow Wilson, new president Warren G. Harding, and VP Calvin Coolidge watching, the Senators lose their home opener 6-3 to the Red Sox. Walter Johnson leaves after 4 innings, the first time he has failed to finish an opening game.

» August 8, 1921: In his first at bat, St. Louis Browns rookie Luke Stuart hits a home run, the first American League rookie to accomplish the feat. His 9th inning blast, good for two runs, comes off no less than Washington's Walter Johnson. Johnson, leading 16–3 at the time, cruises home with a 16–5 win. Stuart will play two more games and then leave the majors with this home run as his only hit. The next AL rookie to connect for a homer on his first at bat will be Earl Averill in 1929.

» September 5, 1921: Walter Johnson breaks Cy Young's career strikeout mark by fanning seven Yankees to run his total to 2,287.

» September 14, 1921: Washington's Walter Johnson gives up three hits but still faces just 27 batters in edging the Browns 1–0. Following two singles in the 4th, George Sisler's line drive is turned into a triple play. Jack Tobin singles in the 7th, but Johnson picks him off. Tobin will set a American League record this year with 179 singles, a mark that Sam Rice will top in 1925.

» September 24, 1921: Harry Heilmann is 3-for-4 against Walter Johnson, but Washington wins the game over Detroit, 5–1. Ty Cobb is so incense by the umpiring of Billy Evans that he challenges him to a fight. The two future Hall of Famers go at it with Cobb getting the best of Evans. George Hildebrand, the 2nd ump assigned to the game, reports the incident to American League prexy Ban Johnson. When Johnson fails to act, Commissioner Landis steps in and suspends Cobb, but allows him to continue as a non-playing manager.

» October 2, 1921: At Philadelphia, Walter Johnson coasts to an 11–6 win over the A's and Roy Moore. Johnson gives up a 6th inning solo homer to Jimmy Dykes, his 17th homer of the year.

» April 12, 1922: President Warren Harding throws out the first ball in Washington, and the Senators beat the Yankees 6–5. Former Yank George Mogridge starts for the Nats against Sam Jones, making his Yankee debut, as rookie manager Clyde Milan passes over Walter Johnson as starting pitcher. The Nats star has been ill most of the spring. Both Babe Ruth and Bob Meusel are out of the Yankee lineup, suspended by the league for barnstorming, and the Babe watches the game from the presidential box. Washington outhits New York, 15–9, and comes from behind to win in the 8th.

» June 28, 1922: Walter Johnson wins another 1–0 battle, this one over the Yankees, for his third straight shutout and 97th in all. Johnson strikes out 9. Waite Hoyt losses a tough one, allowing just two hits in the first eight innings. Earl Smith's double in the ninth drives home the winner.

» July 16, 1922: George Sisler drives in the first run with a sac fly against Walter Johnson and the Browns top the Senators, 2–0.

» August 6, 1922: In St. Louis, Walter Johnson gives up the first grand slam of his career, a third inning shot by Jack Tobin, as the Browns top the Senators, 8–4. George Sisler is 2-for-2 against the Big Train, as Urban Shocker picks up the victory.

» August 9, 1922: With the score even at six apiece, the Browns score two in the seventh off reliever Walter Johnson to beat the Senators, 8–6. The Browns finish an 11–5 home stand.

» August 16, 1922: The Browns beat Walter Johnson and the Senators again, 11–2. Brownie star George Sisler is 1-for-5 with a run scored.

» September 8, 1922: The Yankees go back on top, this time to stay, beating the Senators, 8–1, behind Carl Mays. while the Browns lose to Detroit, 8–3. New York's win is triggered by Wally Pipp's 6th inning 3-run homer of Walter Johnson, the 2nd homer Wally has dinged off the Senator's ace in nine days.

» September 19, 1922: Against the Senators Walter Johnson, Ken Williams hit his 39th home run of the year in the 4th, and Pat Collins, subbing for Sisler at 1B, adds another solo home run in the 7th to give the Browns a 2–1 lead. But the Senators rally to win, 4-3, with Walter Johnson earning the win over Elam Vangilder. Sisler pinch hits and strikes out. Washington will win again tomorrow, 5–0.

» May 2, 1923: Walter Johnson gets his 100th shutout, and New York SS Everett Scott gets a gold medal from the American League for playing in his 1,000th consecutive game. Scott's skein began on June 20, 1916. Washington defeats the Yankees 3–0, as Big Train allows just three hits.

» May 19, 1923: At Chicago, the Senators edge the White Sox, 6–4. Walter Johnson slams a decisive two run single in the top of the 9th, then allows three runs in the bottom of the 9th before getting relief help from Allan "Rubberarm" Russell. Johnson fans 6. Ossie Bluege homers for Washington.

» May 30, 1923: In 1st of two games in New York, Ruth's homer in 1st inning off Walter Johnson propels the Yankees to a 6–4 win over Washington. Herb Pennock is the winner.

» July 22, 1923: Walter Johnson notches his 3,000th strikeout on the way to 3,508. He fans five in beating Cleveland 3-1.

» September 13, 1923: The Senators win 7–3 over Detroit, with Walter Johnson picking up the victory. Harry Heilmann is 2-for-4 and scores a run for the Bengals.

» September 17, 1923: At Washington, Walter Johnson notches two wins against the Browns, winning one game in relief, and the other as a starter. Game one is 5–4 in 10 innings and game two is 12–2 in seven innings.

» April 15, 1924: Walter Johnson shuts out the A's 4-0 on Opening Day, his 99th shutout. One of the 4 hits off him is a single by rookie Al Simmons, the first of the 2,927 he will make.

» May 23, 1924: Walter Johnson strikes out 14, including six in a row, in a 4-0 one-hitter over the White Sox for his 103rd shutout. Johnson will have his best season in five years, going 23-7.

» August 25, 1924: Walter Johnson hurls a seven-inning rain-shortened no-hitter against the Browns, winning by a score of 2-0.

» September 8, 1924: Washington, with a 2-game lead in the American League, beats the A's 8–4. Despite giving up solo home runs by Joe Hauser and Bing Miller, Walter Johnson's wins his 10th straight and his 20th of the year, For Hauser, trailing Babe Ruth in the home run race, it's his 3rd four bagger of the year off Johnson.

» September 13, 1924: Detroit's Emory Rigney hits a 7th inning solo off Walter Johnson, but the Nationals chug their way to a 6–4 win.

» September 14, 1924: Hours after beating the Tigers in Detroit, Walter Johnson receives word he's been elected American League MVP with 55 points. White Sox 2B Eddie Collins is a distant 2nd. He was runner-up to Ruth last year.

» September 20, 1924: Pitching on two days rest in St. Louis, Walter Johnson is pounded out of the box by the Browns and pinch hit for in the 2nd. Each team collects 18 hits as the Browns prevail 15–14. Goslin gives the Nats a 14–13 lead in the 10th with his 2nd home run of the game, but a wild throw to 2nd by reliever Firpo Marberry gives the win to the Browns.

» September 22, 1924: The Senators open a 2-game lead as Walter Johnson wins his 13th in a row, 8–3 over Chicago. It's his 23rd win of the year. Washington will take the next two games in Chicago to sweep.

» September 26, 1924: With the Yankees beating the A's, Boston tightens the race by edging the Senators 2–1. September call-up Wade Lefler drives in Nemo Leibold in the 8th with a pinch double for the Nats only run. Washington now leads by a game. For the Senators, the loss stops Walter Johnson's 13-game win streak and Sam Rice's 31-game hit streak.

» September 29, 1924: With the blue law preventing any games yesterday in Boston or Philadelphia, the Senators clinch the pennant by beating the Red Sox 4–2, finishing two games in front of the Yankees, rained out in Philley. The win goes to Walter Johnson.

» October 4, 1924: For the 4th straight year, the Giants are in the Series. At 3B is Fred Lindstrom, at 18 years, 10 months, the youngest ever to play in a World Series. President Calvin Coolidge is among 35,760 who jam the DC stands in Game One as an Army band greets the two teams by playing Sidewalks of New York and Dixie. George Kelly drops a home run into the temporary bleachers in the 2nd, and Terry does the same in the 4th for a 2–0 New York lead. Art Nehf (14-4) gives up one in the 6th. In the last of the 9th, the Senators score to send the game into extra innings. The Giants net two runs in the 12th. In the last of the 12th, Washington scores one, but the rally falls a run short, and Walter Johnson (23-7) loses his World Series debut. Johnson strikes out 12 in the loss. Nehf becomes the 5th pitcher to get three hits in a World Series game, a feat that will not be repeated until Orel Hershiser does it in 1988.

» October 8, 1924: Walter Johnson tries for a World Series win again, but he's far from invincible. Fred Lindstrom is 4-for-5 with two RBI, and Johnson's pitching opponent Jack Bentley (16-5) clouts a 2-run homer for a 6–2 New York win.

» October 10, 1924: President and Mrs. Coolidge and 31,665 others thrill to the 2nd 3-hour battle of the Series. Bucky Harris starts 23-year-old righthander Curly Ogden (9-8) against Virgil Barnes (16-10), then pulls him after he fans Fred Lindstrom and walks Frisch. In comes lefty George Mogridge (16-11), a move intended to keep lefty Bill Terry on the Giants bench. Bucky Harris lifts one into the temporary seats in LF for a 1–0 lead. In the 6th a single ties it at 1–1, and Harris brings in Firpo Marberry for his 4th appearance. A base hit and two costly errors give the Giants a 3–1 lead. In the 8th, pinch-hitter Nemo Liebold doubles and C Muddy Ruel singles. A walk loads the bases and up comes Harris, who hits a hard bounder to 3B that strikes a pebble and skips over Lindstrom's head and down the LF line as the tying runs score. Walter Johnson, pitching on one days rest, then comes in to hold New York. With one out in the last of the 12th, Giants reliever Jack Bentley gets Muddy Ruel to pop up near home plate, but veteran C Hank Gowdy steps on his discarded mask, which he cannot shake from his shoe, and the ball falls to the ground. Ruel then gets his 2nd hit, a double. Walter Johnson reaches 1B on SS Travis Jackson's error. Earl McNeely hits a grounder at Lindstrom, and improbably, the ball again takes a bounce over his head. Ruel tears home with Washington's first World Series championship.

» November 18, 1924: Oakland Oaks (PCL) owner Cal Ewing announces that he has sold the team to Washington Senator star Walter Johnson, represented by George Weiss, who deposited a check for $5,000 towards the purchase. Last month, Ewing announced that the sale price was an enthusiastic $450,000 (the St. Louis Cardinals recent sale was for $275,000). Nothing will come of all the talk, and Johnson will return to the Washington team.

» May 11, 1925: Walter Johnson blanks the White Sox 9–0 for his 108th shutout, and he runs his strikeout total to 3,232.

» May 19, 1925: In the top of the 9th at Cleveland, pinch hitter Walter Johnson clouts a 2-run home run over the 45-foot right field wall at League Park to give the Senators a 4–3 win. The only other RH hitter to clear the wall is pitcher-turned-outfielder Smoky Joe Wood. Johnson, a good hitting pitcher, will have an extraordinary year at the plate, hitting a major-league record .433.

» May 21, 1925: Behind the hitting (3-for-4) and pitching of Walter Johnson, the Senators tame the Tigers 6–2. The two teams combine for nine double plays, setting a record (since tied) for a 9-inning game. The Reds and Braves will turn a record 10 double plays in 12 innings on June 7.

» May 27, 1925: In Philadelphia, the Senators nip the A's 10–9, as Walter Johnson wins his 7th in row. Al Simmons clocks one in the 4th inning with no one on that lands on 20th street. In five of Johnson's wins, Washington has scored nine or more runs.

» May 28, 1925: Despite pitching yesterday, Walter Johnson comes back to pitch the 2nd game today in Philadelphia and opposing pitcher Bill Harris pops a 2-run 2nd inning homer off the Big Train. The A's win, 9–4 after losing the opener, 11–3.

» June 29, 1925: The Senators beat the A's 4-2 to move within a halfgame of the top. The next day Walter Johnson blanks the A's 7-0 to knock them out of the lead.

» September 17, 1925: The Tigers beat Walter Johnson, handing Washington a 12–9 loss.

» October 7, 1925: Walter Johnson (20-7) opens the World Series in Pittsburgh. A 5th-inning home run by Pie Traynor is the only damaging blow, as Johnson fans 10 of the heavy-hitting Bucs for a 4–1 win over Lee Meadows (19-10). Sam Rice, Joe Harris, and Ossie Bluege, with two hits each, drive in the Senators' runs.

» October 11, 1925: Before a home crowd of 36,000, Walter Johnson wins his 3rd straight World Series contest over two years. He blanks the Bucs on six hits, only two out of the infield, and fans just 2. A 3-run home run by Goose Goslin in the 4th followed by Joe Harris's round-tripper–the first back-to-back home runs in World Series history—give the Senators a 4–0 win and 3–1 Series advantage. Veteran Babe Adams gives up two hits but pitches a scoreless 9th for the Bucs: Babe's last World Series appearance was winning game seven in the 1909 World Series.

» October 15, 1925: A steady downpour yesterday and today has left the field a muddy mess as the 7th game is played in the rainiest conditions ever. It's a short day for Vic Aldridge: three walks and two hits, and he's out of there with one out in the first. Walter Johnson takes a 4–0 lead to the mound. The Bucs clobber him for 15 hits, good for 24 total bases. Max Carey's 4-for-5 gives him a Series-high .458. The Senators make the most of seven hits, scoring seven runs, including Roger Peckinpaugh's home run, the 12th of the Series, a World Series record. Johnson would have fared better but for two more errors by SS Peckinpaugh, the MVP's 7th and 8th, still the World Series record for any position. The Senators made only one other error. Ray Kremer picks up his 2nd win with a 4-inning relief effort, as the Senators lose 9–7. The Series breaks all financial records, grossing almost $1.2 million. Winning shares are $5,332.72; losers' $3,734.60.

» April 13, 1926: Walter Johnson takes on A's knuckleballer Eddie Rommel in baseball's greatest opening-day pitchers' duel, a 15-inning battle won by the Senators 1-0. Johnson gives up 6 walks and fans 12.

» May 2, 1926: Walter Johnson wins his 400th career game, a 4–3 victory over the A's. Slim Harriss is the loser.

» May 12, 1926: Walter Johnson wins the 400th game of his career by defeating the St. Louis Browns, 7–4. He is now 6–1, but will lose his next seven in a row as the Senators go into a tailspin.

» May 23, 1926: In Washington, Al Simmons hits a solo home run, off Walter Johnson, into the CF stands. The A's beat the Big Train, 5–3, behind the pitching of Slim Harriss.

» June 20, 1926: A delegation of Coffeyville, KS, fans comes to St. Louis to see their hometown hero, Walter Johnson, pitch against the Browns. Unfortunately, the Big Train cannot hold a 4-0 lead and loses his seventh game in a row 5-4.

» September 11, 1926: Cleveland sweeps two from the Nationals, winning 8–1 and 3–2. In the opener, Walter Johnson serves a two-run homer to Tris Speaker in the opening inning.

» September 19, 1926: Detroit edges Washington, 8–7, beating Walter Johnson.

» September 25, 1926: In the first of two games in Chicago, Sox RF Bill Barrett breaks a 1–1 tie with a 9th inning solo homer of Washington's Walter Johnson to give the win to Tommy Thomas, 2–1. The Senators take the 2nd game, 3–2, behind Firpo Marberry.

» March 9, 1927: In a practice game in spring training, Joe Judge hits a line drive that hits Walter Johnson in the foot, breaking a small bone in the ankle and sidelining him for over two months. The 38-year-old will never completely recover from the injury.

» May 30, 1927: Finally making his first appearance of the season after recovering from a broken foot sustained in spring training, Walter Johnson hurls the last shutout of his career, No. 110, winning 3–0 over Boston. Johnson faces just 29 batters, giving up three hits. The Senators take the 2nd game of the holiday twinbill, 105, behind recruit Bump Hadley.

» June 4, 1927: Pitching his 2nd game of the year, Walter Johnson is pounded by the Browns, who win 5–3. Johnson finishes the game, striking out six and allowing nine hits, including a homer by Schulte. Elam Vangilder is the winner.

» June 9, 1927: Walter Johnson (1–2) loses his 2nd game in a row as the Indians pound him 7–1, knocking him out in five innings. Johnson allows six hits and two strikeouts.

» June 26, 1927: In Washington, the Senators make it three straight over Boston, winning 8–7, scoring all of their runs in the 4th inning. Former Senator Buddy Myer belts a homer off Walter Johnson, who lasts five innings and gets credit for the win. Johnson will serve up six gopher balls to the Red Sox in his career, all in Washington. Goose Goslin homers, off Tony Welzer.

» August 2, 1927: Washington celebrates Walter Johnson Day on the 20th anniversary of his joining the team. He receives $14,764.05, a silver service, and a Distinguished Service Cross made of gold with 20 diamonds. But the Tigers kayo him in a 3-run ninth to win 7-6.

» September 30, 1927: With the score 2-2 in the eighth, Mark Koenig triples and Ruth hits No. 60 off Tom Zachary for a 4-2 win. In the ninth Walter Johnson makes his final appearance as a player. He pinch-hits for Zachary and flies out to Ruth. Ruth hits 17 HRs in September, the highest month's HR output till Rudy York's 18 in August 1937.

» October 14, 1927: Walter Johnson retires as a player. He will sign a 2-year contract to manage Newark (IL) and will later return to the majors as a manager.

» October 15, 1928: Walter Johnson signs a 3-year contract to manage the Senators.

» August 3, 1930: At Washington, the Senators divide a pair with Boston, winning 11–2 and losing 7–1. Joe Judge manages the Nats with Walter Johnson in mourning, Senator players will act as pall bearers at Mrs. Johnson's funeral tomorrow.

» August 19, 1931: At Chicago, Lefty Grove (25–2)wins his 16th consecutive game, 4–2, tying the American League record set by Walter Johnson and Joe Wood in 1912. Grove holds the Sox scoreless till the 9th, while the A's score in the 2nd, 3rd and 8th off Red Faber. Grove has completed all but one of the wins.

» September 25, 1932: Jimmie Foxx hits his 58th home run in the last game of the season to finish two short of Ruth's 1927 record of 60. Foxx adds two singles but the A's lose, 2–1, to the Senators Alvin Crowder. Alvin Crowder wins his 26th and 15th straight game, one short of the AL record held by Walter Johnson, Smoky Joe Wood, and Lefty Grove. Foxx finishes with 169 RBIs while teammate Al Simmons ties for 2nd with 151.

» October 4, 1932: Clark Griffith announces that Walter Johnson will not be the manager of the Senators in 1933.

» June 7, 1933: Cleveland GM Billy Evans fires manager Roger Peckinpaugh and hires Walter Johnson to take over. Bibb Falk manages for one game until Johnson arrives.

» March 25, 1934: In New Orleans, Babe Didrickson takes the mound again, this time for the New Orleans Pelicans against split squad of the Cleveland Indians. She throws two scoreless innings and lines out in her only plate appearance. In nearby Lafayette, Louisiana, manager Walter Johnson pitches for the other Indian squad against the KC Blues.

» August 2, 1934: Walter Johnson is hospitalized with pleurisy, and Willie Kamm takes over as interim Cleveland manager.

» August 25, 1934: Schoolboy Rowe, Detroit's sensational rookie P, defeats the Senators 4-2 for his 16th win in a row, tying the AL record held by Walter Johnson, Joe Wood, and Lefty Grove.

» May 23, 1935: Cleveland has an internal problem between manager Walter Johnson and two veterans, 3B Willie Kamm and Glenn Myatt. Judge Landis refuses to intervene, and Kamm is eventually made a scout while Myatt is released. Johnson continues his shaky tenure, which will not last the season.

» August 4, 1935: Walter Johnson resigns as Cleveland manager and is replaced by Steve O'Neill.

» February 2, 1936: The baseball writers vote for the first players to be named to the new Baseball Hall of Fame. Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson each receive the requisite 75 percent of ballots cast. Active players also are eligible in this first election, with Rogers Hornsby finishing 9th, Mickey Cochrane 10th, Lou Gehrig 15th, and Foxx 19th. Tainted former star Hal Chase receives 11 votes for 25th place, and Joe Jackson has two votes to tie for 36th place.

» June 12, 1939: The greatest gathering of members and future inductees of the Baseball Hall of Fame assembles in Cooperstown, NY, for the dedication of the museum. A six-inning game at Doubleday Field presents lineups studded with players who will be elected in the future, as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, Grover Alexander, Nap Lajoie, George Sisler, Eddie Collins, Tris Speaker, Cy Young, and Connie Mack accept their plaques.

» November 5, 1940: Former Washington hurler Walter Johnson, who won 416 games for the Senators, goes down in defeat as a Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland.

» August 23, 1942: Walter Johnson pitching to Babe Ruth is the pregame attraction that draws 69,000 for the New York-Washington game at Yankee Stadium that provides $80,000 for Army-Navy relief. Ruth hits the fifth pitch into the right-field stands, and then adds one more shot before circling the bases. Sixteen relief games contribute $523,000 during the season. In the doubleheader between the Senators and the Yankees, the Senators win the opener, 7–6 and New York cops the nitecap, 3–0, in five 1/2 innings.

» September 8, 1946: With the Red Sox running away with the AL race, attention closes in on Bob Feller's strikeout pace. He reaches 300 today, a number reached by Walter Johnson and Rube Waddell twice each. Can Feller beat Waddell's 347 of 1904? Boudreau finds plenty of innings for Feller to work as the season comes to an end and statisticians discover an error in the Aug 24th box score that shorted the fireballer one strikeout against the A's. Counting that one, Feller ends with 348. Alas! Waddell's old record of 347 was apparently based on the compilations of George Moreland, an early baseball historian, and listed in Little Red Book. TSN researchers later revise Waddell's total to 349.

» April 18, 1960: In the American League opener at Washington, a week later than the National League start, President Dwight D. Eisenhower throws out the first ball, then watches Camilo Pascual strike out 15 batters to tie Walter Johnson's record. Boston's only run in a 10–1 loss is a Ted Williams home run.

» August 9, 1963: Roger Craig's National League record-tying 18-game losing streak (broken by teammate Craig Anderson) ends thanks to Jim Hickman's 9th-inning grand slam off Lindy McDaniel. New York beats the Cubs 7–3. Craig will be on the wrong end of a shutout nine times this year: only Bugs Raymond (11 in 1908) and Walter Johnson (10 in 1909) have had more shutouts thrown at them in a year.

» October 4, 1964: Larry Jackson's 9–2 victory over the Giants is his 24th win for the Cubs, the most ever for an 8th-place team. He also sets a major-league record for pitchers by fielding 109 chances during the season without an error. Walter Johnson fielded 103 chances without an error in 1913.

» June 15, 1965: Tigers P Denny McLain makes a first-inning relief appearance and fans the first seven batters he faces, setting a ML record. He has a remarkable 14 strikeouts in 62/3 innings, tying the National League relief record (Marquard, 1911, eight innings) and one shy of Walter Johnson's major-league record (15 in 11 1/3 innings, 1913). Detroit rallies to beat Boston 6–5 as Bill Freehan records a record-tying 19 putouts at catcher.

» June 8, 1968: Don Drysdale works four scoreless innings against Philadelphia before finally allowing a run, after 58 2/3 shutout innings, on Howie Bedell's sacrifice fly. Bedell has no other RBI in 1968. Drysdale breaks the major-league record of 56 consecutive scoreless innings set by Walter Johnson in 1913. The Dodgers win 5–3.

» August 31, 1968: Steve Blass gets the first out against the Braves, and then moves to LF as Roy Face relieves. Face retires Felix Millan and ties Walter Johnson's major-league record of 802 pitching appearances with one club. Blass comes back to pitch and the Pirates go on to win 8–0. Blass will not get credit for the shutout but will still lead the National League in shutouts with 7. Late in the game, the Pirates announce the sale of Elroy Face to the Detroit Tigers.

» October 26, 1982: Steve Carlton wins the National League Cy Young Award for the 4th time, a record unmatched by any pitcher. The Phils 37-year-old lefthander, who led the NL in wins (23), innings (2952/3), strikeouts (286), and shutouts (6), was a previous winner in 1972, 1977, and 1980. He joins Walter Johnson and Willie Mays as the only players to be voted MVP or Cy Young winner 10 or more years apart.

» April 5, 1983: In his first appearance as a Met since 1977, Tom Seaver combines with Doug Sisk to shut out the Phillies 2–0 on five hits. It is Seaver's 14th National League Opening Day assignment, tying Walter Johnson's record with Washington.

» April 27, 1983: In a 4–2 win over the Expos, Nolan Ryan strikes out Brad Mills to move a strikeout ahead of Walter Johnson and become baseball's all-time leader at 3,509. Ryan will finish the season at 3,677, with Steve Carlton leading at 3,709.

» May 20, 1983: In a 5–0 loss to the Padres, Steve Carlton strikes out four batters to move past Walter Johnson into 2nd place on baseball's all-time strikeout list. Carlton's 3,511 strikeouts leave him 10 behind Nolan Ryan, who broke Johnson's record earlier this season.

» November 13, 1995: Atlanta P Greg Maddux wins the National League Cy Young Award for an unprecedented 4th straight time. Maddux had a remarkable 19–2 record with a 1.63 ERA, the 2nd year his ERA is below 1.80. Only Walter Johnson has done that.

» April 2, 2001: The Yankees defeat the Royals, 7-3, as Roger Clemens records five strikeouts and ties (or beats) Walter Johnson as the all-time leader in strikeouts in AL history with 3,509. According to Total Baseball, Clemens has 3,509 but the Elias Sports Bureau has him with one fewer. The extra strikeout was first discovered in the early 1990s by John Schwartz and it came on September 12, 1907. The Rocket makes it moot in his next outing.

» July 19, 2001: Arizona defeats San Diego, 3–0, in the completion of a game that was suspended after two innings on July 18. Randy Johnson strikes out 16 batters in his seven innings of relief of Schilling to break the ML mark set by Walter Johnson on July 25, 1913. He allows just one hit—C Wiki Gonzalez' 8th–inning single—for the Padres only hit in the contest. In addition to setting the record for Ks in a game by a reliever, Johnson also sets the NL reliever record with seven consecutive strikeouts. Johnson was one shy of the major league mark, set by Ron Davis, on May 4, 1981.