08/01/2007 10:00 AM ET

Nats celebrate 'Walter Johnson Day'

Senators star to be honored on 100th anniversary of MLB debut

By Michael Phillips / MLB.com

WASHINGTON -- When Walter Johnson made his Major League debut on August 2, 1907, the city of Washington was referred to as "First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League."

Fast-forward 100 years, and the only thing that has changed is the league. Johnson remains the only player in Washington history to lead a team to a World Series.

He enjoyed a special bond with the city, playing for 21 seasons before managing the Washington Senators. He retired to a farm outside the city and was involved in political causes until he died in 1946.

Hank Thomas, Johnson's grandson, still lives in the city, and will throw out the first pitch Thursday as the Nationals celebrate "Walter Johnson Day."

Thomas hopes to bring along his mother, Carolyn Johnson-Thomas. She helped with publicity in 2004 when the city lobbied for a Major League team, but has not yet been able to attend a game at RFK Stadium. The 84-year-old, who describes herself as "the biggest Nats fan in the world," will try to make it out for Thursday's ceremonies, and looks forward to meeting her favorite player.

"She loves Dmitri," Thomas said. "I can't wait to introduce my mother to Dmitri Young."

The Big Train's debut

In June of 1907, Washington catcher Cliff Blankenship was dispatched to Idaho to verify reports of a hard-throwing pitcher in the state's semi-pro league. His instructions were to try to get a hit off of Johnson. A few days later, Blankenship sent a wire back to Washington with his now-famous scouting report.

"You can't hit what you can't see," he wrote. "I've signed him and he is on his way."

Reports said that, while in Idaho, Johnson pitched 85 innings without allowing a run. At the end of the semi-pro season, he boarded a train for Washington as anticipation built in the nation's capital.

Seven days later, the Senators gave him the nod to start Game 1 of an afternoon doubleheader at National Park.

The team lost, 3-2, to Detroit, dropping its record to a woeful 28-59, but the pitcher was celebrated in the next day's Washington Post, which proclaimed "JOHNSON A REAL PHENOM -- Youngster Shows Remarkable Ability in His First Game."

He earned the nickname "The Big Train," and his 6-foot-1, 200-pound frame could unleash a fastball with unthinkable speed. Radar guns hadn't been invented yet, leaving fans with only anecdotal evidence of the pitch.

"The first time I faced him," Ty Cobb wrote, "I watched him take that easy windup, and then something went past me that made me flinch. I hardly saw the pitch, but I heard it. The thing just hissed with danger. Every one of us knew we'd met the most powerful arm ever turned loose in a ballpark."

A true Washingtonian

Johnson broke the annual cycle of losing in the city, and was recognized nationally for his success. His 417 wins are second only to Cy Young's 511, and Johnson was a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame's first class. His plaque notes that he won those games "with losing team behind him many years."

For fans in Washington, he will be remembered as the man who delivered the city its first, and to this day only, World Series title. In 1924, the Senators defeated the New York Giants in seven games, with the seventh game going to 12 innings. Johnson came in as a reliever to pitch the game's final four innings after pitching a complete game just two days earlier.

A parade down Pennsylvania Avenue drew 100,000 fans to celebrate the team. By that time, Johnson was in the twilight of his long career in Washington.

His final appearance was on Sept. 30, 1927, when he pitched the ninth inning of a game against the Yankees. The occasion was overshadowed by Babe Ruth, who hit his 60th home run of the season earlier in the game.

After retiring from baseball, Johnson and his wife stayed in the city that they had grown to love. They bought a farm in Montgomery County, Md., and today the high school there is named after him.

His other love was politics, and he served as county commissioner before losing his bid to become a congressman from the area. He was a staunch Republican, and held rallies on his farm for fellow Kansan and presidential candidate Alf Landon.

The family legacy

Johnson's family has remained in the area, and continues to support the cause of local baseball as well as preserve the memories of Johnson's playing days. Thomas wrote a book in 1995 titled "Walter Johnson: Baseball's Big Train," which chronicled the life of his grandfather.

"I just started looking into it, and the more I found out, the more interested I got," he said. "Nobody was more surprised by that than I was."

Thomas attended games at Griffith Stadium in the 1950s, but lost interest and didn't attend many games after the Senators reincarnated in the '60s. He followed the Orioles for a few seasons, but as a Washingtonian, it just didn't feel right to him. Finally, in 2005, his city had baseball again, and Thomas got to experience the thrill that comes with following a winning team.

"In 2005, that was the first pennant race I had been involved in emotionally," he said. "It was a great time to be a fan, especially in the first half of the season."

Johnson's sister, Carolyn Johnson-Thomas, hasn't made it to a game yet at RFK, but watches all the games on television and roots for the team. She and Thomas both share an affinity for first baseman Young, who Thomas enjoyed getting to meet.

Even with Young's All-Star season, the Nationals are in last place, but Thomas notes one difference between this team's executives and the ones who ran the Senators in the '50s and '60s.

"They're not going to give the fans a lousy team," he said. "They're going to do whatever it takes to put a good team on the field."

Aging with grace

Some players were a product of their time, and would not fare as well on a 21st-century baseball diamond. Walter Johnson would have no such problems. If anything, his triple-digit fastball would have made him even more of a hero in today's game, in which the radar gun offers the final word on a pitcher's talent.

His estate has kept up with the times, and Johnson has an agent and an official Web site, which informs visitors that a signed game ball from the 1924 World Series recently fetched $96,000 at auction.

From his nickname, "Big Train," you can trace a family tree of modern-day nicknames, everything from Nolan Ryan's "Ryan Express" to Roger "The Rocket" Clemens.

He shared the swagger of modern-day pitchers like Randy Johnson. Both players stood on the mound with that "Here's my pitch, just try to hit it" look that gave pause to both rookies and All-Stars.

Of course, comparisons can't ever do justice for the best, which is what those who saw Johnson said he was.

"He basically just threw fastballs," Thomas said. "His was probably the best fastball anybody ever had."

That pitch never let him down. After all, you can't hit what you can't see.

Michael Phillips is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.