There were undoubtedly hundreds, if not thousands, of articles written about Walter Johnson, Hall of Fame pitcher. Some may be available only in the microfilm archives of various libraries. Others can be found on the World Wide Web.1 For instance, Baseball Magazine printed at least a dozen excellent articles on him during his peak years which are now online at LA84 Foundation's web site. Click on search, then type "walter johnson", with quotes around it, into the keyword field, and enjoy reading these articles! Appropriately enough, the article at the top of the list is entitled The Greatest Pitcher on the Diamond To-day, from the January 1916 issue.
The following are articles on Walter which we've included in this Carey Family Album:
It wasn't long, however before the sober realities of the situation facing the team and their followers set in. In the World Series they would be going up against one of the greatest baseball teams ever, lead by arguably the greatest of all managers, the legendary John McGraw, who had just captured his 10th National League title in 23 seasons at the helm of the New York Giants. And this team was the best of all of them, fresh from their fourth straight pennant and brimming with talent, including seven players now enshrined in baseball's hall of fame. This was a slugging outfit, with such stalwarts as Bill Terry, Hack Wilson, Frankie Frisch, Ross Young, and "Long George" Kelly, the major league RBI leader in 1924. The Senators pitching staff would have their work cut out for them.Hank didn't save the article on his computer. We would appreciate hearing from anybody who might be able to provide a copy of it. There may have been other articles which mentioned Walter among the issues of D. C. Baseball Heritage which were published during the period immediately preceding Washington's return to major league baseball.
With the championship tied at two games apiece, Walter Johnson again took the mound for the crucial fifth contest at the Polo Grounds in New York. And, tragically, once more the great pitcher failed to bring home a victory for his team, only this time without even the consolation of a well-pitched contest. With the 65 [165?] pitches he had thrown in the opener perhaps having taken a toll on his arm, Johnson was roughed up by the Giants for 13 hits in a 6 to 3 loss. For many of the nation's sports fan, this was a real tragedy -- the terrible irony of Walter Johnson finally getting into a World Series only to become its "goat".