Walter Johnson, baseball player, 1907-1927

Walter Johnson

⭐ Hall of Fame 1936

Born: 11/6/1887 in Humboldt, KS, USA

Died: 12/10/1946 in Washington, DC, USA

MLB Debut: 1907-08-02 | Final Game: 1927-09-30

Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'1" | Weight: 200 lbs

Full name: Walter Perry Johnson

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Biography

Walter Johnson, born in 1887, was a legendary pitcher whose career spanned from 1907 to 1927. Known for his powerful fastball and exceptional durability, Johnson finished his career with a remarkable record of 417 wins and 279 losses. His 2.17 earned run average (ERA) stood as a testament to his mastery on the mound, while his 3,509 strikeouts placed him among the elite strikeout artists of his era. He also recorded 34 saves, showcasing his versatility and effectiveness in various game situations. Johnson's contributions to the game were recognized when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1936. Playing during the early 20th century, Johnson emerged as a dominant force in a time when baseball was transitioning from the deadball era. His ability to consistently overpower hitters made him a fan favorite and a formidable opponent. Throughout his career, he exemplified the spirit of competition and sportsmanship, leaving an indelible mark on the sport. Johnson's legacy continues to influence pitchers today, as he remains a symbol of excellence in baseball history.

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
417 279 802 666 531 110 34 5914.7 4913 1424 97 1363 3509 2.17 0

Career ERA 2.17 vs. league average 3.38 across their career seasons — 35.8% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1907 WSN AL 5 9 14 12 11 2 0 110.3 100 23 20 71 1.88 2.50 (+25%) -
1908 WSN AL 14 14 36 30 23 6 1 256.3 194 47 53 160 1.65 2.40 (+31%) -
1909 WSN AL 13 25 40 36 27 4 1 296.3 247 73 84 164 2.22 2.55 (+13%) -
1910 WSN AL 25 17 45 42 38 8 1 370.0 262 56 76 313 1.36 2.79 (+51%) -
1911 WSN AL 25 13 40 37 36 6 1 322.3 292 68 70 207 1.90 3.37 (+44%) -
1912 WSN AL 33 12 50 37 34 7 2 369.0 259 57 76 303 1.39 3.36 (+59%) -
1913 WSN AL 36 7 48 36 29 11 2 346.0 232 44 38 243 1.14 3.07 (+63%) -
1914 WSN AL 28 18 51 40 33 9 1 371.7 287 71 74 225 1.72 2.93 (+41%) -
1915 WSN AL 27 13 47 39 35 7 4 336.7 258 58 56 203 1.55 2.90 (+46%) -
1916 WSN AL 25 20 48 38 36 3 1 369.7 290 78 82 228 1.90 2.78 (+32%) -
1917 WSN AL 23 16 47 34 30 8 3 326.0 248 80 68 188 2.21 2.69 (+18%) -
1918 WSN AL 23 13 39 29 29 8 3 326.0 241 46 70 162 1.27 2.83 (+55%) -
1919 WSN AL 20 14 39 29 27 7 2 290.3 235 48 51 147 1.49 3.09 (+52%) -
1920 WSN AL 8 10 21 15 12 4 3 143.7 135 50 27 78 3.13 3.45 (+9%) -
1921 WSN AL 17 14 35 32 25 1 1 264.0 265 103 92 143 3.51 4.02 (+13%) -
1922 WSN AL 15 16 41 31 23 4 4 280.0 283 93 99 105 2.99 4.18 (+28%) -
1923 WSN AL 17 12 42 34 18 3 4 261.3 263 101 73 130 3.48 4.03 (+14%) -
1924 WSN AL 23 7 38 38 20 6 0 277.7 233 84 77 158 2.72 4.13 (+34%) -
1925 WSN AL 20 7 30 29 16 3 0 229.0 217 78 78 108 3.07 4.55 (+33%) -
1926 WSN AL 15 16 33 33 22 2 0 260.7 259 105 73 125 3.63 4.11 (+12%) -
1927 WSN AL 5 6 18 15 7 1 0 107.7 113 61 26 48 5.10 4.08 (-25%) -

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
933 2324 241 547 94 41 24 255 13 110 419 0.235 0.274 0.342 0.616 -4257.4

Career AVG .235 vs. league average .266 across their career seasons — 11.6% below league average.

Career OBP .274 vs. league average .329 across their career seasons — 16.9% below league average.

Career SLG .342 vs. league average .358 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OPS 0.616 vs. league average 0.687 across their career seasons — 10.4% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1907 WSN AL 14 36 3 4 0 1 0 1 0 1 10 0.111 — — — — 0.0
1908 WSN AL 36 79 7 13 3 2 0 5 0 6 23 0.165 .240 (-32%) .298 (-16%) .306 (-17%) .605 (-17%) -194.0
1909 WSN AL 40 101 6 13 3 0 1 6 0 1 21 0.129 .244 (-47%) .306 (-55%) .312 (-40%) .618 (-47%) -750.1
1910 WSN AL 45 137 14 24 6 1 2 12 2 4 34 0.175 .249 (-30%) .317 (-37%) .326 (-15%) .644 (-26%) -628.5
1911 WSN AL 42 128 18 30 5 3 1 15 1 0 39 0.234 .266 (-12%) .336 (-30%) .356 (-4%) .693 (-17%) -432.4
1912 WSN AL 55 144 16 38 6 4 2 20 2 7 41 0.264 .268 (-2%) .335 (-11%) .358 (+12%) .694 (+1%) -50.8
1913 WSN AL 54 134 12 35 5 6 2 14 2 5 14 0.261 .259 (+1%) .325 (-10%) .345 (+25%) .670 (+8%) 86.1
1914 WSN AL 55 136 23 30 4 1 3 16 2 10 27 0.221 .255 (-14%) .322 (-15%) .339 (-2%) .661 (-9%) -221.1
1915 WSN AL 64 147 14 34 7 4 2 17 0 8 34 0.231 .250 (-8%) .318 (-13%) .332 (+13%) .651 (avg) -83.7
1916 WSN AL 58 142 13 32 2 4 1 7 0 11 28 0.225 .248 (-9%) .314 (-9%) .326 (-3%) .640 (-6%) -162.3
1917 WSN AL 57 130 15 33 12 1 0 15 1 9 30 0.254 .248 (+2%) .312 (avg) .323 (+12%) .635 (+6%) 95.8
1918 WSN AL 65 150 10 40 4 4 1 18 2 9 18 0.267 .255 (+4%) .318 (+1%) .326 (+12%) .645 (+7%) 130.6
1919 WSN AL 56 125 13 24 1 3 1 8 1 12 17 0.192 .262 (-27%) .322 (-19%) .347 (-22%) .670 (-20%) -431.5
1920 WSN AL 33 64 6 17 1 3 1 7 0 3 10 0.266 .271 (-2%) .331 (-10%) .363 (+16%) .694 (+4%) 3.6
1921 WSN AL 38 111 10 30 7 0 0 10 0 6 14 0.270 .286 (-6%) .344 (-11%) .395 (-16%) .739 (-13%) -263.2
1922 WSN AL 43 108 8 22 3 0 1 15 0 2 12 0.204 .285 (-29%) .345 (-37%) .397 (-35%) .743 (-36%) -697.1
1923 WSN AL 42 93 11 18 3 3 0 13 0 4 15 0.194 .282 (-32%) .344 (-34%) .390 (-26%) .734 (-30%) -520.6
1924 WSN AL 39 113 18 32 9 0 1 14 0 3 11 0.283 .283 (avg) .345 (-11%) .389 (avg) .734 (-5%) -130.7
1925 WSN AL 36 97 12 42 6 1 2 20 0 3 6 0.433 .288 (+50%) .349 (+30%) .407 (+42%) .756 (+36%) 615.4
1926 WSN AL 35 103 6 20 5 0 1 12 0 3 11 0.194 .279 (-31%) .345 (-37%) .390 (-30%) .735 (-34%) -622.8
1927 WSN AL 26 46 6 16 2 0 2 10 0 3 4 0.348 — — — — 0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
6 20 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.100

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1925 WS WS1 3 11 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.091
1924 WS WS1 3 9 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.111

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
3 3 6 5 0 50.0 56 14 15 35 2.52

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1925 WS WS1 2 1 3 3 0 26.0 26 6 4 15 2.08
1924 WS WS1 1 2 3 2 0 24.0 30 8 11 20 3.00

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
OF 13 0 16 1 1 0
P 802 120 276 1351 52 72

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1907 WS1 P 14 12 5 20 3 1
1908 WS1 P 36 30 4 56 4 3
1909 WS1 P 40 36 15 73 7 2
1910 WS1 P 45 42 23 90 6 3
1911 WS1 P 40 0 14 95 4 8
1912 WS1 P 50 0 15 93 4 4
1913 WS1 OF 1 0 1 0 0 0
1913 WS1 P 48 0 21 82 0 7
1914 WS1 OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
1914 WS1 P 51 0 30 102 5 6
1915 WS1 OF 4 0 1 0 0 0
1915 WS1 P 47 0 22 95 6 7
1916 WS1 P 48 0 17 72 6 2
1917 WS1 P 47 0 16 82 0 2
1918 WS1 OF 4 0 7 1 1 0
1918 WS1 P 39 0 15 70 1 4
1919 WS1 OF 3 0 7 0 0 0
1919 WS1 P 39 0 16 69 1 5
1920 WS1 P 21 0 5 28 1 0
1921 WS1 P 35 0 4 51 1 1
1922 WS1 P 41 0 11 69 0 2
1923 WS1 P 42 0 13 51 2 7
1924 WS1 P 38 0 9 53 0 2
1925 WS1 P 30 0 5 37 0 2
1926 WS1 P 33 0 11 38 1 1
1927 WS1 P 18 0 5 25 0 3

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 802
Second Base 1
Left Field 2
Center Field 7
Right Field 4

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1925 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1925 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1925 TSN All-Star P
1924 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1924 Baseball Magazine All-Star P2
1924 Most Valuable Player
1924 Pitching Triple Crown
1923 Baseball Magazine All-Star P4
1923 Baseball Magazine All-Star P4
1919 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1919 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1918 Baseball Magazine All-Star P2
1918 Baseball Magazine All-Star P2
1918 Pitching Triple Crown
1917 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1917 Baseball Magazine All-Star P2
1916 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1916 Baseball Magazine All-Star P2
1915 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1915 Baseball Magazine All-Star P2
1914 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1914 Baseball Magazine All-Star P3
1913 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1913 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1913 Most Valuable Player
1913 Pitching Triple Crown
1912 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1912 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1911 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1911 Baseball Magazine All-Star P2
1910 Baseball Magazine All-Star P5
1909 Baseball Magazine All-Star P3
1909 Baseball Magazine All-Star P6

Featured In Rankings

#1
Top 25 Starting Pitchers in History of MLB Baseball
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Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1924 Most Valuable Player AL 1st 55.0 64 0
1923 Most Valuable Player AL 20th 1.0 64 0
1922 Most Valuable Player AL 17th 5.0 64 0
1913 Most Valuable Player AL 1st 54.0 64 0
1912 Most Valuable Player AL 3rd 28.0 64 0
1911 Most Valuable Player AL 5th 19.0 64 0