Griffith Stadium, Washington D.C. - Aug 26, 1924
The excitement level reached a new peak yesterday for Washington Senators’ fans.
Going into the home game against the St. Louis Browns, in which Walter Johnson would be on the mound, the Senators were tied for 1st place in the American League, This was a position they had never before held this late in the season.
Unfortunately, because it was a Monday afternoon, with threatening skies, only 7,000 fans were in the ballpark.
And “The Big Train,” Johnson, was facing a formidable St. Louis lineup.
While the Browns were only a 4th place team, their hitters are a fearsome bunch. 6 of their first 7 batters are hitting over .300. The only one in that bunch under .300 is the best of them all - George Sisler. Sisler is also the Browns’ manager.
Hitting wise, all George Sisler has done is hit over .400 in 2 of the past 4 seasons. Last year, Sisler missed the entire 1923 season due to illness. He’s just hitting his stride again now as he’s batting nearly .320 in the month of August.
But despite the prodigious hitting skills of the Browns, Johnson blew through the Browns batting order in the opening 3 innings, allowing just a walk to Gene Robertson.
In the bottom of the 3rd, Johnson led off against Browns’ pitcher Dixie Davis and slashed a single to left field. Then 36 year old Walter Johnson dashed to second base on a passed ball.
After Sam Rice singled and Goose Goslin walked, the Senators had the bases loaded, with Barney (as Washington newspapers affectionately call Johnson) standing on the bag at third base.
Walter Johnson then scored when Joe Judge walked.
This gave the Senators a 1 - 0 lead.
Back on the mound, Barney blew through the Browns lineup a second time.
He pitched perfect ball in the 4th, 5th and 6th innings.
In the top of the 7th, Johnson gave up a walk to Ken Williams and that was it.
In the bottom of the 7th, the Senators got another run when Goose Goslin tripled home rookie center fielder Earl McNeely. McNeely who was purchased from Sacramento in the Pacific Coast League just 3 weeks ago, is now batting .367 in his first 14 games in the major leagues.
And then the game was called due to rain.
The Senators had won it 2 - 0.
And Walter “The Big Train” Johnson had pitched a no hit game!
Johnson had also put the Senators back in sole possession of 1st place in the American League for the first time since July 9th.
And what a spectacular way to do it, with Barney pitching a no-hit game, which was also his 6th shutout of the season and his major league career leading 107th shutout.
Walter Johnson now has a record 17 - 6 on the season with an ERA of 2.69. It’s easily his best season of the decade.
By the way, Johnson is also batting .284.
I always like to see the box score of a no-hitter and see the array of zeroes in the hits column.
Here is how the box score appeared in the Washington Evening Star:
NOTE From The Sports Time Traveler
Walter Johnson’s 7 inning no-hit game on August 25, 1924, does not count as a no-hitter in official baseball records because the game did not go a full 9 innings.
But Washington D.C. area papers and other newspapers around the country celebrated it as a no-hitter at the time.
The outpouring of adulations for this grand old man were breathtaking.
Let’s go back to 1924 to take a quick virtual trip around America on the morning of August 26, 1924 to see how newspapers celebrated Johnson’s “no hitter.”
The Yonkers Statesman:
The Raleigh News and Observer:
The Des Moines Evening Tribune:
The Los Angeles Daily News had this amusing piece:
And Sam Harrison of the Tampa Tribune wrote this about Walter Johnson, sharing the sentiment of many in America towards this beloved ballplayer who has been in the American League since 1907, longer than any other pitcher:
Here was the banner headline in the Washington News evening edition that came out just after the game ended on Monday:
The Senators hold on 1st place lasted just a couple of hours. Later in the afternoon on Monday, August 25, 1924 the Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium 8 - 3 to take back the lead by percentage points over the Senators.
In the standings, the team’s were tied in terms of games back, but the Yankees had a .575 winning percentage vs. .574 for the Senators.
The Yankees were led by Babe Ruth who had a single, a double and an inside the park home run, his 40th home run of the season.
Here is an account of Ruth’s 5th inning blast as reported in the New York Daily News by Jack Kirkland:
“Speaker” was Tris Speaker, the hall of fame center fielder for the Indians who was also the manager of the club.
The Charley Paddock reference is to the American sprinter, winner of the gold medal in the 100 meter dash at the 1920 Olympics.
Ruth’s home run must have been hit almost 500 feet. The original dimensions of Yankee Stadium had the centerfield fence at 490 feet. The flagpole was just inside the fence.
Here was another account of Ruth’s home run in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle:
And finally, here’s a picture of Yankee Stadium from approximately 1924 where you can see the flagpole in the playing area in centerfield:
Thanks for reading.
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Walter Johnson's Gem