How Walter Johnson became a National Hero (Part 3): Only three pitchers had made the road trip for the Senators, as the mound corps was beset by injuries, and Joe Cantillon had asked Walter prior to the first game of the four-game set in New York whether he could start three times in a row. The big Train would later confide that Cantillon had been able to placate him time and again in the same way -- Walter would ask the manager for an extra seating pass to a game for a friend, and Pongo Joe would surprise him with a half a dozen. When the manager unexpectedly asked him to pitch, Walter couldn't turn him down because, he explained, his friends were always after passes.
Going the route for a second straight day, Johnson gave up just four hits and shut out the Highlanders again, 6-0. Now there was talk that Walter might not only start three games in a row, but get a shutout in all of them. The Washington Post reported that manager Cantillon had joked that maybe Johnson would pitch again Monday. The city was mad about Walter and the sports pages were jammed with stories about him. There was no chance that he would get three shutouts on consecutive days, however, since the third day was the Sabbath day. It would be another ten years before baseball could be played in New York on Sundays. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)
We will get back to this account again soon, but in the meantime, here's a pin featuring Walter from the 1924 season.
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1657357691
07-09-2022, 04:09 AM
How Walter Johnson became a National Hero (Part 3)
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