The Washington times., 1914-05-04

of a fellow Walter johnson is. The bias
OF admiration from close contact with
, the greatest Of pitchers is calculated to
| mislead, but the following from the
| pen of Billy Evans should be Of interes,
! to the thousands who still look upon ola
W. J. as the grandest rwirler IN cap
! tivity:
: Walter Johnson, pitcher-extraordi-
nary Of the Washington club, Is not only
a wonderful pitcher but an equally won
! derful fellow. i saw Walter johnson
the night he arrived in Washington
J to report to Joe Cantillon. / umplre1
! the first game he worked as a big
Lacquer. l have since OBLIGATED in many
of the remarkable games Johnson has
pitched. He was a diamond in the
! rough when he Joined the club, he is
baseballs most brilliant pitching star
today.
Success and prosperity have not
changed Johnson in the least. He is the
same modest, unessuming chap today as
when he walked around to Manager
Cantillon's hotel one hot summer eve
ming in 1907 and made known his pres
enCe. Few stars could have stood the
praise that has been :Ieaped on johnson
without suffering a slight initiation. Not
Johnson, for in victory he Is always able
10 show where some fielder by a mar
velous stop greatly aided his chances,
runs to give him commanding lead to
work on.
Il umpire6 the plate in the game in
which johnson suffered his first de-
feat after a run Of sixteen straight
victories two years ago. Needing only
four more wins to break the record.
lE"st pitcaers would have been rather
Particular about when and where they
worked. When late i'll the same, St
LOUIS got two men on anu only one
cut Manager Griffith was none toe
! certain OF the game, with only one
run lead as margin. His team was
ilEhtlng for the pennamt, the game
meant much. Tom Hughes who had
hevn pitching brilliantly was showin4;
unmistakable signs of Weakening
Griffith requested thai johnson re
! lieNC hughes. although the great
lI''-irr didn't even have time to warm
up properly. He struck out the first
man TO face him. Then in trying to
set ali his sDeel on the ball. he un-
60 ked last ono that got away from
ms catcher. allowing both runners to
advance. y lucky single sent two runs
''n"&s the Piat". inning the game.
II was ruled that the defeat should
be charged TO Johnson. breaking his
run OF victories. Many critics insisted
hughes should be charged with the de-
icat. They argued Hughes had allowed
Doth runners to reach first. because he
rad issued base on balls to each man
This question was put TO Johnson on
lhe bench the next day in discussing
the affair. l shall never forget his
answer. Tom may have put the run
ners on first and second. but he didn't
make the wild pitch that allowed them
TO advance to second and third. nor
was he pitching when the batter singled.
scoring two runs. The defeat belongs
TO me, not Hughes Not many players
with wonderful chance to break a
worlds record would have accepted SO
severe reverse in such a manner.
l"Sretted the outcome OF that game q
great deal. for it seemed a bit unfair
TO credit the defeat 20 johnson. I was
really glad when. on his next time out.
81. Louis defeated Johnson in regular
game. wiping out a chance for an end
less discussion had Johnson annexed
four more wins before a defeat"
Ia order to bring Walter Johnson and
Joe BOehl:ng Up to scratch in the .Ath-
loti"s series the latter part OF the week.
Griffith plans to use Engel and Ayers
against New York IN the two games
that remain after today. Johnson will
probably pitch on Thursday. which
may mean that he will he sent hack in
tho concluding game Of the set It
TOW appears as though Friday OF
Saturday will see Boehlins in the con-
ming tower.