The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1922-04-04
.SPEEDBALL KING
STARTS HIS 18TH
YEAR IN MAJORS
Walter Johnson Expected
to Hurl First Game
at the Capital

WhsmSGTUN, April 3.-waiter
johnson. king OF spccd ball Pitch
crs. viii begin his fifteenth cam-
plign under tho big tent when tho
1cu0us below ot tho jumps for
mllly ushcrs ln tho American league
I baseball season ln Washington on
hurIl 12. ~ la a furoEouc couclu-
sion tlpt the Big Train viii receive
l the ustRumoni of performing on tho
mound in tho seasons opening game
| horo, when 10 ls expected President
/ Harding and numerous public lu-
/ minrrier viii ho present.
Fourteen years NJ service IN tho
/ Junior m1l0r league perhaps has
/ Fappod some OF tho uld-tlmC zip
. from IubnHon's fast ball hut there
ARE great hittCrs in thc league today
| who Will ten you Coufidentially they
would much rather face the wares
of Mays, Hoyt, Covalcskic and other
/ pitching stars than toe tho rubber
when johnson 81 shooting them over
with his terrific speed.
In Cyory one 81 the fourteen years
with the Washington team johnson
has been the lone source OF comfort
/ tp baseball fans OF the national
capital who have seen their favor
itoH. year In and year out. founder
Iaround In tho peanut scramble like
la fish Just yankcd from tho water.
lic has been the idol Of Wa8hlngton
baseball bugs since no Joined tho
team.
Has Remarkable Record
! And TO merely remark that John
son Is deserving OF tho respect and
lndmiraion that IN his today Is put
ting 1t quite mildly, when one con
sidors the remarkable record he has
hung up while performing for a team
that was the butt Of the league until
the Athletics usurpcd this hollow
distinction some few years ago.
Grifflth's pitching ace Joined the
team Nin 1907, n bia raw-boncd
green country youth. with practically
no big league assets except deter
, mination nHd ambition coupled with
binding speed. His first start wal
larainst the Detroit Tigers then mum
, boring In IT'S lineup such swatsmithi
, AZ Cobb and Crawford. Johnson los
that game by one run. But what
whale Of n record he has hung uI
since then with n team that hal
4 come within striking distance Of IN,
I, championship only twice In the las
= fifteen years. lie has Chalked nj
= 1890 Victories since he became n rogu
. lar Finger for Griffith, more thar
- twice as many as any hurler IN tn
y league today has to his credit, an,
, II is mark that young pitchers vii
\. bo shooting Ht for some years 1
= come.
> walter, helng human. has ex
~ perieucod his off-days. when rlvr
" battcrs bumped his offerings TO q
|. corners OF the lot. But never ha
u this humiliation been accomplishe
- by the Wild Jecrs and boots froI
n tho tickle fans to Take him out
~ when, on very rare occasions, hi
binding speed was smacked a
over tho park by apposlng slugger
and he was compelled TO give wa
TO n relief pitcher, the faithful
bleachcrltcs. the od-ln-the-wo
wild-eyed fans who bask I'm the he
summer sun for the privilege G
? glimpsng their favoritcs I'm actor
sent 10 a loud groan, There goo
our teaml
Has Fooled En- Al.
Whom Johnson experienced som
trouble with his salary whip severi
years ago gloomy baseball prognost
Gators broadcast tho doleful infoi
nation that he was through-on IN
decline, a has been. But he foole
'Cm all by turning I'm some scintilla
ing pitching performances, and thJ
same year uncorked tho first no-hi
uO-run game or ms career, Last yes
he encountered some difficulty
e rounding into shape, but when Il
hot summer sun loosened the klnl
/ in his mighty right arm he had Il
best hitters in the league fecb
, puuCturlng the ozone and completir
tho round-trip from tho home pla
o TO the bench with the dcspairir
o remark that %You can't hit what Sc
A cant soc"
: The smoke-ball king wound up Il
/, last. season travelling like n hous
/, afife. lie reported 20 the Grlf
j. training camp AZ Tampa, Fla, IN
+. spring in fine shape and, accordii
!, TO reports from tho Florida shor,
in cavorting around and cutting I
% like q -ycar-old. So-called eXpel
= who have given him the double
X report that Johnson Is faN fro
being through yet. and according
v johnson himself he will be out tho
r this summer dlshing thom up wi
e the old-tlmc zip and snap to the "a
II one that makes n batter wohbly
a tho knees when he' has To stand
10 the plate and face the binding spe
y OF tho grcatost speed ball pitch
that ever has donncd n spiked sh'
- Ruff 10 Meet Joe Lynch.
Z" NEW work ApVIl z III oh N