Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-04-10
% Of Records Is Long Rebuilt arcadia VIII Seat 600 Persons
BARNEY'S PITCHING. MARK HAS FALLEN BELOW 500
MARK BUT FOUR TIMES IN ENTIRE BASE BALL CAREER

a distinction which is given to one
diamond athlete cache season.
To recount Walters year-by syear
record of victories and defeats during
his 20 years of Hig league service
would be needless repetition for those
who have followed the work of the
| Kansas Thunderbolt. His achieve
ments i'm the two world series In which
| he figured-those of 1924 and 1896
already have been described in earlier
chapters.
Walter never was content to rest on
| his laurels as a pitcher. From his
earliest days in the league he sought
| to improve his play in other depart
ments. In his first game in the fast
set, against the Tigers in 1907, the
| Bengal batters bothered the big fell
low somewhat with their bunting
/ tactics, but they don't do much bunt
! ing against Walter these days. As
/ a fielding pitcher he now ranks with
| the topnotchers.
| Opposing pitchers will tell YOU that
| Johnson is a dangerous man at bat.
! in fact SO timely are his safe drives
| that he is frequently employed in
pinch-hitting roles. AS / write this
an incident comes to mind which illus
trates this point.
a Babe Ruth Stunt.
| We were playing in Cleveland one
| day last May and opposed to as was
Joe Shaute, lefthander. Joe was In
mighty good form and when the ninth
inning arrived the Indians were lead.
ing, 81.
/ got on base and Spencer Adams
was nut on to run for me. Up came
| Barney" clutching his bat. Shaute
! cot him In the hole for two strikes,
and then--sweet mamma, what a
| wallopl
/ Walter whacked one Of Joe's pitches
| at express train speed down that right
| field line and over the fence. The blow
was the first homer ever made over
that rightfield barrier by o righthand.
! ed batter. Adams trotted around the
| bases. pacing johnson, who tailed the
| winning counter.
AS d rule, pitchers are not expected
! to be demon wallpapers and, of course,
| '@arney" had to develop his ability in
| this direction after he broke into the
| league, just as many rockies do. But
| he always enjoyed batting and he
| spent much time perfecting himself in
/ this art. His best season with the
stick was I'm 1925, when he slugged
| for .433 in SO contests, and don't let
| any ono tell you those hits didn't help
| us in our chase for the old flag!
AS a pinch.hitter Barney has
| twice gone above the 800 mark since
1912, and in 1918 he hit for .272 as a
relief clubber. driving out six hits in
| % trips to the plate in rs games.
/, When Walter is In the box for the
| Senators we feel a certain sense OF
| confidence, because we know that the
game il going to be well taken care
| of. His presence works In opposite
| fashion for the opposing team be-
cause they know that whenever
Barney" is in there there's a real
/ fight on their hands and the odds Of
/ victory are strongly in his favor.
| For good many years it looked as
J though the Kansas Thunderbolt, !"
| king of pitchers, never would have
| the opportunity to bask in the spot
| light of world series participation, but
| the sun finally broke through the
| clouds Of thwarted pennant endeavors
| in 1924 and feel safe in saying that
no ball player in the major leagues
begrudged Walter this helated oppor-
| tunity to share in the fame of the
| golden harvest which world series
games provide.
| OF course Walter was delighted, just