Walter Johnson
(1907-1927)

The Big Train

Like Babe Ruth, Walter Johnson was well ahead of the game.  A fastball like his would not be seen until Bob Feller, Nolan Ryan or Randy Johnson.  Easily he was the power pitcher of the era and, although he played for the traditionally weak Washington Senators, he won 20 games twelve different years and over 30 in two seasons.  Amassing 417 wins, he is second only to Cy Young’s untouchable win mark of 511.  But Johnson also has a record that will never be touched – 110 career shutouts, a mark twenty above second place Pete Alexander.  His finest year was 1913 when he went 36-7 with a miniscule 1.14 ERA.  His career ERA of only 2.17 is remarkable.

He was considered the ultimate gentleman on the field, although he holds the career record of hit batsmen.  He had several legendary pitching duels with another Hall of Famer, Babe Ruth, usually on the losing end.  He held the strikeout record for 56 years, a mark many thought impossible to break until Steve Carlton and Nolan Ryan came along.

Grover Cleveland Alexander
(1911-1930)

Pete

Named after the President of the United States, Alexander was one of thirteen siblings from a Nebraska farm family.  As a child he hunted birds by throwing rocks with uncanny accuracy, a trait he carried over to the baseball diamond.  He was a pinpoint pitcher with both his fastball and great curve.  He holds the record for wins by a rookie (28) and shutouts in a season (16).  He began his career with the Philadelphia Phillies where he had his best years before being sold to the Chicago Cubs in 1918.  He pitched only three games in Chicago before being sent to France during World War I, where shelling cost him hearing in one ear and where he began a long struggle with epilepsy.  Alexander turned to alcohol to combat the effects of the war and his disease. He soon was addicted.

Alexander’s nickname, “Pete,” probably was no complement, for in an age of Prohibition, bootleg liquor was nicknamed “pete” – something Alexander found all too frequently - and the name stuck.  The alcoholism and epilepsy diminished what promised to be a career no less stellar than Walter Johnson and Cy Young.  After the war, he never again won 30 games. 

“Alex had the most perfect control of any pitcher I ever saw.”   - Max Carey

His last team was the St. Louis Cardinals, and, in 1926, he created a sensation in the World Series against the Ruth-led Yankees.  He beat the Yanks in games 2 and 6, then got drunk the night before the seventh game, figuring he would not be pitching.  The Cards were leading 3-2 in the seventh inning, but the bases were loaded with two outs.  Manager Rogers Hornsby called on the half-awake Alexander, who took the mound and struck out the next six batters before walking Babe Ruth in the ninth inning.  Ruth attempted to steal second but was thrown out to end the World Series.

Despite his handicaps, Alexander is third all-time in wins, 190 of which came in his first seven seasons.  His 90 shutouts (61 in those first seasons) are second all-time.  Alexander died penniless in a rented room back home in Nebraska.

“Y is for Young,
The Magnificent Cy;
People batted against him,
But I never knew why.”
– Ogden Nash

Cy Young
(1890-1911)

Cyclone

If there were a Cy Young Award when he played, he would have won a dozen of them.  Born in Gilmore, Ohio, Denton True Young got his nickname “Cy,” short for cyclone, because of his fastball.  He pitched for 23 years and set records for pitching that will never be broken:  511 wins, over 7,000 innings pitched, and started more than 800 games with 749 complete games.  He was a physical marvel; Young boasted that he never had a sore arm.  He regularly pitched over 300 innings (over 400 five times) in a season.

Young tried not to throw too much.  “I figured the old arm had just so many throws in it, and there wasn’t any use wasting them.”  And before games, “I never warmed up ten, fifteen minutes before a game like most pitchers do.  I loosen up, three, four minutes … I’d take a few warm-up pitches and be ready.  Then I had good control.  I aimed to make the batter hit the ball, and I threw as few pitches as possible.  That’s why I was able to work every other day.”

Roger Clemens
(1984-2007)

The Rocket

Drafted in the first round of the 1983 draft by the Boston Red Sox, Roger Clemens “rocketed” through the minor leagues and began his major league career in less than a year.  He has been one of the most dominant pitchers of the 1980s, 90s, and the 21st century.  He is only one of four pitchers to amass 300 wins and 4,000 strikeouts in his career. As the only seven-time Cy Young Award winner, Clemens is also the oldest recipient.  He is tied for the most strikeouts in a nine inning game (20), and he is the only one to do it twice.

In 1996, the Red Sox did not re-sign him, stating that he was in the twilight of his career.  Ten years, four Cy Youngs, 150 wins, two World Series rings, six All Star Games, and some 2,100 strikeouts later, he hardly looked as if he was at the end of his playing days.

“Everybody kind of perceives me as being angry. It’s not anger, it’s motivation.” -Roger Clemens

As talented as he has been, his competitiveness and combativeness may have been his strongest attributes.  He never shied away from a batter, and his brushback pitch was legendary.  Batters who showed him up were on their toes when they next came to bat against the Rocket.  How competitive was he?  Training in an exhibition game in 2006, Roger found himself pitching against a minor league team on which his son, Kody, played.  In his first at-bat, Kody hit a Clemens’ pitch for a home run.  The next time the son came to the plate, Roger threw a “message” pitch that almost hit his son.

In 1986, Clemens was named the American League MVP.  Legendary slugger Henry Aaron, when asked, said he did not believe pitchers should be eligible for the award because they didn’t play every day and they had the Cy Young Award.  “I wish he [Aaron] were still playing,” stated Clemens.  “I’d probably crack his head open to show him how valuable I was.”

*Note: The Mitchell report on steroid use in baseball had just been made public as of this writing. Roger Clemens was named in the report but adamantly denied using steroids and human growth hormones.

“He’s baseball’s exorcist, scares the devil out of you.”
- Dick Sharon

Nolan Ryan
(1966-1993)

The Ryan Express

Nolan Ryan is baseball’s all-time leader in strikeouts and, by the way, walks.  He won over 300 games but lost almost as many.  For him, each pitch was all or nothing; he would gladly give up a walk but he wouldn’t give the batter anything to hit.  In his 27 years in the majors, Ryan amassed seven no-hitters, the most ever by any pitcher.  He holds the season mark for strikeouts and he has more than a thousand K’s over the second place Roger Clemens.  He also holds the dubious distinction of most wild pitches.  He never won a Cy Young Award and played in only one World Series.

Ryan threw more 300-strikeout seasons than any other pitcher, and he played mostly for losing teams.  He remains the oldest pitcher ever to throw a no-hitter.

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