Give the Ball to Barney

“The conclusion from our past experience is that He who has been with us in six troubles will not forsake us in the seventh.” – C.H. Spurgeon

I am currently reading a biography of Walter Johnson subtitled, “Baseball’s Big Train.” As an old-time baseball fan who much prefers the “Dead Ball Era” from 1900 to 1919 to today’s jacked-up version where fundamentals are routinely and unapologetically ignored, I am enjoying the book very much.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Walter Johnson, he is arguably the greatest pitcher in Major League history. As one of the first five players to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (along with Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, and Christy Mathewson), Johnson had few if any peers. He won the second-most games ever (417) while pitching his entire career for the lowly Washington Nationals, later known as the Senators. In fact, his team was so bad throughout most of Johnson’s career that baseball writer and humorist Charles Dryden once described them as “first in war, first in peace, and last in the American League.”

However, all that changed in 1924 when the Nationals caught fire under player-manager Bucky Harris and outlasted both the Yankees and the Tigers to claim their first-ever A.L. pennant. Shortly after clinching the flag, Harris – who at age 27 was already being called the “Boy Wonder” – was asked if Johnson would be his starting pitcher in Game 1 of the upcoming World Series.

“Will he pitch?” Harris shot back. “I’d like to know who’s going to pitch if he doesn’t. Yes, sir, he truly has earned the honor of pitching the first game.”

Even though Johnson, at age 36, was clearly past his prime and hadn’t won 20 or more games in a season since 1919 before posting a 23-7 record in 1924, Harris had supreme confidence in the man known as “Barney” to his friends and teammates. And so, Harris handed Johnson the ball on October 4th and the Big Train didn’t let him down. Through 11 innings, the N.L. Champion New York Giants could only manage two runs off Johnson, but he tired in the 12th and the Giants plated two more to win 4-3. Johnson was also the losing pitcher in Game 5, going the distance yet again in a 6-2 loss.

With the Series tied at three games a piece and the score knotted at 3-3 in the seventh and deciding game, Harris turned one more time to his aging ace. When it mattered the most, Johnson came through with four scoreless innings of relief and the Senators won in the 12th inning when Earl McNeeley drove in Muddy Ruel on a bad-hop single past Giants third baseman Freddy Lindstrom.

My friend, when you find yourself in a pinch, turn to God. He’s proven Himself in the past and He will always deliver in the future.

“So we say with confidence: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” Hebrews 13:6 (BSB)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President