Despite playing for a team, which finished in the second division 10 times in his 21 seasons, he still won 417 games (second all-time), pitched 5925 innings (third all-time), threw an all-time record 110 shutouts and compiled an astounding 2.17 lifetime ERA. He won 20 or more games 12 times, 30 games twice, struck out 3506 batters, and led the league in strikeouts a dozen times! Finally making it to the World Series in 1924, at the tender age of 36, Johnson led the league in wins, strikeouts, ERA and shutouts earning his second MVP award. In his adopted home of Washington D.C., Sir Walter became a living legend, a representation of all that was good in baseball. On December 1, 1932, a testimonial banquet dinner was held at the Shoreham Hotel to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Walter Johnson's Major League debut. Johnson obligingly graced this event program with his flawless, bold black-ink signature (9/10) adjacent to his cover photo (captioned "Washington's Baseball Idol.") The 6" x 9" program is in remarkable NM condition.
Inside, the testimonial itself reads, in full, "To Walter Johnson - A quarter of a century has passed into history since you came to us from the land 'where the ghosts of buffaloes still dream.' Had you been an ordinary man of your profession you would have heard our applause in your hours of triumph and have witnessed our merciless 'thumbs down' in defeat—and passed into oblivion. But there was, and there is, nothing ordinary about you. For more than twenty-five years you have lived in the glare of pitiless publicity. And lived stainlessly. Loyalty—fidelity—straightforwardness—calm judgment—alertness—patience. These have ever been your characteristics. In victory, modest and generous. In defeat, undaunted, undismayed. We have seen you when the triumphant shouts of multitudes swelled into a roar and it seemed the very skies with acclamation rang. And we have been with you in the hour of sorrow and shared your grief. You have been an example and an inspiration to American boyhood. Greater praise can be sounded of no man. And so at the end of a quarter of a center—The citizens of the Nation's Capital salute you."
Accompanying the program is a unique 8”x10” first generation photo of Johnson at the event amongst a table full of admirers. The pair makes for excellent display companions.
Pre-certified by PSA/DNA.