[Highlander]

Walter Johnson- The Big Train was the first round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1906 and the 2nd pick overall. He broke in the the Cardinals in 1907 as a 19 year old and stayed with them until his retirement at age 39 in 1927. As in real life, he ended up as one of the greatest pitchers in the history of the game.

Here's a look at his numbers and rankings-

Games Started- 784 (1st)
Innings Pitched- 6962 (1st)
Complete Games- 612 (2nd....1st among Replay League pitchers)
Wins- 442 (1st.....he was also 1st in losses with 344)
Shutouts- 63 (2nd)
Strikeouts- 3305 (15th)
K/9- 4.3
ERA- 2.90
WHIP- 1.26
WAR- 137.69 (2nd)

Walter won 20+ games 13 times in his career and led the league 9 times. Especially early in his career, he would also rack up 4-5 saves a season. His best season, according to WAR, was in 1910. He finished at 24-14 with 1 save, a 2.53 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 238 Ks in 344.2 IP. His WAR that year was 10.3. To me, the most impressive looking season he had was actually 1912. That year, he went 27-16 with 4 saves, a 1.92 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 224 Ks in 371 IP. He earned a still impressive 9.4 WAR. The next year, in 1913, he pitched in a career high 58 games with 39 starts. He ended up going 29-21 with 5 saves.....so there were only 3 games that he didn't have some part in the decision. Pretty amazing!

On August 4, 1915, Walter pitched a no-hitter against the Giants. In 1911, he won the Pitching Triple Crown with 26 wins, a 2.33 ERA and 235 Ks.

In the end, Walter Johnson ended up winning 2 World Series with the Cardinals, he was the Silver Slugger 3 times at pitcher, was named an All-Star an incredible 18 times and won the Cy Young Award 6 times. He was elected to the HOF with 99.7% of the vote in 1933.