His gentle nature was legendary, and to this day he is held up as an example of good sportsmanship, while his name has become synonymous with friendly competition.

[7] In his youth, Johnson split his time among playing baseball, working in the nearby oil fields, and going horseback riding.

Evidently, manager Pongo Joe Cantillon of the Nats had picked a rube out of the cornfields of the deepest bushes to pitch against us....

He was a tall, shambling galoot of about twenty, with arms so long they hung far out of his sleeves, and with a sidearm delivery that looked unimpressive at first glance.... One of the Tigers imitated a cow mooing, and we hollered at Cantillon: 'Get the pitchfork ready, Joe—your hayseed's on his way back to the barn.'

[8]In 1917, a Bridgeport, Connecticut, munitions laboratory recorded Johnson's fastball at 134 feet per second, which is equal to 91 miles per hour (146 km/h), a velocity that may have been unmatched in his day, with the possible exception of Smoky Joe Wood.

The overpowering fastball was the primary reason for Johnson's exceptional statistics, especially his fabled strikeout totals.

Johnson's record total of 3,508[11] strikeouts stood for more than 55 years until Nolan Ryan, Steve Carlton, and Gaylord Perry all surpassed it in that order during the 1983 season.

Johnson twice won the American League Most Valuable Player Award (1913, 1924),[2] a feat accomplished since by only two other pitchers, Carl Hubbell in 1933 and 1936 and Hal Newhouser in 1944 and 1945.

His earned run average of 1.14 in 1913 was the fourth-lowest ever at the time he recorded it; it remains the sixth-lowest today, despite having been surpassed by Bob Gibson in 1968 (1.12) for lowest ERA ever by a 300+ inning pitcher.

In April and May, he pitched 552⁄3 consecutive scoreless innings, which stood as the MLB record for 55 years and as of 2024 remains the American League's best and third-longest streak in history.

[17] Although he often pitched for losing teams during his career, Johnson finally led the Washington Senators to the World Series in 1924, his 18th year in the American League.

Johnson, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner were known as the "Five Immortals" because they were the first players chosen for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

On February 19, 1936, George Washington's 204th birthday, as a retired baseball legend Johnson gained national publicity.

[22][23] A lifelong Republican and friend of President Calvin Coolidge, Johnson was elected as a Montgomery County commissioner in 1938.

In 1940 Johnson ran for a congressional seat in Maryland's 6th district, but came up short against the incumbent Democrat, William D. Byron, by a total of 60,037 (53%) to 52,258 (47%).

[24] Joseph W. Martin Jr., before he was the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (1947–1949 and 1953–1955), recruited Johnson to run for Congress.

[28] His wife died in August 1930 from complications resulting from heat stroke after a long motorcar ride from Kansas.

[29] Ty Cobb was a good friend of Johnson, often bringing the pitcher's children gifts when he visited the family.

[35] In 1999, The Sporting News ranked Johnson number 4 on its list of Baseball's 100 Greatest Players, the highest-ranked pitcher.

[37] In 2020, The Athletic ranked Johnson at number 7 on its "Baseball 100" list, compiled by sportswriter Joe Posnanski.

[41] Johnson's gentle nature was legendary, and to this day he is held up as an example of good sportsmanship, while his name has become synonymous with friendly competition.

This attribute worked to Johnson's disadvantage in the case of fellow Hall of Famer Ty Cobb.

[42] Johnson is mentioned in the poem "Line-Up for Yesterday" by Ogden Nash: J is for JohnsonThe Big Train in his primeWas so fast he could throwThree strikes at a time.

Note: Official MLB statistics show 3,508 career strikeouts, with 70 in his first season (1907) while statistics at websites such as ESPN, Baseball-Reference, and the official site of the Baseball Hall of Fame (see "External Links", below) all show 3,509 career strikeouts, with 71 in his first season.

This has resulted in minor differences seen in references to Johnson's record when reading media and Wikipedia articles of other pitchers in the 3000 strikeout club.