The Train's Lumber

by Phil Wood

Anybody got a spare 50K laying around?

Lot 184 in the upcoming SCP Auction is an exceptionally rare Walter Johnson signature model Louisville Slugger bat.

No, I don't already have one.

The minimum bid was $25,000, and someone has opened the bidding already.

Yes, the Big Train was a great pitcher, but he was also a heck of a hitter. He still holds the all-time single season hitting mark for a hurler, stroking .433 in 1925.

It would be great to see the bat end up in the DC area, so all of you high rollers make sure you check out the auction at your next opportunity.

Speaking of great pitchers, you've perhaps heard of Jack Chesbro, who's a Hall of Famer who won 41 games with the 1904 New York Highlanders. Happy Jack made 51 starts that year and completed 48 of 'em. He also toiled for the Pirates and Red Sox before hanging up his cleats in 1909.

Imagine my surprise to find a photo of Chesbro in a Senators' uniform.

No, he never pitched for the Nats, but Clark Griffith - who'd known Chesbro since they were teammates with the Highlanders - hired his old friend as a coach with Washington in 1924, the season they took it all the way to their first - and only - World Series title.

Except Jack wasn't around for the Series. About a month into the season the Old Fox decided he could save some money by cutting salary, and since no one was paying to watch Jack coach, it was adios, my friend.

Still, it's kind of neat to see Jack sporting the pinstriped uni with the block W on each sleeve - though for a 50-year-old, he looks about 70. He died at age 57 in 1931.

Of course, most ballplayers in those days looked much older than they look today, a fact you can chalk up to the lack of any kind of sunscreen.

Those rays will age you, sure as shootin'.