Syl Johnson
Born: 12/31/1900 in Portland, OR, USA
Died: 2/20/1985 in Portland, OR, USA
MLB Debut: 1922-04-24 | Final Game: 1940-09-14
Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 5'11" | Weight: 180 lbs
Full name: Sylvester W. Johnson
Biography
Syl Johnson was a professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1922 to 1940. Born in 1900, Johnson's career unfolded during a transformative period in baseball, marked by the transition from the deadball era to the more offense-oriented phases of the game. Over his 18-year career, he compiled a record of 112 wins and 117 losses, showcasing his resilience and competitiveness on the mound.
Johnson's career earned run average (ERA) stood at 4.06, and he recorded a total of 920 strikeouts, reflecting his capability to overpower hitters. Additionally, he notched 43 saves, highlighting his effectiveness in critical game situations. Known for his tenacity and strategic pitching style, Johnson contributed to his teams both as a starter and a reliever, leaving a lasting impact in the world of baseball during his era. His legacy is remembered by fans and historians alike as a testament to the skill and determination of pitchers in the early 20th century.
Career Pitching Statistics
| W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 112 | 117 | 542 | 210 | 82 | 11 | 43 | 2165.7 | 2290 | 977 | 173 | 488 | 920 | 4.06 | 0 |
Season-by-Season Pitching
| Year | Team | Lg | W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1922 | DET | AL | 7 | 3 | 29 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 97.0 | 99 | 40 | 30 | 29 | 3.71 | -834.6 |
| 1923 | DET | AL | 12 | 7 | 37 | 18 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 176.3 | 181 | 78 | 47 | 93 | 3.98 | 1714.2 |
| 1924 | DET | AL | 5 | 4 | 29 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 104.0 | 117 | 57 | 42 | 55 | 4.93 | -775.2 |
| 1925 | DET | AL | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.0 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 3.46 | -429.9 |
| 1926 | STL | NL | 0 | 3 | 19 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 49.0 | 54 | 23 | 15 | 10 | 4.22 | - |
| 1927 | STL | NL | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6.00 | - |
| 1928 | STL | NL | 8 | 4 | 34 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 120.0 | 117 | 52 | 33 | 66 | 3.90 | - |
| 1929 | STL | NL | 13 | 7 | 42 | 19 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 182.3 | 186 | 73 | 56 | 80 | 3.60 | - |
| 1930 | STL | NL | 12 | 10 | 32 | 24 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 187.7 | 215 | 97 | 38 | 92 | 4.65 | - |
| 1931 | STL | NL | 11 | 9 | 32 | 24 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 186.0 | 186 | 62 | 29 | 82 | 3.00 | - |
| 1932 | STL | NL | 5 | 14 | 32 | 22 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 164.7 | 199 | 90 | 35 | 70 | 4.92 | - |
| 1933 | STL | NL | 3 | 3 | 35 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 84.0 | 89 | 40 | 16 | 28 | 4.29 | - |
| 1934 | CIN | NL | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.7 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.70 | 0.0 |
| 1934 | PHI | NL | 5 | 9 | 42 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 133.7 | 122 | 52 | 24 | 54 | 3.50 | 156.1 |
| 1935 | PHI | NL | 10 | 8 | 37 | 18 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 174.7 | 182 | 69 | 31 | 89 | 3.56 | 2260.9 |
| 1936 | PHI | NL | 5 | 7 | 39 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 111.0 | 129 | 53 | 29 | 48 | 4.30 | 247.7 |
| 1937 | PHI | NL | 4 | 10 | 32 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 138.0 | 155 | 77 | 22 | 46 | 5.02 | -1825.2 |
| 1938 | PHI | NL | 2 | 7 | 22 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 83.0 | 87 | 39 | 11 | 21 | 4.23 | 1775.1 |
| 1939 | PHI | NL | 8 | 8 | 22 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 111.0 | 112 | 47 | 15 | 37 | 3.81 | 1011.0 |
| 1940 | PHI | NL | 2 | 2 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 40.7 | 37 | 19 | 5 | 13 | 4.20 | -379.9 |
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 542 | 702 | 51 | 127 | 18 | 5 | 4 | 53 | 1 | 23 | 214 | 0.181 | 0.209 | 0.238 | 0.447 | -2265.2 |
Season-by-Season Batting
| Year | Team | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1922 | DET | AL | 29 | 36 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0.222 | 0.0 |
| 1923 | DET | AL | 37 | 62 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 0.161 | -410.3 |
| 1924 | DET | AL | 29 | 34 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0.206 | 0.0 |
| 1925 | DET | AL | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1926 | STL | NL | 19 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1927 | STL | NL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1928 | STL | NL | 34 | 38 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 0.158 | 0.0 |
| 1929 | STL | NL | 42 | 60 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 0.117 | -599.8 |
| 1930 | STL | NL | 32 | 70 | 9 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 28 | 0.214 | -428.3 |
| 1931 | STL | NL | 32 | 60 | 4 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 0.233 | -234.5 |
| 1932 | STL | NL | 32 | 51 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0.196 | -387.8 |
| 1933 | STL | NL | 35 | 21 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.238 | 0.0 |
| 1934 | CIN | NL | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.500 | 0.0 |
| 1934 | PHI | NL | 42 | 41 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 0.195 | 0.0 |
| 1935 | PHI | NL | 37 | 58 | 6 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 0.241 | -204.6 |
| 1936 | PHI | NL | 39 | 36 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0.250 | 0.0 |
| 1937 | PHI | NL | 32 | 48 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0.146 | 0.0 |
| 1938 | PHI | NL | 22 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0.034 | 0.0 |
| 1939 | PHI | NL | 22 | 33 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 0.152 | 0.0 |
| 1940 | PHI | NL | 17 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
Postseason Statistics
Playoff Career Batting
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 |
Playoff Batting by Year
| Year | Round | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | WS | SLN | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 |
| 1930 | WS | SLN | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1928 | WS | SLN | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Playoff Career Pitching
| W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 16.0 | 18 | 8 | 5 | 11 | 4.50 |
Playoff Pitching by Year
| Year | Round | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | WS | SLN | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9.0 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 3.00 |
| 1930 | WS | SLN | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 7.20 |
| 1928 | WS | SLN | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4.50 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | 542 | 0 | 63 | 291 | 13 | 13 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1922 | DET | P | 29 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 2 | 0 |
| 1923 | DET | P | 37 | 0 | 5 | 17 | 1 | 0 |
| 1924 | DET | P | 29 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 1925 | DET | P | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 1926 | SLN | P | 19 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 |
| 1927 | SLN | P | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1928 | SLN | P | 34 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 1 | 2 |
| 1929 | SLN | P | 42 | 0 | 5 | 19 | 1 | 0 |
| 1930 | SLN | P | 32 | 0 | 4 | 21 | 1 | 1 |
| 1931 | SLN | P | 32 | 0 | 3 | 24 | 3 | 2 |
| 1932 | SLN | P | 32 | 0 | 3 | 30 | 0 | 1 |
| 1933 | SLN | P | 35 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 1934 | CIN | P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1934 | PHI | P | 42 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 1 |
| 1935 | PHI | P | 37 | 0 | 6 | 20 | 2 | 1 |
| 1936 | PHI | P | 39 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| 1937 | PHI | P | 32 | 0 | 8 | 25 | 1 | 2 |
| 1938 | PHI | P | 22 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 1939 | PHI | P | 22 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 0 | 1 |
| 1940 | PHI | P | 17 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 |
Career Games by Position
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | 542 |