St. Louis Browns left-handed pitcher Chet Johnson was born on August 1, 1917, in Richmond, Virgina. He would spend most of his 18-year career in the minor leagues, primarily within the Pacific Coast League. In this time, he would become an overwhelming self-promoter who captured the attention of celebrities in California. Chet Johnson was
St. Louis Browns left-handed pitcher Chet Johnson was born on August 1, 1917, in Richmond, Virgina. He would spend most of his 18-year career in the minor leagues, primarily within the Pacific Coast League. In this time, he would become an overwhelming self-promoter who captured the attention of celebrities in California. Chet Johnson was the younger brother of Earl Johnson who spent seven-seasons pitching in the Major Leagues. He would tally a 40-22 record with an ERA of 4.28 with the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers.
Chet Johnson played two seasons with the University of Washington baseball team (1937-39), before beginning his career with the El Paso Texans in 1939. Johnson would spend the next seven years playing throughout the Pacific Coast League. He played for the Tacoma Tigers (1940, 42), San Francisco Seals (1941), San Diego Padres (1943-44), and the Seattle Rainiers (1945).
There are no transaction records to explain how Chet Johnson was acquired by the St. Louis Browns organization, but he began a three-year period with the Toledo Mud Hens in 1946. He would start 28 of the 36 games he appeared in for the Mud Hens and reach a record of 12-12 with a 3.66 ERA. This performance earned him a September call-up by the Browns, to see how he could pitch against big league hitters.
Chet Johnson would make his MLB debut on September 12, 1946 against the Washington Nationals. He started the game and scattered six hits, two earned runs, and four strikeouts over seven innings. Over the next two weeks, Johnson would appear in four more games, where he started two and finished two. He didn't earn a win, or a loss, or even a tie in any decisions within these games. Overall he allowed a total of ten earned runs, eight strikeouts, 13 walks, and an ERA of 5.00 in 18 innings. This would make up the entire Major League Baseball career of Chet Johnson.
After playing two more seasons with Toledo, he spent time with the Indianapolis Indians (1948-49) before returning to the PCL for the rest of his career. While playing for San Francisco (1950-51), the Oakland Oaks (1951) and the Sacramento Solons (1952-56).
Johnson would spend time self promoting himself with local and national celebrities in California. It was said that whenever he was set to pitch in the Los Angeles area, he would spend time promoting his skills on radio shows in order to get the crowds out to the ball game. He came to be known as "Chesty Chet", and his list of fans included the legendary, Graucho Marx. It was said that he could have played few more years, but his contracts began to include clauses that he could no longer clown around with the media.
There is no documentation of Chet Johnsons life after baseball, but it can assumed that he spent time sharing baseball stories with his brother in the Seattle family.
HEADLINES
"BROWN CONTINUE THEIR WINNING WAYS WITH POUNDING OF WASHINGTON"
FEATURED GAME
1944 - In the middle of a ten-game winning streak, the Browns would drive 13 hits and 11 runs off Washington pitching to top the Nationals, 11-6. Every player in the Browns lineup would either score a run or record a hit off in the contest. The Browns we
HEADLINES
"BROWN CONTINUE THEIR WINNING WAYS WITH POUNDING OF WASHINGTON"
FEATURED GAME
1944 - In the middle of a ten-game winning streak, the Browns would drive 13 hits and 11 runs off Washington pitching to top the Nationals, 11-6. Every player in the Browns lineup would either score a run or record a hit off in the contest. The Browns were led by their middle infielders, Vern Stephens and Don Gutteridge, who both had two doubles, scored two runs, and drove in a one run a piece. First Baseman George McQuinn joined the scoring with his two RBIs and scoring a run himself. Even the Browns pitchers recorded a hit and scored a run in the game. Starting pitcher Sig Jakucki pitched 6.2 innings, allowing six hits, four earned runs, and a strikeout. George Caster finished the game, coming in relief during the seventh inning. He would allow two runs while striking out two in the final two innings. The victory would put the Browns keep the Browns on top of the American League by 5.5 games. It would be he sixth of ten straight wins for St. Louis from July 28 through August 10.
BROWNS RECORD ON THIS DAY
Overall Record on August 1
25 Wins, 24 Losses (.510)
1902-09: 3-4
1910-19: 6-2
1920-29: 6-4
1930-39: 2-7
1940-49: 6-2
1950-53: 2-2
DOUBLE HEADERS
Sweeps: 1
Splits: 2
Swept: 2
TRANSACTIONS
These transactions do not have a confirmed date, but took place in the month of August.
These transactions are documented.
DEBUTS
There were no debuts on this day
BROWNS BIRTHDAYS
1910 - RHP Glenn Liebhardt (1936, 38)
The 1935 St. Louis Browns were like many of the baseball teams during the American Great Depression. They had a hard time drawing the fans to the stadium for their home games, which placed financial limitations for acquiring players, which resulted in the Browns having to sell off players that were successful in order to keep the lights o
The 1935 St. Louis Browns were like many of the baseball teams during the American Great Depression. They had a hard time drawing the fans to the stadium for their home games, which placed financial limitations for acquiring players, which resulted in the Browns having to sell off players that were successful in order to keep the lights on.
The Browns finished with a record of 65-87 with a seventh place in the American League. They would only draw 80, 927 fans to games at Sportsman's Park (which would be just over 1000 fans per game). The fans did not have much to cheer about with the 32-44 record the team had in St. Louis. Because of these issues the Browns were forced to move some of their more productive pieces on their roster. RHP Bobo Newsom was sent to Washington. Fan favorite 2B Oscar Melillo was traded to the Boston Red Sox for LF Moose Solters. This trade would prove to be very successful for the Browns, because Solters would end up batting .330, with 104 RBIs.
The pitching staff could be described as average at best. They had three starting pitchers with winning records, with the best hurler being Ivy Andrews with a 13-7 mark.
After the Season was over, the Browns were in search of new ownership to keep the Browns in St. Louis. Branch Rickey would step forward to help find a new ownership group. The result would come with the interest from Donald Barnes, the president of the American Investment Company based in St. Louis. Barnes would pay just $325,000 for the Browns, and he would bring on Bill DeWitt as an executive. These moves would not show promise right away, but this ownership group would make small strides towards building the teams of the early 1940s