John Francis Daley: Batting Against Walter Johnson

Walter Johnson warming up in front of the empty bleachers

John Francis Daley discusses his experiences batting against Walter Johnson - and how he came up with one of baseball’s most memorable one-liners.

A cup of coffee player with the St. Louis Browns in 1912 (9 hits in 17 games), John Francis Daley claimed credit for one of baseball’s most memorable one-liners.

When he died in 1988 at 101, he was the oldest former big league player. He recalled his cup of coffee for us on May 25, 1987, at his Mansfield, Ohio, home.- Norman L. Macht

I was born and raised in Pittsburgh. A bunch of us youngsters would hang around the players’ gate at the Pirates’ ballpark, waiting for Honus Wagner.

When he arrived, he would parcel out parts of his gear to some of us kids to carry and we would get into the game for “helping him” that way.

In 1912 I was playing shortstop for Mansfield in the Class D Ohio State League. Along about July the St. Louis Browns, who would lose 101 games that year, needed infielders.

They bought me for $3,500 and I was suddenly in the big leagues.

In my third game, on July 20 in Washington, the score was 3-3 in the top of the ninth. With the bases loaded and two outs, who comes in as the relief pitcher? Walter Johnson. And I’m up.

I worked him to a 3 and 2 count and fouled off a few. The next pitch I never saw. I heard it smack in the catcher’s mitt and the umpire call strike three.

Baseball legend Walter Johnson

George Stovall, our playing manager, was on deck. I guess I looked sort of dazed. He said to me, “What’s the matter, kid?”

I told him, “You can’t hit what you can’t see.”

The next day that quote was in the Washington papers. A couple years ago some other fellow claimed he was the originator of that phrase, but I told him I’m the one who did it and you could look it up.

The Browns had made a small down payment on me and wanted to keep me. but didn’t want to pay the balance, so they sent me back to Mansfield.

I played in the minors until 1916, then worked for the Mansfield Tire & Rubber Company for forty years.