In an integrated world, The Big Train has competition, and his name is Joe Williams.
With careers that overlap almost exactly, Smokey Joe is absolutely on par with Walter Johnson. Just about the only immediately discernible difference is that Williams gave up a few more hits. In this projection, we also have Williams surrendering a smidge more walks and striking out fewer batters (while still leading the league a handful of times). But those could easily be nudged to be on par or surpass Johnson in future revisions.
Williams was everything you wanted from a pitcher of his day: durable, pinpoint control, and a clear front of rotation ace, at least until his mid 30s when his usage begins to decline, although is efficiency doesn’t really slide until 1928, when Williams is the ripe old age of 41.
We just haven’t seen this level of sustained performance–it’s as if Nolan Ryan’s career was spent mostly at his peak, and without all those troublesome walks.
Williams becomes a fulltime starter in 1911 at the age of 24 and reaches 300 IP for 9 consecutive years. At that point, he’s 32 and coming out of the deadball era and we have him making 30 starts in a season only 4 more times. I could see arguments for his usage staying high through the early 1920s, at the same time, I like how lowering it supports his staying healthy for all those years. He still ends his career with over 6,000 IP and 3,400 Ks, putting him 2nd in each of those categories (behind Cy Young on the former and Johnson on the latter).
Simply magnificent.
| Name | Joe Williams (Smokey Joe; Cyclone; Cíclon) |
| ID / Status | willia008joe / Draft |
| Pos | P |
| DOB / i9s Career | 04/06/1886 / 1907 - 1939 |
| Birthplace | Seguin, TX (USA) |
| Height / Weight | 6'3" / 190 |
| B / T | R / R |
Batting Projections
Pitching Projections
| Year | G | GS | IP | HA | W | K | HRA | eD | eT | eHBP | BB/9 | H/9 | K/9 | ERA | WHIP |
| 1907 | 10 | 5 | 53.0 | 45 | 10 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.7 | 7.6 | 4.1 | 2.17 | 1.04 |
| 1908 | 15 | 7 | 69.0 | 61 | 12 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1.6 | 8.0 | 6.5 | 1.76 | 1.06 |
| 1909 | 24 | 6 | 97.0 | 96 | 24 | 89 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2.2 | 8.9 | 8.3 | 1.99 | 1.24 |
| 1910 | 22 | 17 | 142.0 | 111 | 36 | 93 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2.3 | 7.0 | 5.9 | 1.85 | 1.04 |
| 1911 | 47 | 41 | 337.0 | 319 | 108 | 215 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2.9 | 8.5 | 5.7 | 2.73 | 1.27 |
| 1912 | 46 | 38 | 321.0 | 285 | 74 | 186 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2.1 | 8.0 | 5.2 | 2.46 | 1.12 |
| 1913 | 44 | 43 | 342.0 | 324 | 107 | 208 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2.8 | 8.5 | 5.5 | 2.63 | 1.26 |
| 1914 | 46 | 35 | 307.0 | 265 | 82 | 156 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2.4 | 7.8 | 4.6 | 2.40 | 1.13 |
| 1915 | 48 | 43 | 348.0 | 267 | 80 | 206 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2.1 | 6.9 | 5.3 | 1.90 | 1.00 |
| 1916 | 47 | 39 | 331.0 | 277 | 90 | 182 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2.4 | 7.5 | 4.9 | 2.22 | 1.11 |
| 1917 | 43 | 42 | 342.0 | 269 | 78 | 173 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2.1 | 7.1 | 4.6 | 1.97 | 1.01 |
| 1918 | 48 | 43 | 357.0 | 299 | 82 | 176 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2.1 | 7.5 | 4.4 | 2.08 | 1.07 |
| 1919 | 48 | 39 | 327.0 | 308 | 75 | 164 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2.1 | 8.5 | 4.5 | 2.56 | 1.17 |
| 1920 | 41 | 30 | 268.0 | 260 | 57 | 142 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1.9 | 8.7 | 4.8 | 2.74 | 1.18 |
| 1921 | 36 | 26 | 232.0 | 187 | 57 | 151 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2.2 | 7.3 | 5.9 | 2.22 | 1.05 |
| 1922 | 31 | 14 | 158.0 | 132 | 48 | 102 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2.7 | 7.5 | 5.8 | 2.42 | 1.14 |
| 1923 | 39 | 32 | 273.0 | 305 | 58 | 137 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1.9 | 10.1 | 4.5 | 3.46 | 1.33 |
| 1924 | 31 | 19 | 186.0 | 176 | 44 | 92 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2.1 | 8.5 | 4.5 | 3.03 | 1.18 |
| 1925 | 28 | 15 | 147.0 | 160 | 47 | 86 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2.9 | 9.8 | 5.3 | 3.78 | 1.41 |
| 1926 | 25 | 12 | 126.0 | 148 | 38 | 67 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2.7 | 10.6 | 4.8 | 3.84 | 1.48 |
| 1927 | 30 | 23 | 198.0 | 168 | 43 | 105 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2.0 | 7.6 | 4.8 | 2.46 | 1.07 |
| 1928 | 33 | 15 | 165.0 | 185 | 41 | 80 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2.2 | 10.1 | 4.4 | 3.58 | 1.37 |
| 1929 | 42 | 37 | 306.0 | 281 | 90 | 191 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2.6 | 8.3 | 5.6 | 2.95 | 1.21 |
| 1930 | 36 | 36 | 283.0 | 256 | 80 | 187 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2.5 | 8.1 | 5.9 | 2.93 | 1.19 |
| 1931 | 31 | 11 | 140.0 | 142 | 52 | 74 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3.3 | 9.1 | 4.8 | 3.46 | 1.39 |
| 1932 | 32 | 16 | 167.0 | 179 | 50 | 70 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2.7 | 9.6 | 3.8 | 3.73 | 1.37 |