| Judy Johnson | |
|---|---|
 Johnson in 1924 | |
| Third baseman /Shortstop | |
| Born:(1899-10-26)October 26, 1899 Snow Hill, Maryland, U.S. | |
| Died: June 15, 1989(1989-06-15) (aged 89) Wilmington, Delaware, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| Negro leagues debut | |
| 1921, for the Hilldale Club | |
| Last Negro leagues appearance | |
| 1937, for the Homestead Grays | |
| Negro leagues[a] statistics | |
| Batting average | .304 |
| Home runs | 25 |
| Runs batted in | 457 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Member of the National | |
 Baseball Hall of Fame | |
| Induction | 1975 |
| Election method | Negro Leagues Committee |
William Julius "Judy"Johnson (October 26, 1899 – June 15, 1989) was an Americanprofessional baseballthird baseman,shortstop,manager andscout whose career inNegro league baseball spanned 17 seasons, from 1921 to 1937. He also played in theCuban League. Slight of build, Johnson never developed as a power threat but achieved his greatest success as acontact hitter and an intuitive defenseman. Johnson is regarded as one of the greatest third basemen of the Negro leagues. In1975, he was elected into theBaseball Hall of Fame after being nominated by the Negro Leagues Committee.
From 1921 to 1929, Johnson was a member of theHilldale Daisies ball club and became an on-the-field leader respected for his professional disposition. His consistent swing and fielding prowess helped the Daisies win three straight pennants in theEastern Colored League and the1925 Colored World Series. After serving as aplayer-manager for theHomestead Grays followed by the Daisies in the early 1930s, Johnson signed with thePittsburgh Crawfords; as a part of the vaunted Crawford line-up of 1935, Johnson contributed to a team widely considered the greatest in Negro league history. He retired in 1937 after a short second stint with the Grays.
Following his retirement from baseball as a player, Johnson became a scout forMajor League Baseball (MLB) teams. He was hired as anassistant coach by thePhiladelphia Athletics in 1954, becoming one of the first African Americans signed to a coaching position on a major league ball club. In his later years, Johnson served on the Negro Leagues Committee and stepped down in 1975 to accept his hall of fame nomination. He suffered astroke in 1988 and died a year later.
William Julius Johnson was born on October 26, 1899, inSnow Hill, Maryland, to William Henry Johnson, a sailor and licensed boxing coach, and Annie Lee Johnson.[2] Johnson had an older sister Mary Emma and a younger brother John, both of whom were named after heavyweight boxerJack Johnson, a long-time friend of William Henry. Early into his childhood, the family moved toWilmington, Delaware; by that time his father worked at the docks as a shipbuilder and as the athletic director at the Negro Settlement House.[3]
When Johnson was eight years old, his father began grooming him to become a pugilist. William Henry bought two pairs of boxing gloves: one pair for his son and the other for Mary Emma, his sparring partner.[4] The sport was unappealing to Johnson, however; instead, he began playingsandlot ball and joined his father's local amateur team the Rosedale Blues which competed against black and white teams.[5] In 1917, he stopped attendingHoward High School to work on shipyards in New Jersey and play weekend games on baseball teams that were drawn from the community, including the Rosalies and the Chester Stars. The following year he joined the semi-professional ball club theBacharach Giants for a $5 wage per game.[6]
In early 1919, Johnson worked out for theHilldale Daisies and was attached with the Madison Stars, Hilldale's unofficialminor league affiliate, to hone his skills. By 1921, with the Daisies in need of aninfielder, Johnson signed a professional baseball contract worth $135 a month withEd Bolden, who owned the Hilldale ball club.[6][7] The rookie ballplayer was soon adorned with the nickname "Judy" because of his resemblance toChicago American Giants pitcherJudy Gans; the name stuck with Johnson for the duration of his baseball career.[8] Johnson spent his first year as a professional ballplayer atshortstop while hisplayer managerBill Francis played atthird base, Johnson's natural position. Once the regular season began, Johnson struggled at the plate, finishing his rookie year with a .188batting average (BA), yet he played every day and was mentored by Francis in the offseason in order to make the transition to third base.[6][9]
During the 1922 season, Johnson was used as the starting third baseman. With Francis leaving for the Bacharach Giants, Johnson looked toJohn Henry Lloyd for guidance.[10] A renowned infielder, the veteran ballplayer became a role model to him, and Johnson's defensive style closely resembled his mentor's.[3] After his playing career, Johnson stated, "He's [Lloyd] the man I give the credit to for polishing my skills; he taught me how to play third base and how to protect myself... John taught me more baseball than anyone else".[3] In the offseason, the Hilldale club joined Bolden's newly establishedEastern Colored League (ECL). Bolden had rebuilt the team as well, strengthening its core with the signings ofBiz Mackey andGeorge "Tank" Carr, both from the American Giants.[7]
The 1923 campaign was the beginning of a series of successful seasons for Johnson which saw his emergence as a hitter and leader of the Daisies.[11] Measured at 5-feet-11 inches and 155 lbs. (70.3 kg.), Johnson never developed as a seriouspower threat; instead, he became a player who consistentlyhit for contact and drove the ball at gaps in the defense.[12] A "scientific hitter" at the plate, as sports historian Richard Bak described him, Johnson used different strategies to get on base such as takingwalks or crowding in on the plate to allow the ball tohit his sleeve.[12] In the field, Johnson was the defensive leader of the Daisies' infield, noted for his intuitive fielding prowess and strong throwing arm.[3] The Daisies won their first Eastern Colored League pennant with Johnson as their most consistent player at the plate; he batted .391 in 1923.[2][13]
The Hilldale club had another successful season in 1924, clinching their second pennant.[2] The Daisies had high expectations when they met theKansas City Monarchs of theNegro National League (NNL) in the1924 Colored World Series, the first official World Series between the respective champions of the NNL and ECL.[14] Johnson led both teams with a .364 BA and hit a clutchInside-the-park home run in Game Five of the best-of-nine series, but the Daisies lost, five games to four (with one tied game).[3] The following season, with Johnson hitting .392, the Daisies secured a third straight pennant and returned to the World Series for a rematch with the Monarchs.[3] The favored Hilldale club owed its success in the series—which they won five-to-one—to a stronger line-up consisting of seven starters finishing the regular season batting over .300 and pitching staff led byNip Winters.[15]
After the season, Johnson started playing winter ballin Cuba and was moved to the clean-up spot in the line-up for the remainder of his stint with Hilldale.[6] The Daisies finished second in the ECL pennant race of 1926 to the Bacharach Giants. During the playoffs, the Daisies played four exhibition games against a team composed of whitemajor leaguers, includingLefty Grove,Heinie Manush, andJimmy Dykes. Hilldale bested them in three out of the four games; Johnson made more money from the games than if the team had played in the World Series.[16]
The onset of theGreat Depression in the United States drastically affected attendance at Negro league baseball games, forcing the Daisies to temporarily fold before the 1930 season. At 29 years old, Johnson signed on with theHomestead Grays as aplayer manager.[3][17] During the season, Johnson directed his attention to Crawford Colored Giants catcherJosh Gibson who was mentioned in several newspapers for his ability to hit long home runs. The Grays, however, did not seriously pursue Gibson—the team already had two catchers, Buck Ewing andVic Harris, on its roster.[citation needed] On July 25, 1930, the Grays played an exhibition game with the Monarchs; scheduled at night, the field was illuminated by Monarchs ownerJ. L. Wilkinson's portable lighting system to attract fans. Ewing, the starting catcher, lost sight of the ball in the low visibility and was injured by a pitch as Harris was playing in the outfield. In attendance, Gibson was called from the stands by Johnson to catch for the remainder of the game. He finished the season with the Grays; Johnson, his mentor, used him to catchbatting practice every day and gradually worked him into the line-up.[3][17]
Johnson spent the 1931 and early 1932 seasons managing the Daisies which joined theEast–West League for the latter year.[16] Although he was in the twilight of his playing career, Johnson still felt he could contribute to a winning team and signed on with thePittsburgh Crawfords in 1932.[18] The 1932 Crawfords team is considered one of the greatest squads ever assembled, often receiving comparisons to theNew York Yankees' 1927 team known as theMurderers' Row.[3] Their owner, the wealthy businessmanGus Greenlee, had little experience with baseball when he purchased the Crawfords in 1930 but was determined to aggressively purchase and trade for the best available players. By 1932, Greenlee signed five future hall of famers: Johnson,Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson,Satchel Paige, andOscar Charleston, the player manager.[19]
Like Charleston, Johnson remained productive in the latter stage of his career, hitting well above a .300 BA during his five-year stint with the Crawfords. In 1935, he was chosen ascaptain, and the Crawfords were favored to win the pennant race.[3][20] The team secured the first half of the championship but finished second in the latter half to theCuban Giants. As a tiebreaker, both clubs met for a seven-game series to determine the winner of the pennant.[21] In Game Seven, with the Crawfords trailing 7–4 and down to their final out, Johnson hit aninfield single to load the bases and kept Pittsburgh's pennant hopes alive. Charleston followed next in the order and hit a walk-offgrand slam to win the game and the series.[3]
Although the Crawfords finished the second half of 1936 in first place and Johnson showed little signs of slowing down with age, Greenlee shockingly traded him and Gibson to the Homestead Grays in exchange forPepper Bassett andHenry Spearman, both of whom were considered marginal players at best. Johnson took the deal personally; he played for a few games at the beginning of the 1937 season and announced his retirement soon after.[6][20]
Link including Negro Leagues statistics officially entered into Major League Baseball’s official records:https://www.mlb.com/player/judy-johnson-818744
After he retired from baseball, Johnson worked for the Continental Cab Company and managed a general goods store with his brother.[22] In 1951, thePhiladelphia Athletics hired Johnson as a scout. He urged the team, albeit unsuccessfully, to sign prospectsHank Aaron andMinnie Minoso.[23] Before the Athletics relocated to Kansas City in 1954, the club assigned Johnson as an assistant coach tasked with instructing black players Bob Trice andVic Power duringspring training.[23] Due to the brief nature of Johnson's assignment,Buck O'Neil is generally credited with being the first African-American to coach inMajor League Baseball (MLB).[24]
Johnson spent time scouting with theAtlanta Braves,Milwaukee Brewers,Philadelphia Phillies, andLos Angeles Dodgers in the 1950s and 1960s.[23] He is credited with instigating the signings of sluggerDick Allen andBill Bruton who later became his son-in-law.[23] As one of the oldest surviving stars of the Negro leagues, Johnson was offered a seat on the Committee on Negro Baseball Leagues when it was appointed by MLB commissionerBowie Kuhn in 1971. The Committee's responsibility was to select noteworthy Negro league players for induction into theBaseball Hall of Fame.[23][24] In 1975, Johnson stepped down from his position in the Committee to accept his Baseball Hall of Fame nomination.[24]
In 1976, Johnson was inducted into theDelaware Sports Hall of Fame.[25]
Johnson is recognized as the best third baseman of the Negro leagues;Arthur Ashe in his book A Hard Road to Glory termed his play as "the standard by which other third-basemen were measured".[3] His leadership was the centerpiece of two of the most dominant Negro league teams—the Hilldale Daisies in the 1920s and the Pittsburgh Crawfords in the 1930s.[3][26] Former teammates, includingTed Page and Johnson's mentor John Henry “Pop” Lloyd, praised his composure under pressure, both on the field and at the plate.[24] Johnson suffered astroke in 1988 and died a year later on June 15, 1989, in Wilmington; he was 89 years old.[22] His home, theWilliam Julius "Judy" Johnson House inMarshallton, was added to theNational Register of Historic Places in 1995.[27]
Judy Johnson Field atDaniel S. Frawley Stadium is named for him.[28]
In 2019, a memorial statue dedicated to Johnson was unveiled in his home town of Snow Hill, Maryland, in front of the town's library.[29]
Media related toJudy Johnson at Wikimedia Commons
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