WTHBALLS CUSTOM NEGRO LEAGUE SET: JUDY JOHNSON

Today on the blog we go and focus on my custom Judy Johnson card from my "Negro League Legends" custom set released last Summer:

 

One of the All-Time great third basemen to take the field, Johnson played between 1918 and 1936 for the Hilldale Club, the Bacharach Giants, Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords, and compiled a career .293 average, though he batted as high as .389 (1925) and .376 (1929) when he was also named MVP.
Beyond his playing field performance, he is also credited with discovering and mentoring the great Josh Gibson, just as Negro League legend John Henry Lloyd did for him when he first came up.
By then a player-manager for the legendary Homestead Grays, the squad featured no less than five future Hall of Fame players: Johnson, Cool Papa Bell, Oscar Charleston, Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson.
Post Negro leagues, Johnson became a scout in the Major Leagues for the Philadelphia Athletics before moving on to the Braves, Phillies and Dodgers.
From 1971 through 1974 Johnson was also on the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Committee on the Negro Leagues, helping to find a rightful place in Cooperstown for inductees like Paige and Gibson before being elected himself in 1975.
A wonderful baseball life that spanned decades, and to a greater extent, worlds in respect to how American baseball evolved between 1918 and the mid-70’s.

NEGRO LEAGUE LEGENDS- JUDY JOHNSON

The next Negro League legend to have the spotlight in my on-going series is the great Judy Johnson, one of the greatest third baseman in Negro League history:

Between 1918 and 1936 Johnson played for the Hilldale Club, the Bacharach Giants, Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords, and compiled a career .293 average, though he batted as high as .389 (1925) and .376 (1929, when he was also named MVP of the Negro Leagues).
Beyond his playing field performance, he is also credited with discovering and mentoring the great Josh Gibson, just as Negro League legend John Henry Lloyd did for him when he first came up.
By then a player-manager for the legendary Homestead Grays, the squad featured no less than five future Hall of Fame players: Johnson, Cool Papa Bell, Oscar Charleston, Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson.
Post Negro leagues, Johnson became a scout in the Major Leagues for the Philadelphia Athletics before moving on to the Braves, Phillies and Dodgers.
From 1971 through 1974 Johnson was also on the Baseball Hall of Fame’s  Committee on the Negro Leagues, helping to find a rightful place in Cooperstown for inductees like Paige and Gibson before being elected himself in 1975.
A wonderful baseball life that spanned decades, and to a greater extent, worlds in respect to how American baseball evolved between 1918 and the mid-70’s.

HALL OF FAME #28: JUDY JOHNSON: CLASS OF 1975

Here's a 1975 "Hall of Fame Induction" card for one of the greatest third basemen in Negro Leagues history, Judy Johnson:

There's surprisingly little written about him considering he's a Hall of Famer, and I can find much more written about other Negro League players.

But what is known is that he starred in the Negro Leagues between 1918 and 1936, playing for the Hilldale Club, Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords, playing alongside such players as John Henry Lloyd (who mentored the young Johnson) and Josh Gibson (who Johnson in turn mentored himself).

A two-time all-star in the league, he also won a Negro League title with the Hilldale club in 1925 and hit as high as .416 in a season (1929).

After his playing days he went on to scout and coach in the Majors, becoming the first African-American coach in Major League history after signing on with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1954.