Judy Johnson

Judy Johnson
Johnson in 1924
Third baseman
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 at Baseball Reference
Teams
Hilldale Club (1921–1929, 1931–1932) Homestead Grays (1929–1930, 1937) Pittsburgh Crawfords (1932–1936) New York Cubans (1936)
Career highlights and awards
2× All-Star (1933, 1936) Negro World Series champion (1925)
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 American professional third baseman and manager whose career in Negro league baseball spanned 17 seasons, from 1921 to 1937. Slight of build, Johnson never developed as a power threat but achieved his greatest success as a contact hitter and an intuitive defenseman. Johnson is regarded as one of the greatest third basemen of the Negro leagues. In 1975, he was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame after being nominated by the Negro Leagues Committee.

From 1921 to 1929, Johnson was a member of the Hilldale 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 the Eastern Colored League and the 1925 Colored World Series. After serving as a player manager for the Homestead Grays followed by the Daisies in the early 1930s, Johnson signed with the Pittsburgh 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 for Major League Baseball teams. He was hired as an assistant coach by the Philadelphia 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 a stroke in 1988 and died a year later.

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