George "Chappie" Johnson Jr. (May 8, 1877 – August 17, 1949) was an American baseball catcher and

field manager In baseball, the field manager (commonly referred to as the manager) is the equivalent of a head coach who is responsible for overseeing and making final decisions on all aspects of on-field team strategy, lineup selection, training and instruct ...

in the Negro leagues. He played for many successful teams from 1895 to 1920 and he crossed racial boundaries as a teacher and coach. Johnson was born and raised in the village of Bellaire, Ohio, on the upper

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

. In 1895, he debuted at the age of 17 with the Page Fence Giants, where he played short stop, left field, then first base, then moved to catcher where he stayed for most of his career. Most of the team moved to Chicago and formed the

Chicago Columbia Giants The Columbia Giants were a professional, black baseball team based in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century, prior to the Negro leagues. Founding In 1899, a group known as the Columbia Club, organized the Columbia Giants under the directio ...

in 1899. There, Johnson often caught for

George Wilson George Wilson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Balch Wilson (born 1927), American composer, professor emeritus at the University of Michigan * George Washington Wilson (1823–1893), Scottish photographer * George Christopher (actor) ...

, and the two became a powerful battery for the baseball club."Frank Lelands' Chicago Giants Base Ball Club" Fraternal Printing Company, 1910
/ref> Johnson moved on to the

Chicago Union Giants The Leland Giants, originally the Chicago Union Giants, were a Negro league baseball team that competed independently during the first decade of the 20th century. The team was formed via a merge of the Chicago Unions and the Chicago Columbia Gian ...

, and played on and off with the Algona Brownies, then moved with George Wilson to a baseball team in Renville, Minnesota and the famous battery won the state championship in 1905, playing against mostly white teams. Previous to the 1906 season, Johnson traveled to Palm Beach, Florida and became head trainer for the Boston Red Sox. The Baseball color line excluded Johnson from playing in Major League Baseball games, but did not bar him from using his skills as a trainer. In 1906, Johnson moved out East to catch for the Philadelphia Giants, and came back West in 1907 to manage the

St. Paul Colored Gophers The St. Paul Colored Gophers was a small club of black baseball players formed in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1907. They were not a formal Negro league baseball, Negro league team, as the commonly referred-to "Negro leagues" were not created until 1 ...

for a few seasons. The Gophers went to Little Rock, Arkansas, playing

Spring Training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

games with Major League Baseball teams. By 1910, Johnson was reportedly the only catcher wearing shin guards,"Diamond Dashes" Indianapolis Freeman, Indianapolis, IN, Saturday, August 27, 1910, Page 4, Columns 5 and 6
/ref> saying they make him "look like a big leaguer." Other catchers quickly followed. Johnson last played for a major team in 1919 (the eve of the organized Negro Leagues), and continued as a manager through 1939, even managing teams using his name, such as the "Dayton Chappies" and the "Chappie Johnson Stars." He died at 72 in Clemson, South Carolina.

References

* *(Riley.
George "Chappie" Johnson
in Personal Profiles at Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. – identical to Riley (confirmed 2010-04-13)

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Chappie Algona Brownies players Bacharach Giants players Brooklyn Royal Giants players Chicago Giants players Chicago Unions players Cuban X-Giants players Habana players Louisville White Sox (1914-1915) players Page Fence Giants players Philadelphia Giants players Schenectady Mohawk Giants players St. Paul Colored Gophers players West Baden Sprudels players Baseball players from Ohio People from Bellaire, Ohio 1877 births 1949 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Cuba