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

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

and field manager in the

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

. 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 Bellaire is a village in Belmont County, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Wheeling, West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area, and Wheeling is across the Ohio to the east. The population was 4,278 at the 2010 census, having had its peak i ...

, on the upper Ohio River. In 1895, he debuted at the age of 17 with the

Page Fence Giants The Page Fence Giants were a professional Black-American baseball team based in Adrian, Michigan, from 1895 to 1898, performing as one of the nation's top teams in the Negro leagues. Named after the Page Woven Wire Fence Company in Adrian, they ...

, 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 (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

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 direction ...

in 1899. There, Johnson often caught for George Wilson, 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, and played on and off with the

Algona Brownies The Algona Brownies were an independent interracial baseball team that played in the 1902 and 1903 seasons. They were based in Algona, Iowa, and was primarily made up of former members of the Chicago Unions The Chicago Unions were a professi ...

, then moved with George Wilson to a baseball team in

Renville, Minnesota Renville is a city in Renville County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,287 at the 2010 census. U.S. Route 212 and County Highway 6 are two of the main routes in the city. History The city and county of Renville were named for ...

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 Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

. The

Baseball color line The color line, also known as the color barrier, in American baseball excluded players of black African descent from Major League Baseball and its affiliated Minor Leagues until 1947 (with a few notable exceptions in the 19th century before the l ...

excluded Johnson from playing in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

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 for a few seasons. The Gophers went to

Little Rock, Arkansas ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

, playing Spring Training games with

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 Clemson () is a city in Pickens and Anderson counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Clemson is home to Clemson University; in 2015, ''the Princeton Review'' cited the town of Clemson as ranking #1 in the United States for " town-and-go ...

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