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

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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 catc ...

and field manager in the

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relativel ...

. 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 (United States)#Ohio, village in Belmont County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 3,870 at the 2020 census, having peaked in 1920. It is part of the Wheeling metropolitan area. The Bellaire Brid ...

, on the upper

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

. 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 Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

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 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 Gi ...

, 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, Columbia Giants, and Chicago Union ...

, 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 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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

. 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 League Baseball, Minor Leagues until 1947 (with a few notable exceptions in the 1 ...

excluded Johnson from playing in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

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 Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

, playing

Spring Training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

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 County, South Carolina, Pickens and Anderson County, South Carolina, Anderson counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Clemson is adjacent to Clemson University, - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university pr ...

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 Sportspeople from Bellaire, Ohio Baseball players from Belmont County, Ohio 1877 births 1949 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Cuba