Joshua Johnson (January 25, 1914 – August 12, 1999), nicknamed "Brute", was an American

Negro league 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 ...

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 ...

who played between 1934 and 1940. A native of Evergreen, Alabama, Johnson attended

Pennsylvania State College The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855 as Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Pe ...

. He broke into the Negro leagues in 1934 with the

Homestead Grays The Homestead Grays (also known as Washington Grays or Washington Homestead Grays) were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 in sports, 1912 by Cum ...

, and played for the Grays, the

Cincinnati Tigers The Cincinnati Tigers were a professional Negro league baseball team that was based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founding The club was founded in 1934 by DeHart Hubbard, who was the first African American to win an individual Olympic gold medal when ...

, and the

New York Black Yankees The New York Black Yankees were a professional Negro league baseball team based in New York City; Paterson, New Jersey; and Rochester, New York. Beginning as the independent Harlem Stars, the team was renamed the New York Black Yankees in 1932 an ...

. Johnson served in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and died in

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...

in 1999 at age 85.

References

External links

an
Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats
an
Seamheads
1914 births 1999 deaths Cincinnati Tigers players Homestead Grays players New York Black Yankees players 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen Baseball catchers {{Negro-league-baseball-catcher-stub