Negro Leagues star Mamie Johnson passes away at 82 years old

Former Negro Leagues pitcher/second baseman Mamie “Peanut’ Johnson passed away on Tuesday. She was 82 years old.

The Negro Leagues were home to a great many legendary players. Stories about Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Cool Papa Bell, amongst the other greats to call the Negro Leagues home, showed how much talent was lost prior to the integration of the major leagues.

These days, even though the game has become integrated, there has yet to be a female player at the highest level. However, that was not the case in the Negro Leagues, as three female players appeared over the course of their history. Mamie Johnson, nicknamed Peanut because she stood 5’3″ tall, was the second woman to play in the Negro Leagues, and the first female pitcher in the history of the league. On Tuesday, Johnson passed away at 82 years old.

A pitcher/second baseman, Johnson earned her nickname in her first appearance on the mound. While pitching for the Indianapolis Clowns, opposing batter Hank Baylis yelled at the 19 year old Johnson “What makes you think you can strike a batter out? Why, you aren’t any larger than a peanut!” Fittingly, Johnson struck Baylis out, and the nickname stuck.

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Johnson was far more than that one outing. In her three seasons with Indianapolis, she posted a 33-8 record, using her tremendous curveball to stymie the opposition. She learned the curve from none other than the great Paige himself, who sought to save her tremendous right arm. Johnson was also solid with the bat, posting a lifetime .262 batting average in those three years.

After her playing days came to an end, Johnson went to nursing school, and spent 30 years as a nurse. She coached youth baseball, using her experiences to help female players learn that their gender would not be an obstacle to their dreams. Her own journey to the Negro Leagues, and her time with the Clowns, was chronicled in the biography “The Strong Right Arm.”

Johnson continued to maintain a presence in the game after her retirement. She ran a Negro League memorabilia shop, and was willing to speak about her experiences in the game. In 2009, Johnson was a guest lecturer at a symposium at the Library of Congress. In 2018, Johnson will be one of 15 Indianapolis sports legends to be immortalized in bronze outside the Children’s Museum.

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Mamie Johnson proved that women were just as good as men at the highest levels of baseball. Sadly, the Negro Leagues legend passed away on Tuesday.