People, Locations, Episodes

Mamie ‘Peanut’ Johnson, Baseball Player born

Mamie Johnson

Mamie Johnson was born on this date in 1935. She was a Black baseball player in the Negro Leagues.

She was born in Ridgeway, S.C., the daughter of Gentry Harrison and Della Belton Havelow. When she was only seven years old, she played baseball daily.  When she left South Carolina to pursue her college education in 1943, she refused to let anyone or anything interfere with her love of playing baseball.  She practiced while pursuing her studies at New York University.

When she was 17 years old, Ms. Johnson was rejected as a team member by the White Female Baseball League. This unfair treatment and prejudice became her victory.  She proclaimed, "If I had played with white girls, I would have been just another player, but now I am somebody who has done something that no other woman has done." The Women’s Professional Baseball League inspired the movie “A League of Their Own.”

In 1953, at 19, she became a member of the Indianapolis Clowns baseball club and pitched for three years. That same year, Johnson finished with an 11-3 record. 1954, she went 10-1; in 1955, she finished 12-4. She hit between .252 and .284 in each season. When she wasn’t pitching, she played second base. During her tenure, she won 33 games and lost eight games. Her batting average ranged from .262 to .284. Of this opportunity, she exclaimed, "Just to know that you were among some of the best male ballplayers that ever picked up the bat made all of my baseball moments great moments."

For two seasons as a member of the Clowns, Johnson was a teammate of future home run leader Hank Aaron. She also credits her pitching success to a lesson from “Satchel” Paige, who taught Johnson to throw her curveball. “He just showed me how to grip the ball to keep from throwing my arm away ‘cause I was so little.”

She is the subject of the book "A Strong Right Arm," which describes her life growing up and the obstacles to becoming a professional Negro League baseball player. “Peanut” Johnson was one of three women and the first female pitcher to play in the Negro Leagues.

She was a licensed nurse for 30 years after her baseball playing days. She ran the Negro League's Baseball Shops in Bowie, Md., specializing in hats, memorabilia, and clothes honoring Negro League stars.  Mamie Johnson died on December 18, 2017, in a Washington, D.C., hospital of cardiac-related causes.

To become a Professional Athlete