Saturday, December 23, 2017

NOTABLE DEATH---PEANUTS JOHNSON

by Bob Walsh

Peanuts Johnson has recently died at the age of 82. What is notable about her life is that she was a professional baseball pitcher, playing for the negro league in the 1950s. There were other female players in the league but she was the only pitcher, throwing for the Indianapolis Clowns. She tried to enter the Women's Professional Baseball League during WWII but they refused to even consider black players.

She was a small woman, standing only 5-3 and weighing about 120 pounds in her playing days, but she could pitch very well and held her own against the male batters of the time. Her record with the Clowns was 33-8 over three seasons.

No comments: