Eddie Johnson

Eddie Johnson was an outfielder whose major league career consisted of four games for the Washington Senators between September 26 and October 3, 1920. The internet thinks he was known primarily as Ed, but he was overwhelmingly called Eddie. Either way, it’s not an easy name to research.

Edwin “Eddie” Johnson was born in Morganfield, Kentucky, just across the Ohio River from both Indiana and Illinois, on March 31, 1899. His father, Richard, was a physician who died when Eddie was four years old. In the 1910 census Eddie lived on Morgan Street in Morganfield with his three older siblings and their mother, Ada, who took in boarders for an income; 22-year-old Elizabeth worked as a schoolteacher and 18-year-old Ronald did something that the census taker’s penmanship renders indecipherable. Eddie was a star athlete at Morganfield High, after which he played local semi-pro baseball. The 1920 census listed Ada with no occupation, Elizabeth still a schoolteacher, Ronald a drugstore clerk, and Eddie a dry goods clerk, while youngest sibling Eugenia had been replaced in the household by Ronald’s wife Winfred.

That same year, Eddie’s ballplaying got the attention of the Evansville Evas of the Class B Three-I League (Evansville, Indiana, being the nearest sizeable town to Morganfield). They signed him in July and made him the regular right fielder and number five hitter; he played in 47 games and hit .256 with very little power, but received raves seemingly inconsistent with the numbers. He was described as “the hitting fool,” “one of the most reliable hitters on the team,” the team’s “most dangerous slugger,” and as someone who “hit like a fiend,” while his outfield play was called “sensational.” At any rate, on September 2 he was sold to the Reading Coal Barons of the Class AA International League and told to report there at the end of the Three-I season. 

However, his meteoric rise became even more meteoric when, before he had reported to Reading, he was sold to the Washington Senators. One of Evansville’s three daily newspapers, the Courier & Press, reported on September 18:

JOHNSON SOLD TO WASHINGTON CLUB 

Deal Gives Every Appearance of Being One of Griffith’s Foxy Moves 

Eddie Johnson, Evansville’s scintillating right gardener, during the season just closed, has been purchased from the Reading International league club by the Washington Americans. 

Johnson has been ordered by Clark Griffith to report at the Hotel Ponchartrain, in Detroit, tomorrow morning and the probabilities are that the Kentucky boy will be immediately shoved into the line-up against the Tigers… 

President William J. Asplan, of the local club, received a telegram from Griffith last night in which he was urged to immediately get in touch with Eddie and have him report not later than tomorrow morning. 

Asplan reached Johnson over long distance last night and the former local player stated that he would leave Madisonville sometime today. 

In purchasing Johnson from John Hummel’s Coal Barons, Clark Griffith undoubtedly pulled one of those famous deals that has rightfully earned him the sobriquet of “Foxy Griff.” 

It is almost an even money bet that the Reading pilot never even as much as heard of Johnson, but that one of the Washington club’s scouts has probably slipped into Evansville unknown and unannounced, sized up Eddie and reported favorably on the player to Griffith. The old Fox then pulled the wires on Hummel and had the International league reinsman put the deal over. 

Griffith with this arrangement no doubt saved the Washington club money as Hummel was able to purchase the player at a price that was just about one-half as much as would have been asked by the local club had they known a big-league team was angling for their star player.

Eddie did not in fact play in Detroit, instead making his debut on September 26 against the Yankees at the Polo Grounds, starting in right and going one-for-four. Then he started both games of a doubleheader at Philadelphia on October 2, going one-for-five with three walks. His major league career came to a close the next day, again against the Athletics but at home, with another one-for-four game. On the plus side he finished with a .375 on-base percentage, but with a .231 slugging percentage and a .625 fielding percentage (three errors in eight chances).

In early 1921 it was announced that the Senators were sending Eddie to the Shreveport Gassers of the Class A Texas League for more seasoning. But sometime between March 21, when it was reported that he had left his home for Shreveport, and March 31, when it was reported that he would be back in the Three-I League, playing for the Bloomington Bloomers, things changed. On April 13 the Rock Island Argus and Daily Union reported:

Eddie Johnson, star outfielder of the Evansville club last season and a member of the Washington Americans southern training party this spring, treated the big bunch of rail birds to a speedy exhibition of shagging flies and clouted the old apple in mid-season form. The youthful fielder is in the pink of condition and is ready to take his place in the lineup on a moment’s notice. He is a powerful athlete for a youngster, and the fans, who were on hand yesterday, are confident that he is going to be a big asset in the Bloomer campaign this season.

As the season progressed it sounded like he was doing well (there were many accounts of spectacular catches, as there will continue to be throughout his career) and was popular with the fans, until July 16, when the Rockford Daily Register-Gazette reported:

Joe Dunn is working a great shakeup in the Bloomington camp. He has purchased Outfielder Bratchi, of the Chattanooga club of the Southern Association, to replace Right Fielder Eddie Johnson, whose fielding of late has been pitiful…Outfielder Johnson will be turned back to the Washington American league club.

And the same day, the Evansville Journal said “Johnson’s fielding has been pitiful on this trip and up until yesterday he has been absolutely helpless with the bat. He has lost confidence in himself, and will probably go to a lower classification for more seasoning.” But somehow he stayed with Bloomington and continued to play right field, though he was dropped to eighth in the order temporarily, finishing the year in the sixth spot. I don’t know what his hitting stats were like as of mid-July, but at the end of the season they looked pretty respectable (and a lot better than his 1920 Evansville numbers): 123 games, 434 at-bats, and a .297 average with 16 doubles, 12 triples and one home run.

For 1922 the Senators sent Eddie to the Norfolk Tars of the Virginia League, also Class B, where he played mostly right field and hit mostly sixth in the order. This stop does not appear on his Baseball Reference page, so I went through the newspaper box scores myself. If they’re correct, he started every one of Norfolk’s first 38 games, hitting .295 in 132 at-bats with 8 doubles, one triple, one homer, 8 stolen bases, a .402 slugging percentage and probably around a .390 on-base percentage (I had to guess at the number of walks). On June 8 the Senators moved him to the Columbia Comers of the Sally League, again Class B. Here he played more left field and tended to hit second; in 79 games and 279 at-bats he hit .280 with 13 doubles, five triples, and no homers. After the season the Columbia manager, Zinn Beck, announced he would not be returning to the Comers and soon afterward reached an agreement to manage the Greenville Spinners in the same league. One of his first moves was to purchase Eddie’s contract from the Senators.

On April 15, as spring training 1923 came to a close, the Charlotte Observer reported in their assessment of the Spinners that “The outfield will be protected by three ball hawks, all good hitters. Eddie Johnson, with Columbia last year, is playing left and is a dependable fielder, a fair hitter and a good lead off man.” The next day was opening day, and though Eddie was out of the lineup due to an injured leg, he hit a pinch-hit double. He was soon back in the lineup, but that was not his last injury of the season. On May 3 the Columbia Record ran the following story:

EDDIE JOHNSON IS RESTING VERY WELL; HAS BROKEN ANKLE 

Eddie Johnson, popular and flashy outfielder of the Greenville Sallie league team who was injured in Wednesday’s game with Columbia, was resting well at the Columbia hospital Thursday afternoon. 

Johnson in attempting to score collided with Catcher Chisholm of the Columbia team at the home plate and in some way broke the small bone in one of his ankles. It is thought that he attempted to slide in under the catcher and turned his foot. 

Johnson was one of the most popular players on the team with the Columbia fans, due to his work in the series. Although he robbed the Comers of several hits and helped to beat the Alcock crew with his stick work the fans were thrilled with his work. He played with Columbia last season, which adds to his popularity here. His accident cast somewhat of a gloom over an otherwise exciting afternoon.

The same paper, the next day:

Eddie Johnson Improving Now 

Eddie Johnson, left fielder for the Greenville Sallie league team, who was injured in Wednesday’s game, expects to be able to leave the Columbia hospital in a few days. It has developed that while the small bone in the ankle was broken that it knitted itself together and unless the unforeseen happens it will not have to be set. The foot will be put into a plaster cast when the swelling decreases to such an extent to make this possible. 

Johnson is cheerful and he expects to be able to play again in a short while.

He returned to the lineup on July 2. The only note I found about him the rest of the season was from July 12 and noted that he had come out of his hitting slump with a triple and two singles. He missed most of August, though I found no explanation, and ended up playing in only 48 games. He hit .269 with 7 doubles, 3 triples and no home runs in 156 at-bats, playing left field and generally hitting 5^th or 7^th in the order.

Eddie returned to the Spinners in 1924, still the left fielder, but now hitting leadoff. On June 20 he was purchased by the rival Asheville Tourists, where he usually played right field and hit 5^th. For the year he played in 117 games and hit .296 in 467 at-bats, with 25 doubles, 9 triples, 8 homers, 20 stolen bases, 51 walks and 21 sacrifice hits.

Back with Asheville in 1925, Eddie got hit with a pitch in practice that fractured his jaw, but apparently didn’t miss too much time. Soon he was the left fielder and leadoff hitter but wasn’t hitting much, and on May 11 when team rosters had to be cut to fourteen players, he and another player were suspended, which apparently meant something different back then—it seems to have been an “inactive with pay” list. At this point he was hitting .254 in 62 at-bats. Toward the end of the month he was back on the active roster, and was playing some third base in addition to left field. On June 18 it was again announced that he was being suspended; at this point he was hitting .237 in 131 at-bats, with eight doubles, one triple, one homer and only one stolen base. He was apparently released after this, and on July 2 he continued his tour of the Sally League by signing with the Macon Peaches, his fourth team in the league in four years. Macon split him between leadoff and the 5^th spot, mostly in left but occasionally in the other outfield positions, third base, and shortstop. Something about Macon seems to have agreed with him, and he hit close to .400 the rest of the way, ending up at .324 in 398 at-bats, while game stories often described him making spectacular catches.

In 1926 Eddie re-signed with Macon. A story in the Macon Telegraph during spring training said:

What Eddie Johnson did last year is not news. For over half the season he was the sensation of the league. Opposing pitchers learned to respect him and to walk him—with the result that he was walked almost as many times as any man in the circuit. At least, he had 44 free passes to his credit in 99 games. [Which would give him an on-base percentage of about .391.]

Eddie was the everyday left fielder in 1926, usually batting leadoff, and set career highs in games (147), at-bats (561), hits (185), extra base hits (46—29 doubles, 10 triples, 7 home runs), batting average (.330), and slugging percentage (.455). Along the way, he got Macon’s only hit of the game on May 4, and grounded into a triple play on May 12. On September 13, in an article on the players’ off-season plans, the Telegraph reported that “Eddie Johnson is a civil engineer and he is planning to go to Morganfield, Ky., for a visit with his relatives before going to work in Southern Indiana.”

In December it was reported that Evansville in the Three-I League was trying to buy Eddie back but that it was unlikely to happen. It didn’t, and he returned to the Peaches for 1927, playing left field and usually hitting third. On May 30 Macon lost its sixth straight game, and the next day there was an article in the Telegraph about how team president Roy Williams was promising a big shakeup. It read in part:

While he was raving and tearing his hair about Macon losing her fifth and sixth straight games yesterday, he received a telegram from Skipper Wilbur Good which read: 

“Get two outfielders at once.” 

Which might mean the passing of Eddie Johnson. For Eddie yesterday lost a ball in the sun, and that happened to cost us the ole’ ball game. 

Yes, it cost us the ball game.

Eddie was hitting .313 at this point, and previous game stories had raved about his fielding, so this seems like an overreaction. The Peaches’ losing streak reached eight, and was followed by an eight-game winning streak. After win number eight, the following appeared in the Telegraph:

Though Williams did not say so, it is understood that negotiations are under way for the sale of Eddie Johnson, as the arrival of Krehmeyer and the return of Fullis to the outfield will leave an extra outer gardener. Evansville, Ind., in the Three-Eye league desires the services of Johnson, and negotiations are under way with that outfit, it is said.

Four days later, the same newspaper reported “Eddie Johnson, the lad who has been the target of a set of rattle-tongues the past few days, proved his worth by making a wonderful catch of Mule Shirley’s hard high fly to left field.” Two weeks later, on June 28: “Eddie Johnson gave the knockers something else to think about when he went to bat in Macon’s half of the first. After Leach and Mann had proven easy outs Eddie dropped the ball into a coal car beyond right field fence for a home run that tied the count.” On July 2 he hit two homers in a doubleheader, giving him four for the season. Despite how close he apparently came to losing his job, he never did come out of the lineup, and he kept hitting third. On July 10 the red-hot Peaches were in third place and the Telegraph started reporting on how in-demand their players were:

With Wilbur Good bringing his team rapidly to the top in this Sally League race, the eyes of the baseball world are focusing on the Macon team. And it happens that in this Macon squad there are some mighty sweet young ball players. Lads that are bound to go to higher company next year… 

According to the “nibbles” coming from the higher clubs, these scouts have reported favorably on Macon’s stock of ivory. Particularly on Pat Wright, Chick Fullis and the veteran Climax Blethen. Eddie Johnson and Pete Mann have been boosted by a number of the spotters too, but the first mentioned trio is considered Macon’s prize lot.

The Peaches played about .500 ball the rest of the way, and ended up in fourth place in the eight-team league. Eddie’s stats were a close match to 1926—in one more game, he had 7 more at-bats, one more hit, two fewer doubles, two more triples, two more homers (a career high of 9), and had a batting average of .327 and slugging percentage of .465 (compared to .330 and .455 the year before).

The Macon Telegraph reported on January 6, 1928, that the Peaches had new owners who planned to make a clean sweep, on January 20 that Eddie was expected to remain in left field, though “several offers have been made for Johnson by other Class B clubs,” on March 14 that he had signed his Macon contract, and on March 28 that “Eddie Johnson is almost a cinch for the regular left field post. He may not be as brilliant as some others, but he is steady, tried and true. He has not hit under .300 for several years.”

Eddie started the season hitting third and playing left field. On May 9 he missed the game with a sore arm, and the next day he was placed on suspension to get the team under the player limit, just as in 1925. However, once he had spent the minimum seven days on the suspended list he was reactivated. He hit two home runs in an inning on May 29, but other than that was having an off year. On July 5 came this story in the Macon Telegraph:

EDDIE QUITS 

Eddie Johnson, outfielder of the Macon club, has voluntarily retired from baseball, Manager Wilbur Good announced last night. Inability to perform at the pace that has made him one of the most popular players on the Macon roster for the past four years was given as Johnson’s reason for retiring. 

Macon fans will hate to see Eddie out of the lineup, although his work this season has not been up to his usual standard. Johnson has been one of the most conscientious players on the club, always giving his best and making an effort to help his team win, Manager Good pointed out. 

Johnson intends returning to his home in Irving, Ky., to rest up for a while, he stated last night. His future in baseball depends on his ability to stage a comeback, he said. 

“It’s a great old game,” Eddie said. “A fellow has to be able to deliver the goods, or else he goes by the boards. Nobody knows better than I that a man cannot hit .250 and play the outfield. I like Macon, and have lots of friends here. Sometimes I’d like to come back.” 

That’s just like Eddie. He never blames the other fellow.

He had played in 65 games and had a .265 average in 223 at-bats. On July 14 the following appeared in the Telegraph:

ED JOHNSON GOES TO HOSPITAL HERE 

Eddie Johnson, former left fielder for the Macon baseball club, was admitted to the Macon hospital yesterday afternoon. Johnson was brought here from Morganfield, Ky., where he has been in ill health for some time. He recently retired voluntarily from baseball.

Then, three days later:

We learn that Eddie Johnson, who was entered at the Macon hospital several days ago for an operation, has undergone the ordeal and is still able to grin in that likeable way of his. Eddie’s friends will be glad to hear the news, too, for he is one of the most popular fellows who ever donned a Macon uniform, both with the men, and well, the ladies.

Apparently it was these health issues that had prompted the retirement, and apparently he improved, as on August 25 Manager Good announced that Eddie would be reinstated and would resume his place in left field. On the 27^th the Telegraph reported:

When the Peaches leave for Augusta this morning, they will have with them one Mr. Eddie Johnson, former leftfielder, who returns to the fold to again take up his duties in that garden. A telegram received last night notified Eddie that he was again a full-fledged Goodmen, and the popular young fellow had a grin from ear to ear. 

“Boy, I’ll be glad to get back in there,” he said last night.

Eddie was moved to the leadoff spot on his return and it agreed with him, as he hit .305 the rest of the way and raised his season average to .275, finishing with 14 doubles, 3 triples, and 7 homers in 305 at-bats, with 11 stolen bases and 43 walks. A September 9 article on the Peaches’ off-season plans said “Eddie Johnson: Plans to return to Morganfield, Ky., his home, and work during the winter as a surveyor.” On December 7 it was reported that he was on Macon’s reserve list, and on December 20 his mother died.

On February 24 it was reported that Eddie had signed a new Macon contract and was expected to be a regular, but on March 9 he was released after unsuccessful attempts to trade him away. He turned up back in the Three-I League, with the Quincy Indians, for whom he started the season leading off and playing center field. After the first 14 games he was hitting .216, and he disappeared from the lineup. The next mention I found of him was in the Macon Telegraph of June 4, where it was reported that “Selma of the Southeastern League has secured Eddie Johnson, former Macon outfielder, from Evansville of the Three-Eye league.” The Evansville part seems to have just been a mistake, as I didn’t find him in any Evansville box scores; the Southeastern was yet another Class B league. Eddie played center for the Cloverleafs, bouncing around in the batting order between first, third, fifth and sixth. In 88 games he hit .305 in 318 at-bats, with 16 doubles, six triples and one homer, 13 stolen bases and 39 walks, which would give him an on-base percentage around .381. On September 24, after the end of the season, the Macon Telegraph reported:

Another Ex-Peach to visit Macon recently was Eddie Johnson, who played outfield for Macon several seasons. Eddie had a good year with Selma of the Southeastern, playing under Zinn Beck, ex-Sally league pilot. Selma finished the last half in second place and was well up the ladder in the first half. Eddie stopped over to visit friends here while en route to Kentucky, where he holds the job of a civil engineer during the winter.

In 1930 Eddie returned to Selma. The June 19 issue of the Sporting News, in an article on Selma winning twelve straight to get back into the race, said “In the outfield, Eddie Johnston is the only fly chaser left from last year’s team. Eddie is a hustler, a fair hitter and is a mighty good man to have on any ball team.” (He was sometimes referred to as Johnston, especially while with Selma.) On August 29, the Macon Telegraph, an excellent source for baseball reporting in that era, pops up again with “Eddie Johnson, former Macon Outfielder, is leading off for Selma of the Southeastern and hitting fairly well, thank you.” Selma won the pennant and Eddie finished with a .309 average in 514 at-bats in 123 games, with 98 runs scored, 26 doubles, 6 triples, 3 homers, 21 stolen bases, 46 walks, a .401 slugging percentage and approximately a .366 on-base percentage.

That seems to have been the end of Eddie’s professional baseball career. The Southeastern League folded, and I find no sign of him playing anywhere else. We’ve seen little of his personal life so far, but on May 5 Jimmy Jones, in his column in the good old Macon Telegraph, reported:

The Morganfield, Ky., Advocate announces the marriage of Miss Eleanor Long of that burg to Eddie Johnson, who used to play the outfield for Macon and who performed with Selma that [last?] year…Eddie was quite a favorite here back yonder.

I feel like the lack of a mention of a current team confirms that he wasn’t on one.

Eddie and Eleanor settled in Sturgis, Kentucky, near Morganfield. In the 1940 census Eddie, now age 41, is listed as a retail supply store merchant and Eleanor, age 43, is a movie attendant. Also living with them are Edwin Jr., age four, Eleanor’s sister Elizabeth McBee, 41, and her daughter Carolyn, 11. Eddie worked 54 hours the previous week, and the answer is “yes” for both “On a farm?” and “Did this person receive income of $50 or more from sources other than money wages or salary?”

Eddie and Eleanor would sometimes get mentioned by the Sturgis correspondent to the Evansville Press. On December 11, 1938: “Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Johnson were in Evansville shopping.” April 6, 1941: “Garden Club Sets Meeting…Mrs. Edwin Johnson will be hostess to the Garden Club. Mrs. Davis Read will lead the program.” December 17, 1944: Miss Elizabeth Johnson. Morganfield, Ky., was the Sunday guest of her brother, Edwin Johnson.” December 1, 1946: Miss Carolyn McBee, student at the University of Kentucky, spent the weekend with her aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Johnson.” Then this appeared on May 25, 1947:

Fire in Sturgis Theater 

STURGIS, Ky., May 24—(Special)—Fire recently did about $1,000 damage to a projection machine in the Victory theater building. 

The fire started as the third reel of the feature was being shown. Occupants of the theater were told of the fire by manager Edwin Johnson and left the theater orderly.

On December 7 Edwin Jr. was listed on the sixth grade honor roll, and he would continue to show up there for the next several years (on the honor roll, that is, not the sixth grade honor roll). On October 1, 1949, there was a small ad saying that Edwin Johnson of Sturgis was selling three bowling alleys—call phone number 3 or 99. On November 3, 1952, sportswriter Bill Robertson’s column bore the headline “STURGIS STAR DOES ALL THINGS WELL” and read in part:

Edwin Johnson, Sturgis quarterback who tossed the pass to Don Heine that beat Mater Dei in the final 15 seconds Saturday night, is quite a boy down in Union County…In addition to directing Coach Ralph Horning’s Split-T, he’s an excellent defensive player, is a pitcher on the Sturgis baseball team, a member of coach Harold Stubb’s varsity basketball team, an honor student, a talented musician and speaker, and was recently awarded the Eagle badge in scouting…He has another year to go, too…

Three days later Robertson included this in his column:

CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK 

William T. Harris, Morganfield attorney and sports enthusiast, writes;“I have just noticed in your column mention of Edwin Johnson of Sturgis. Ironically, the father of Edwin Johnson was Edwin Johnson, a graduate of Morganfield High School and one of its all-time great athletes. 

“He not only played on Morganfield teams which defeated Sturgis, but was quite a baseball player, too. I well remember a squib in the Evansville paper after a game with Central which mentioned that ‘Morganfield defeated Central on account of the pitching and hitting of Edwin Johnson.’ 

“This same Edwin Johnson afterwards played with Evansville’s Three-I League team and, when he first went to Evansville, had a peculiarity of taking off his hat when he made a hit or walked to first base. 

“It was on account of the efforts of this writer that Johnson went to Evansville and contacted the manager there and with whom he played for some time and afterwards played in the South on what I recollect was a Sally League team.” 

This must have been the Johnson who played with Evansville in 1920. He appeared in only 47 games that season and batted .253.

On July 4, 1975, the Press ran the following:

STURGIS—Edwin Johnson, 76, died at 8:20 a.m. yesterday at Union County Hospital in Morganfield. 

Surviving are his wife, Eleanor; a son, Edwin C. Jr. of Indian Lake, Fla.; a sister, Mrs. Eugenia Logan of McLean, Va.; and five grandchildren.

Eleanor passed away in 1994 at the age of 97.

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/J/Pjohne104.htm
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/johnsed01.shtml
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