Mamie Johnson

Mamie "Peanut" Johnson (September 27, 1935 – December 18, 2017) was an American professional baseball player who was the second of three women, and the first female pitcher, to play in the Negro leagues.

Early life Johnson was born Mamie Belton in Ridgeway, South Carolina on September 27, 1935, to Della Belton Havelow and Gentry Harrison. Soon after, her father moved to start another family and her mother moved to Washington, D.C. for economic opportunities. Mamie was raised by her grandmother until the age of 8, when she moved in with her aunt and uncle in Long Branch, New Jersey.

At a young age Mamie would "knock birds out of the trees with rocks" and played baseball with some of the neighborhood boys. Her mother told her that her baseball skills were credit to her father who was a good ballplayer himself. Despite being a skilled player with lots of experience and Men's Major League Baseball being integrated by this time, Mamie was not allowed to try out due to the color of her skin. A right-handed pitcher with a deceptively hard fastball, she also threw a slider, circle changeup, curveball, screwball, and knuckleball. her batting average was in the range of .262 to .284. She also weighed only 98 pounds when she was a player.

Post-baseball life After retiring at 19, she earned a nursing degree from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University and established a 30-year career at Sibley Hospital in Washington, D.C. Johnson also had a son, Charles, prior to her baseball career. Charles was raised by her mother until she ended her career in the Negro Leagues to go care for him.

Mamie Johnson died on December 18, 2017, in a Washington, D.C. hospital of cardiac-related causes. She is also the subject of the children's book Mamie on the Mound. According to Collider, she is referenced in the 1992 movie A League of Their Own when in an iconic scene DeLisa Chinn-Tyler throws a ball to Geena Davis.

In 1999, Johnson was a guest of the Clintons at the White House.

On June 5, 2008, Johnson and other players from the Negro league era were drafted by major league franchises prior to the 2008 MLB draft; Johnson was selected by the Washington Nationals. On October 3, 2009, Johnson spoke at Baseball Americana 2009, organized by the Library of Congress, in the company of Larry Dierker, Ernie Banks, and other figures from baseball's history.