Recent Acquisition: 1976 Shakey's Pizza Judy Johnson

As I've mentioned a few times, I am a Delawarean.  There aren't many baseball greats from Delaware.  Growing up, I knew there was exactly one Hall-of-Famer from Delaware, Judy Johnson.  That was true at the time, in the 80s; a couple more Delawareans made the Hall in the 90s. 

1976 Shakey's Pizza Judy Johnson.

There aren't many cards available of Judy Johnson.  He played his whole career in the Negro Leagues, mainly with the Hilldale Club and with the Pittsburgh Crawfords, and a little with the Homestead Grays.  I searched COMC for his cards, and was delighted to find this 1976 card from Shakey's Pizza.

There aren't great stats available for all the years of the Negro Leagues, so I won't comment on his hitting.  Johnson was known as a great defensive third baseman and a leader on the field.  After retiring as a player, he did work in some capacities for  MLB clubs, mainly as a scout.  He was responsible for signing Bill Bruton, whom I've posted about a few times, and who later became Johnson's son-in-law.

1976 Shakey's Pizza Judy Johnson card back.

I don't think I ever ate at a Shakey's Pizza.  There was one in Newark, DE, where I grew up, but my family never went, as far as I remember.  When it closed, the location became an Arby's.  Looking around the internet, I see that Shakey's still exists, but it's mostly a West Coast thing these days.  The card back is advertising the Seattle-area Shakey's, so perhaps these cards were an initiative of a Seattle-area franchisee, or something.

Baseball Immortals Judy Johnson.

The only other card I have of Johnson is this Baseball Immortals card.  There must not be many photos of him as a player, since Baseball Immortals went with a drawing instead.

My school bus sometimes went past Judy Johnson park in Wilmington.  When Wilmington built a minor league stadium in the early 90s, there was some pressure to name it after him.  Instead, they named it Daniel S. Frawley Stadium, after the (white) mayor who wanted it built.  They did compromise and name the field after Johnson.  So we have the complicated name, Judy Johnson Field at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium.  The stadium is home of the Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Carolina League, a Royals Class-A affiliate.