MamieJohnson, 69, still recalls the day people dubbed her as “Peanut,” whena batter called her that because of her size.
“What makesyou think that you can strike out a batter like me? You’re no larger than a peanut,” said her opponent.
It then gavethe 100-pound Johnson fuel to strike him out three pitches later.
“Until Iproved myself as to what I was there for and that I was good at what I wasdoing, I had no problems,” the grandmother of two grown grandsons andgreat-grand of four said.
Incelebration of Black History Month Johnson will make an appearance Friday atSouthern University-Baton Rouge. Areception will be held in her honor at 7 p.m. in the Smith-Brown MemorialUnion, where she will hold an autograph session to sign her throwbackjerseys.
On Feb. 27,she will throw the first pitch at the SU Lady Jaguars softball game againstSoutheastern Louisiana University starting at 1p.m at Lady Jaguar Field.
Her visitwill wrap up on Feb. 28 with another autograph session at 1 p.m. at Yo’ Buck’sWorth inside the Baton Rouge Flea Market, located on the corner of Florida andNorth Ardenwood.
DuringAmerica’s time of segregation the South Carolina native tried to join the whitefemale league when she was 17. Butdespite her talent Jim Crow denied her a chance to play.
“Anythingthat I wanted to do I did it because I wanted to do it Regardless of theobstacles you can be anything you want to become.”
Thatphilosophy proved to work in Johnson’s favor. She was the first and only woman pitcher for the NegroLeague. Her resume also includedher as one of only three women (Tony Stone and Connie Morgan) to play NegroLeague Baseball.
On the wayinto the history books legendary Hall of Famer Leroy “Satchel” Paige taughtJohnson how to pitch.
“I had a lotof help from a lot of people you don’t realize that major league baseball is alot different from sandlot baseball, it’s not something that you just go anddo.”
She wasapart of the Indy Clowns (1953-1955) in Indianapolis, Ind. with a winningrecord of 33-8.
Johnson isnow a retired nurse from 30 years of service. After playing baseball and caring for people she still feelsthe history of Negro League players is something that needs to be learned byyoung and old alike.
“Some peopleknow, some don’t some are please to know and some can’t believe it.”
