NEGRO LEAGUES CENTENNIAL TEAM BOBBLEHEAD SERIES: William Julius "Judy" Johnson
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Item Description
The Negro League Centennial Team (1920-2020) is comprised of 30 of the greatest African-American and Cuban players from 1895-1947 plus a manager and a team owner. Each individual is depicted on a baseball-shaped base with replica of Kansas City's Paseo YMCA, the site where the Negro National League was organized on February 13th, 1920. The bobbleheads are officially licensed by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and approved by the families when applicable. Each player is individually numbered to only 2,020. This bobblehead is of William Julius "Judy" Johnson, a member of the Hilldale Club. Johnson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975.
Johnson led by example to become the field general of most of his teams. He mentored Josh Gibson and was an astute evaluator of talent, recommending that the Philadelphia A's sign Hank Aaron, Minnie Miñoso and Larry Doby. If his advice had been heeded, this trio may have turned the perennial doormat into a contender. Professional baseball was dependent upon a city's population density to concentrate paying customers into a tight urban area. Structural steel formulated to build steel skeletons in the 1870s allowed for buildings to soar to new heights providing space for office workers and apartment dwellers in the city's core. Philadelphia's Baker Bowl (1895) was the first ball park to use structural steel.
Johnson led by example to become the field general of most of his teams. He mentored Josh Gibson and was an astute evaluator of talent, recommending that the Philadelphia A's sign Hank Aaron, Minnie Miñoso and Larry Doby. If his advice had been heeded, this trio may have turned the perennial doormat into a contender. Professional baseball was dependent upon a city's population density to concentrate paying customers into a tight urban area. Structural steel formulated to build steel skeletons in the 1870s allowed for buildings to soar to new heights providing space for office workers and apartment dwellers in the city's core. Philadelphia's Baker Bowl (1895) was the first ball park to use structural steel.