EBONY HALL OF FAME HOF induction caps Johnson's baseball career

Youngstown's Henry Johnson is one of 13 individuals to be inducted Friday.
BY JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
WARREN -- Two of the early highlights in Henry Johnson's baseball career were playing professional baseball in Cuba when he was 19 and later batting against pitcher Satchel Paige in a semi-pro game in Canton during the 1930s.
The third highlight in Johnson's baseball life will occur on Friday night, when the 91-year-old, who was raised in Youngstown and now lives in Warren, will be one of 13 persons inducted into the Ebony Lifeline Sports Hall of Fame.
Johnson, who lived on the Northwest side of Youngstown and attended Scienceville High, was selected to the hall of fame for his notable career in baseball, football and track.
Banquet
The ceremonies will take place during the eighth annual Ebony Lifeline Sports Hall of Fame banquet to be held at the S.P. Phillips Hall, Tabernacle Baptist Church, 707 Arlington St., Youngstown, starting at 6:30.
The banquet and hall of fame are sponsored by the Ebony Lifeline Support Group. Bob Thomas of Youngstown is chairman of the organization.
Joining Johnson in the hall of fame will be Lucy Moreland Smith (tennis), Ethel Marchelle Smith Solida (bowling), Romelia M. Carter (contributor), Hugo Washington (basketball), Donald Ells (volleyball), Ruth Sewell (bowling), Frances Taylor (bowling), Brunilda Turner (contributor), Howard Turner (basketball and golf), Jeff Lampkin (boxing), Alan Rouse (baseball) and Harold Davis (football and basketball).
Guest speaker at the event will be Margaret Linton-Lanier, a columnist for the Buckeye Review newspaper and broadcasting pioneer who has been involved in civic affairs for many years. She also has sponsored many sports teams and events.
Johnson's background
Johnson, who lives with his son and daughter-in-law, Cliff and Lillie Johnson of Warren, played independent sandlot baseball for the Sharon Line All-Stars during the summer.
It was while with Sharon Line that he was recruited to play for the Cuban Red Sox by one of that team's players, who had heard about Johnson's reputation as a player, especially as a pitcher.
"He came in a taxicab at night. I was living in Scienceville," Johnson recalled of the recruiter, who offered him a contract.
"My mother asked him if he would take care of me."
Reassured, Johnson agreed to go to Cuba and played first base there.
"We got a so-called contract," but it wasn't much, recalled Johnson. "There weren't too many people making money in 1930. They paid expenses and a little bit of spending money. I only played one year because I got lonesome and came home."
After returning to Youngstown, he continued to play independent sandlot baseball for two Campbell teams, one of them being OK Billiards, which recruited players and housed them on the second floor of the billiards parlor. But Johnson lived at home.
Batted against Paige
It was while playing for OK Billiards in a game in Canton that Johnson got to bat against Paige, who then had a growing reputation before becoming the dominant player in the Negro Leagues.
Paige eventually climbed into the major leagues with the Cleveland Indians in 1948 when he was about 42, and became famous during his six-year major league career.
"Paige was playing for a Canton team. He pitched that day. He would pitch two or three innings," recalled Johnson, who had met Paige previously but never had batted against him.
"I batted up one time against him and got four [pitches] and hit a fly-out. What impressed me was his control. He would pitch the ball exactly where he wanted to put it. Paige is really something, but he wasn't a hitter."
Johnson said Paige didn't stay long after the game.
"He had to hurry and get changed to go to Pittsburgh because he had a game there," said Johnson, who called Paige "the best pitcher I saw in my life. [But] when he came to the big leagues, he was about through."
Itinerant journeyman
He said Paige was an itinerant journeyman who used to travel around and play for any team that could use his services.
"He did that most of his life. He played for anybody who would give him the money. That's how he actually played most of his career," said Johnson, who went on to play area baseball into his late 30s.
Johnson also played independent sandlot football for the Sharon Line Wings, and did some high-jumping in track at Scienceville High before dropping out of school his junior year.
He also tried distance running outside of high school, and won two long runs -- Youngstown to Salem and Youngstown to New Castle.
"We won a bushel basket of groceries and that was very welcome," he recalled.
Tickets for the hall of fame banquet are $20 each and may be reserved by calling Ed Prayor at (330) 743-6193 or Gert Jackson at (330) 743-3893). Tickets also are available at the Black Funeral Home in Youngstown and the Sterling-McCullough Williams Funeral Homes in Youngstown and Warren. Tickets also will be on sale at the door.
kovach@vindy.com