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Ernest Thorwald Johnson
Milwaukee Braves
Pitcher
Born: June 16, 1924, Brattleboro, VT
Signed: Signed by the Boston Braves as an amateur free agent before 1942 season
Major League Teams: Boston Braves 1950, 1952; Milwaukee Braves 1953-1958; Baltimore Orioles 1959
Died: August 12, 2011, Cumming, GA (age 87)
Ernie Johnson pitched in nine major league seasons, mostly with the Braves, before enjoying a second career as a longtime broadcaster also with the Braves. Johnson was used mostly in relief by Boston/Milwaukee, and he earned a regular spot in the team's bullpen in 1952. His best season statistically came in 1954 when Johnson was 5-2 with a 2.81 ERA in 40 appearances, pitching in a career-high 99 1/3 innings. Johnson was a member of the World Champion Braves team in 1957, pitching seven innings over three games against the Yankees. He surrendered a go-ahead, seventh inning home run to Hank Bauer (#177) in Game 6, forcing a Game 7. Lew Burdette (#219) would shut out the Yankees in Game 7 to clinch the Series for the Braves.
Johnson's last action in the majors came in 1959 with the Orioles, and he was 40-23 lifetime with a 3.77 ERA in 273 games pitched. He served as a broadcaster for the Braves between 1962 and 1999 and was inducted into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame in 2001. The Braves' broadcast booth at their current home at Truist Park bears Johnson's name. His son, Ernie Johnson, Jr., is also a long-time broadcaster and is the current lead host of Inside the NBA.
Building the Set
For 45 years, my grandparents owned a house in Sea Isle City on 37th Street. As a result of the Storm of 1962, which wiped out the block of houses in front of them, their house became beach front property until the construction of the Spinnaker Condominiums in 1972. We were lucky enough to spend most of our summers in Sea Isle, and the five-minute walk to the beach was accomplished by climbing up a ramp in back of the Spinnaker, crossing over the concrete promenade and walking down a few steps to the sand.
For several years in the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was a complete dive of a snack shop called Joe's Sno-Cone located in the Spinnaker at the top of that ramp. The menu at Joe's was limited to the usual beach fare - hot dogs, soft pretzels, bags of chips, candy and yes, snow cones. During a visit to Joe's on the weekend before Memorial Day in 1989, I noticed the shop's owner (Joe presumably) had set up a small display of baseball cards for sale. This Johnson card was available for $3 and another 1956 Topps card, Bobby Hofman (#28), was also available for $3. I purchased both cards and most likely added a cherry snow cone to my order before heading next door to the arcade to drop several quarters into the Rolling Thunder game.
The Card / Braves Team Set
This is Johnson's first Topps card, as he was exclusive to Bowman in 1954 and 1955. The back of the card reveals Johnson has a sidearm pitching motion, and contains a typical for the times representation of his success as a Braves pitcher in the final cartoon panel.
1956 Season
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First Mainstream Card: 1954 Bowman #144
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5): 1956-1960
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #228
29 - Johnson non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 6/7/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
The Trading Card Database
Previous Card / Next Card
Order Collected: #28 Bobby Hofman - New York Giants / #127 Willie Jones - Philadelphia Phillies
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