#326 Connie Johnson - Chicago White Sox

Clifford Johnson
Chicago White Sox
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  200
Born:  December 27, 1922, Stone Mountain, GA
Acquired:  Purchased by the Chicago White Sox from the St. Hyacinthe Saints (Canadian Provincial League) for $6,500, August 31, 1951
Major League Teams:  Toledo/Indianapolis Crawfords 1940; Kansas City Monarchs 1941-42, 1946-48; Chicago White Sox 1953, 1955-56; Baltimore Orioles 1956-58

Died:  November 28, 2004, Kansas City, MO (age 81)

Connie Johnson spent 17 seasons pitching professionally throughout North America, with his career beginning as an impressive 17-year-old with the minor league Atlanta Black Crackers and the Toledo/Indianapolis Crawfords.  Johnson was named to the East-West All-Star Game as a member of the Crawfords in 1940, the youngest player to earn that distinction.  With Hall of Famers Satchel Paige and Hilton Smith, Johnson helped lead the Kansas City Monarchs to back-to-back pennants in 1941 and 1942, before missing three full seasons while in military service during World War II.  He'd return to baseball in 1946, pitching three more seasons with the Monarchs.  Johnson made his American League debut with the White Sox in 1953, and his best seasons in that league came in 1956 and 1957 with the White Sox and Orioles.

Johnson was a combined 9-11 with a 3.44 ERA in 31 games in 1956, throwing nine complete games and a pair of shutouts.  He was 14-11 in 1957 with the Orioles, with a 3.20 ERA and a career-high 177 strikeouts.  Johnson would spend parts of two seasons with the Orioles' top farm team in Vancouver and he'd finish his career after pitching three games with the Pericos de Puebla in the Mexican League in 1961.  During most of his offseasons, Johnson continued to pitch in the Panamanian and Cuban Leagues.  In the American League, Johnson was 60-50 in 176 games, including 127 starts.  He threw 51 complete games, nine shutouts and struck out 676 in 974 2/3 innings.

December 25, 2007

Building the Set
December 28, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchase - Card #339

I recently shared this full story with the Rocky Bridges (#324) post earlier this month, but I'll repeat myself, in an edited version, here.  The way my Dad and I finished the 1956 Topps set was somewhat anti-climatic but nevertheless a joyful memory.  Leading up to the Christmas of 2007, my Dad (with the help of my Mom) scoured eBay and other online baseball card stores for the remaining 29 cards we needed to complete the set.  Throughout the weeks and months leading up to the holidays, he knew we had completed the set but he kept it quiet, wanting to surprise me on Christmas morning.  I have no idea, and I'll never know, what the true last card was that he acquired to finish off the set.  And I have no record, nor was he able to tell me, how much they had paid for any of these final 29 cards.  

This Johnson card was one of the final 29.  It was one of the commons included in a memorable haul that included the cards of Pee Wee Reese (#260), Roberto Clemente (#33), Whitey Ford (#240) and a spotless checklist card for the 1st and 3rd Series.

The Card / White Sox Team Set
Despite having already pitched professionally for 15 years, this is Johnson's rookie card.  The cartoon panels on the back of the card highlight his promotion to the White Sox in 1955, his success in the Canadian Provincial League and his consistently low ERA.  This is the final White Sox card in the 1956 Topps set.

1956 Season

Johnson began the season with the White Sox, and control problems led to an early season slump.  In five games with the White Sox, including a pair of starts, he was 0-1 with a 3.65 ERA, six strikeouts and seven walks in 12 1/3 innings pitched.  On May 21st, he was dealt with Mike Fornieles, George Kell (#195) and Bob Neiman (#267) to the Orioles for Dave Philley (#222) and Jim Wilson (#171).  Johnson turned his season around in Baltimore, going 9-10 with a 3.43 ERA in 26 games, all but one of those games as a starting pitcher.  He regained his control, striking out 130 and walking 62 in 183 2/3 innings pitched.  He threw a six-hit, 11 strikeout shutout against the Nationals on August 14th. 

1957 Topps #43

1958 Topps #266

1959 Topps #21

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1956 Topps #326
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4):  1956-59
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1959 Topps #21

14 - Johnson non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/21/25.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #325 Don Liddle - New York Giants / #327 Bob Wiesler - Washington Nationals

Order Collected: #324 "Rocky" Bridges - Cincinnati Redlegs / #327 Bob Wiesler - Washington Nationals