Mamie Johnson

Mamie "Peanut" Johnson (September 27, 1935 – December 18, 2017) was an American professional baseball player who was one of three women, and the first female pitcher, to play in the Negro leagues.

[6] Despite being a skilled player with lots of experience and Men's Major League Baseball being integrated by this time, Mamie was not allowed to try out due to the color of her skin.

[8] A right-handed pitcher with a deceptively hard fastball, she also threw a slider, circle changeup, curveball, screwball, and knuckleball.

[19] However despite popular belief that the women played only to put on a show and sell tickets at the games, they were good baseball players.

[17][3][4] After her nursing career, Mamie helped to manage the Negro Leagues Gift Shop, a memorabilia store in Maryland.

[1][7] She was survived by her third husband, Emanuel Livingston;[1][7] five stepdaughters; a stepson; her uncle, Leo "Bones" Belton; several siblings; two grandsons; and many step-grandchildren.

[1] Johnson is the subject of the children's book A Strong Right Arm, describing her life growing up and the obstacles to her becoming a professional Negro league baseball player.

[26] According to Collider, she is referenced in the 1992 movie A League of Their Own when in an iconic scene DeLisa Chinn-Tyler throws a ball to Geena Davis.

[17] A congested intersection of Washington, D.C. streets, known informally as "Dave Thomas Circle," is undergoing reconstruction and on completion will be formally named “Mamie ‘Peanut’ Johnson Plaza.”[30]