DATE SHOT: 5-22-1965 SUBJECT: Lou Johnson APPROXIMATE SIZE: 8"x10" MARKS / STAMPING: Associated Press Wirephoto stamp. Stamped file date of Jun 11, 1965. Caption is embedded in the obverse image as is typical with wire photos. ORIGINAL or REPRINT: Type 3 - Second or later-generation photo, printed from a duplicate negative or wire photo process, within about 2 years of when it was shot COMMENTS / CONDITION: OUCH! THAT SMARTS---CHICAGO: Los Angeles Dodgers left-fielder Lou Johnson drops his bat and lets out a yell when he was hit by a pitched ball tossed by Chicago Cubs hurler Cal Koonce in the second inning today at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Johnson wasn't hurt and took first base. Dodgers won, 3-1. See scans for further details including condition. BIO: Louis Brown Johnson (Sweet Lou, Slick) was born in 1934 in Lexington, KY and went to college at Kentucky State University. He played major league baseball from 1960 to 1969 as outfielder for the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Angels, Milwaukee Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians and the California Angels, and appeared in the 1965 and 1966 World Series. He played in the Negro Leagues in 1955. He was signed originally by the New York Yankees in 1953, but did not break into the majors till 1960 with the Chicago Cubs, and did not become a major league regular until 1965. His experiences ''as a black man in the minors,'' he said, caused him to succumb to substance abuse, even selling his World Series ring to help finance his habits. He eventually cleaned up his act and landed a front-office job with the Dodgers in community relations. Some thirty years after the Dodgers beat the Twins in the 1965 World Series, Dodger president Bob Graziano heard that the ring was about to go up for auction. In a singular act of baseball grace, he bought it and presented it to the overwhelmed Johnson. SKU: L11221
Item: L11221
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