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Robert Lee Johnson
Philadelphia Athletics
Outfield
Born: November 26, 1905, Pryor, OK
Major League Teams: Philadelphia Athletics 1933-1942; Washington Senators 1943; Boston Red Sox 1944-1945
Died: July 6, 1982, Tacoma, WA (76)
One of the truly unsung stars of his era, Bob Johnson found success as a five-tool threat for the awful Philadelphia A's teams held together by owner/manager Connie Mack (#142) during the mid-1930s to early 1940s. Nicknamed Indian Bob due to his Cherokee heritage, Johnson made his debut in 1933 and connected for at least 20 home runs in nine straight seasons between 1933 and 1941. He was an eight-time American League All-Star, finishing in the top ten of every major offensive category during the height of his stardom. Johnson batted over .300 five times and collected at least 100 RBIs in eight seasons. Given his substantial output, Johnson ranked at the top of several offensive leaderboards upon his retirement, and he's currently in the top 100 all-time for career on-base percentage (.393), slugging percentage (.506) and walks (1,075). Johnson's 182 assists as a left fielder are currently fifth all-time.
Building the Set
December 16, 2020 from Albion, NY
Within days of officially deciding to collect the Diamond Stars set, I found myself searching for the 1993 extension set consisting of 36 more "what if" cards this time issued by the Chicle Fantasy Company. Individual cards from this set are very prevalent on eBay, but I wanted to buy a complete set to save myself some time and money. Given this is a relatively modern set, I was somewhat surprised at the closing auction prices for previously sold complete sets and I was happy to win my set at a lower price. These cards are gorgeous, and I can tell a lot of hard work and love for the originals went into making this tribute set. What's more, the set's creators were smart enough to start the numbering with card #121, given the 1981 extension set had left off with #120.
As I slowly collect the originals from the 1930s, I'll also highlight each of the cards from these extension sets with their own posts.
Variations Available
1 - 1993 / blue back / 1935 statistics / 1993 copyright
The Card / Athletics Team Set
From the set's creator himself, as left as a comment on the Leo Durocher (#127) post, Johnson's card was designed based on the style of Goudey's Indian Gum set. Once I saw that comment, I wanted to tackle this card as my next post. The card is in fact reminiscent of the style of cards found in the Goudey Indian Gum (R73) set from the 1930s, with its dark blue background and strong shadows. The write-up on the back highlights Johnson's impressive numbers and surmises Johnson's career numbers would have been even better had he played on a contending team with a few other star hitters.
1936 Season
As the regular left fielder for the Athletics, Johnson had another stellar year, batting .292 with 25 home runs and 121 RBIs, leading the eighth place club in the latter two categories. The RBI tally was his career high. Johnson started 131 games in left field, and was pressed into starting 22 games at second base due to a prolonged slump by regular second baseman Al Niemiec.
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Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1934 Goudey #68
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0): N/A
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2003 Upper Deck Play Ball - 1941 Reprints #R-19
20 - Johnson non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/8/24.
That number of cards is inaccurate given the Beckett database intermingles several different Bob Johnson's in the cards tagged to the original Indian Bob Johnson.
Sources:
Previous Card: #137 Waite Hoyt - Pittsburgh Pirates
Next Card: #139 "Chuck" Klein - Philadelphia Phillies
