Carl Johnson, Sr.

 

Inducted 1987

 

A softball career that spanned more than thirty years, Carl played in both the fast-pitch and slow-pitch game.  In the fast-pitch field, Carl started playing in 1953 with the Norfolk Naval Shipyard Supply team and continued to play until the fast-pitch leagues in Tidewater folded in 1959.  A third baseman/outfielder, Carl ended his fast-pitch career with a .300 batting average.  With the demise of fast-pitch in Tidewater, Carl took to the slow-pitch diamond where he won over 1,100 games as a pitcher.  Additional laurels in slow-pitch included twenty-seven consecutive hits in 1966 while playing with C. Roy Kelly, eight league titles with Cee Bass Realty, and pitcher with Portsmouth Astros that went undefeated in eighteen league games in 1986.  To go along with these credits, Carl played on such teams as Cee Bass Realty, C. Roy Kelly, Lewis Chevrolet, Everett’s Express and Liberty Steal of which won over three dozen ASA tournament titles.  To top off a great career, Carl was featured in a full-page article in 1981 by the Virginian Pilot/Ledger Star, along with his son, that highlighted his many great moments in his softball career.