Heavy Johnson

Right Fielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records

Heavy Johnson was a right fielder who played in Major League Baseball for 8 teams, including the St. Louis Giants. In 486 career games, he hit .370 with 646 hits, 57 home runs, and 424 RBI. His totals include Negro Leagues seasons, which MLB recognized as major league in 2020. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 12,210.

AVG (Batting Average):
Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):
Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):
Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):
On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated

AVG .370
HR 57
RBI 424
H 646
OPS 1.021
PIV 12,210
Position
Right Fielder
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
5'7" / 200 lb
Born
4/20/1895 in Atchison, KS, USA
Died
10/9/1960 in Cleveland, OH, USA

Full name: Oscar Johnson

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Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

Heavy Johnson — Batting
PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
54.0 46.0 4.0 11.0 5.0 0 0 2.0 6.0 4.0 0 .239 .340 .348 .688

Negro Leagues (season totals). Additive Retrosheet-digitized totals for seasons not already in the logs above; they are not summed into the career line. No team/league breakdown is available, and coverage may be partial.

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting

Heavy Johnson — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting
Season PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1929 5.0 4.0 1.0 2.0 1.0 0 0 0 1.0 0 0 .500 .600 .750 1.350
Listed seasons · 1 5 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .500 — — —

Career Batting Statistics

Heavy Johnson — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
486 1,747 327 646 118 50 57 424 47 159 7 .370 .428 .592 1.021 12,210

Career AVG .370 vs. league average .282 across their career seasons — +31.1% above league average.

Career OBP .428 vs. league average .344 across their career seasons — +24.6% above league average.

Career SLG .592 vs. league average .394 across their career seasons — +50.2% above league average.

Career OPS 1.021 vs. league average .738 across their career seasons — +38.3% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Heavy Johnson Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1920 SLG NNL 2 8 1 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 .250 — — — — 0.0
1922 KCM NNL 68 238 45 97 19 11 11 64 9 16 1 .408 .285 (+43%) .345 (+31%) .397 (+81%) .743 (+58%) 2414.0
1923 KCM NNL 98 374 91 152 32 13 20 120 17 38 0 .406 .282 (+44%) .344 (+37%) .390 (+85%) .734 (+62%) 4429.2
1924 KCM NNL 70 265 57 97 18 7 5 55 5 24 2 .366 .283 (+29%) .345 (+24%) .389 (+39%) .734 (+32%) 1552.9
1925 BBS ECL 61 223 38 73 15 4 8 51 3 20 0 .327 .288 (+14%) .349 (+9%) .407 (+32%) .756 (+22%) 849.6
1926 BBS ECL 48 163 20 57 7 3 6 40 8 18 4 .350 .279 (+25%) .345 (+21%) .390 (+38%) .735 (+30%) 881.1
1927 HBG ECL 58 190 34 72 12 6 4 42 4 26 0 .379 .282 (+34%) .344 (+33%) .392 (+45%) .736 (+39%) 1409.8
1928 CTG NNL 20 75 16 29 3 3 1 15 0 5 0 .387 .280 (+38%) .342 (+24%) .395 (+38%) .737 (+32%) 383.3
1928 MRS NNL 49 175 22 58 11 2 1 30 0 11 0 .331 .280 (+18%) .342 (+9%) .395 (+10%) .737 (+10%) 383.3
1930 MRS NNL 5 12 1 3 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 .250 — — — — 0.0
1931 LOW NNL 5 21 2 6 1 0 1 3 0 0 0 .286 — — — — 0.0
1932 NWB EWL 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 12 seasons 486 1,747 327 646 118 50 57 424 47 159 7 .370 — — — — 12,303

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Pitching Statistics

Heavy Johnson — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3.0 3 0 0 0 2 0.00 0.0

Career ERA 0.00 vs. league average 4.13 across their career seasons — 100.0% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Heavy Johnson — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1928 CTG NNL 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3.0 3 0 0 2 0.00 — 0.0
Career · 1 season 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3.0 3 0 0 2 0.00 — 0

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Heavy Johnson — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
9 27 2 8 3 0 0 2 2 4 .296

Playoff Batting by Year

Heavy Johnson — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1924 NWS KCM 9 27 2 8 3 0 0 2 2 4 .296

Game Log & Splits

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Heavy Johnson — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home371100.143
Away140000.000

Last 4 Games — Batting

Heavy Johnson — Last 4 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1931-06-17 LS4CV6L 400000000
1925-05-03 BLSCUEL 200000020
1924-04-27 KCMSSNW 300000000
1923-08-05 KCMMILW 211100010

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Heavy Johnson — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 15 11 112 3 5 3
2B 2 2 3 11 3 1
C 30 24 103 30 7 2
OF 439 361 435 36 14 1
P 1 0 0 0 1 0

Season-by-Season Fielding

Heavy Johnson — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1920 SLG 1B 1 1 15 0 0 0
1920 SLG C 1 1 9 1 0 1
1922 KCM 1B 1 1 10 2 1 1
1922 KCM C 16 14 66 22 5 1
1922 KCM OF 47 42 53 7 2 0
1923 KCM 1B 2 2 20 0 1 0
1923 KCM OF 97 95 108 14 4 0
1924 KCM 1B 2 2 23 1 1 1
1924 KCM OF 69 67 78 1 0 0
1925 BBS 1B 1 0 0 0 0 0
1925 BBS OF 60 1 1 0 0 0
1926 BBS OF 47 44 53 5 4 0
1927 HBG 2B 2 2 3 11 3 1
1927 HBG C 10 6 20 4 1 0
1927 HBG OF 46 43 68 3 1 0
1928 CTG 1B 5 3 28 0 1 1
1928 CTG OF 16 16 18 0 0 0
1928 CTG P 1 0 0 0 1 0
1928 MRS OF 50 48 51 5 2 1
1930 MRS 1B 3 2 16 0 1 0
1930 MRS OF 2 2 5 0 1 0
1931 LOW C 2 2 5 3 0 0
1931 LOW OF 4 3 0 1 0 0
1932 NWB C 1 1 3 0 1 0
1932 NWB OF 1 0 0 0 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Heavy Johnson Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 1
Catcher 30
First Base 15
Second Base 2
Left Field 183
Center Field 10
Right Field 246

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

  1. 98
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    .349 avg, 113 HR
  2. 97
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    .329 avg, 75 HR
  3. 90
    Alejandro Oms
    .334 avg, 35 HR
  4. 86
    Turkey Stearnes HOF
    .347 avg, 195 HR
  5. 82
    Pete Hill HOF
    .332 avg, 48 HR
  6. 79
    Roy Parnell
    .330 avg, 41 HR

Heavy Johnson: the record in brief

Heavy Johnson's record on this page is drawn from the season tables, which run from 1920 to 1932. By club, Johnson's seasons break down as the St. Louis Giants (1920), the Kansas City Monarchs (1922 through 1924), the Baltimore Black Sox (1925 to 1926), the Harrisburg Giants (1927), the Cleveland Tigers (1928), the Memphis Red Sox (1928 to 1930), the Louisville White Sox (1931), and the Newark Browns (1932). At 200 pounds on a 5-foot-7 frame, Johnson is listed as a right fielder. Johnson batted and threw right-handed, per the bio block. Johnson was born on April 20, 1895, in Atchison, KS, USA. Johnson's death is recorded on October 9, 1960, in Cleveland, OH, USA. On the record, Heavy Johnson was born Oscar Johnson.

The batting record for Johnson: 486 games, 646 hits in 1,747 at bats, and a .370 average, along with 57 home runs, 424 runs batted in, and 47 stolen bases. Johnson's career OPS of 1.021 combines a .428 on-base mark with .592 slugging.

Frequently Asked Questions about Heavy Johnson

Was Heavy Johnson a pitcher?
No. Heavy Johnson was a position player (Right Fielder), though he did pitch in 1 career game.
How many home runs did Heavy Johnson hit?
Heavy Johnson hit 57 career home runs with 646 hits.
What was Heavy Johnson's career batting average?
Heavy Johnson batted .370 over his career, with 646 hits in 1,747 at bats.
How many RBI did Heavy Johnson have?
Heavy Johnson drove in 424 runs in his career.
What was Heavy Johnson's career ERA?
Heavy Johnson finished with a 0.00 career ERA, going 0-0 with 2 strikeouts.
Is Heavy Johnson in the Hall of Fame?
No. Heavy Johnson has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.