PHILADELPHIA — In the two weeks since former ballplayer Micah Johnson finished his striking portrait of Hall of Famer Josh Gibson and it appeared for the first time Saturday on an oversized baseball card outside of Phillies’ Citizen Bank Park, the larger-than-life story of the Negro League star received a historic update.
When Johnson put the finishing touches on his charcoal piece meant to promote and pave the way toward the Cardinals’ game this month at historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, Gibson was an all-time great.
This week, in a decision by MLB, he became the all-time leader in batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS, bounding ahead of Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth, respectively.
“I think something really special is happening now within the game of baseball and the stars are aligning,†said Johnson, a big-leaguer with three teams who has become an acclaimed artist in retirement. He spoke over the phone this weekend with the Post-Dispatch. “I learned (about Gibson’s move to lead several stats) along with everybody else. We didn’t change the dates of this or anything. It’s just how it lined up. I believe there’s this energy and aura to what’s happening.
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“His is the only card in the set that doesn’t have any messages hidden in the background because he has such a lore to him, such a mystique,†Johnson continued. “Now that he’s getting recognition that is concrete what he did — how cool.â€
With Johnson’s artwork as the centerpiece, Fox Sports has collaborated with Fanatics Collectibles and Topps on a “Road to Rickwood†tour that began about a week ago in Missouri with stops in Kansas City and outside of Busch Stadium. Johnson’s portrait of Satchel Paige on a 24-foot-tall, 8,000-pound Topps card was unveiled in KC and also featured in ºüÀêÊÓƵ. In Philadelphia on Saturday, Gibson’s card was displayed a day after Johnson and Topps revealed it. That came — completely serendipitously — just days after Major League Baseball announced that Negro League records for more than 2,300 players would be included and embraced as major-league stats.
That vaulted Gibson’s .372 career batting average ahead of Cobbs’ .367, and Gibson’s .466 single-season average in 1943 for the Homestead Grays becomes the high mark. Gibson also overtook Ruth for the lead in career slugging percentage (.718) and OPS (1.177).
Johnson’s Gibson portrait is one of six he did for a commemorative baseball card set that Topps is selling, one card at a time, in the lead up to the first National League game at Rickwood Field, one of the nation’s oldest big-league ballparks. The Cardinals are hosting San Francisco in the game June 20, and Fox Sports will broadcast.
The game is being billed as a tribute to the Negro Leagues, and it will also be a celebration of Giants legend Willie Mays.
The card featuring Johnson’s charcoal portrait of Mays will be unveiled June 18 in Birmingham. Next week, Johnson’s portrait of Jackie Robinson and that card will be displayed in New York City.
Johnson’s first portrait was of Dodger All-Star Maury Wills, and he did it because, when put on the spot by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, he didn’t want to tell the truth. Roberts asked Johnson and other new or young players in Dodgers spring training for their interests or hobbies. Johnson didn’t want to play the piano in front of the clubhouse, so he came up with something else — he paints. Roberts assigned him a portrait of Wills to be shown that spring. Johnson went to Wal-Mart for supplies and got to work.
On the canvas, a potential career emerged.
Since, Johnson has had his work featured on the cover of Time magazine and he’s had several gallery shows. He used charcoal and eraser for the portraits of the cards because of how he feels using the medium — and it reminds him of the instinctual, tactile sense for the baseball he had as an infielder who played 61 games in the majors.
“Since I was a little kid, I can close my eyes and reach into my glove and pull out a four-seam (grip) 100% of the time,†Johnson said. “I have a very strong feeling in fingers. So, I paint with my fingers. With charcoal I have a better feel and touch for what I’m doing on the canvas. It’s just natural to me. It’s a push and pull. You put the charcoal on the canvas and you pull it away with the eraser.â€
Johnson last played in the majors in 2017, retired after the 2018 season, and studiously stayed away from baseball as he pursued an art career. He wanted to establish himself “as a stand-alone artist, not this baseball player artist guy.†Topps approached him about this project and gave him the greenlight in late April. He had a few weeks to complete six portraits.
“I think this is the right lane,†he said.
Johnson sought reference photos of Gibson, Paige, Mays, Robinson, Larry Doby, and Monte Irvin for the portraits. And in each one other than Gibson he tucked some nod to his research or interpretation into the image. Irvin said he was on his way to buy a saxophone at a music story when he passed a baseball glove in a window and bought it instead. Johnson tucked the word “saxophone†onto Irvin’s right shoulder and “baseball†on the left shoulder as a nod to the origin – but also, Johnson said, a reminder of what baseball players and musicians share in the culture, in arts, in conversation.
“During that time the players were immersed in culture – they were the cool of the cool,†Johnson said. “I think there is an opportunity with the game to introduce the game to a younger demographic, to different demographics – that this is a romantic game, that it’s like art, or that it’s as poetic as art should be. It is my (dream) to onboard new people to the game of baseball who might have known or been a fan but let them know that baseball is very cool and they’re doing some cool things. … This project is the merging of culture, art and sports.
“I think it’s time to double- and triple-down on that.â€
Rigid neck limits Donovan
With his stiff neck wrapped in a warming pack, Cardinals infielder Brendan Donovan sat at his locker and said Saturday he had some relief from the pain that kept him out of the lineup Friday night. The muscles around his neck seized on him and made it impossible for him to turn his head — a movement necessary for him to take an at-bat. He continued to receive treatment Saturday to alleviate the stiffness in hopes of being available at some point during the weekend.
Middleton seeks 2nd opinion, etc.
Keynan Middleton (forearm strain) will visit Dr. Christopher Ahmad, the Yankees’ team physician, on Monday for a second opinion on why he had a setback during his rehab assignment. Middleton was on the brink of returning to the Cardinals’ bullpen when stiffness and soreness resurfaced in his right forearm and elbow. Scans taken Friday of the forearm and joint were reviewed by the Cardinals’ medical staff and Ahmad will offer his evaluation on whether surgery is the necessary solution for the reliever. … Steven Matz (back) will throw an intensive bullpen session Sunday so that how he recovers from it can determine if he’ll face hitters or advance to a rehab assignment and innings with a minor-league affiliate. … Tommy Edman (wrist surgery) has continued taking batting practice from the left side. The switch-hitter’s schedule for a return has not been set, though the Cardinals are viewing the All-Star break as a possible target, pending the pace of his advancement from batting practice to rehab games.