Mamie on the Mound

Mamie Peanut Johnson loved baseball, and she was a good player. Really good. A pitcher.

Regardless of how good she was, because she was Black, Mamie was barred from playing on the All-American Girls’ Pro Baseball League. That might have stopped other players, but not Mamie! She didn’t let adversity, or the color of her skin, or gender stop her. 

Instead, when a chance to pitch for the Negro Leagues’ Indianapolis Clowns, a men’s professional team, came her way, Mamie stepped right up, thus becoming the first female pitcher to play professional baseball. 

The athlete in me was drawn to this story before I even opened the book. I hadn’t heard of Mamie Johnson and I imagine most kids haven’t either so I’m happy Leah Henderson decided to write about her. Ever since she learned about baseball at six years old, Mamie wanted to be on the mound more than anything. But “she already had two strikes against her: She was a girl. She was black.” Despite those challenges, Mamie was always ready to prove she deserved to play and eventually earned a spot pitching for the Indianapolis Clowns in the Negro League.