Al Johnson (owner)

Albert Loftin Johnson

• Born December 24, 1860 in Scott County, KY USA
• Died July 2, 1901 in Brooklyn, NY USA

Biographical Information

Al Johnson was a major figure in the brief history of the Players League and for a short time owned the Cincinnati Reds of the National League.

Johnson was the son of a colonel in the Confederate Army who became a streetcar magnate with operations in Indianapolis, IN, Cleveland, OH and New York, NY. His older brother Tom was also very involved in the streetcar business, devising a number of innovations that were widely adopted, before moving into politics as a congressman and mayor of Cleveland.

Al Johnson used the family fortune to bankroll the upstart Players League which was launched in 1890 in competition to the established National League and American Association. It was the brainchild of the Brotherhood of Professional Baseball Players, and their President John Montgomery Ward, in an attempt to counter the questionable business practices of owner at the time, which were patently unfair to players. He encouraged other industrialists such as Edwin McAlpin to invest in the new venture and himself owned the Cleveland Infants franchise in the circuit. However, while the new league presented a good on-field product, it was the victim of concerted action by the two more established circuits to bankrupt it.

With a number of franchises in the Players League struggling financially, Johnson decided to strike a big counter-attack after the end of the inaugural season, on October 3, 1890, when he purchased the Reds from Aaron Stern, with the aim of moving them to the Players League, as Cincinnati was one of the major league cities in which the league had not had a team in 1890. He thought that this raid at the heart of his competitors would be the blow that would make them tumble, but the Players League was already weakened beyond repair at that point. It soon became clear that there were not enough viable franchises left to start a second season, and other owners wanted to get out altogether. After looking to move the Reds back to the American Association, of which they had been members until 1889, he turned around and sold the team to John T. Brush, who was already a minority owner of the New York Giants, on March 30, 1891. Other American Association owners protested, mainly former investors in the Players League who had moved their interests to the other major league, claiming that when Johnson had purchased the Reds, it had been on behalf of other Players League owners and in large part with their money. They sued, and while the Reds were allowed to stay in the National League (where they remain to this day), in August a judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs against Johnson, forcing him to give up most of the proceeds of the sale to Brush. He was left disenchanted by the whole affair (the amount he was allowed to keep did not even cover his attorney fees), while the sale ushered in the infamous era of syndicate ownership in the National League. As for the victors in the suit, it did not help them much as they the team they had quickly pulled together to compete against the Reds in the Cincinnati market, the "Cincinnati Kelly's Killers", was a complete failure and moved to Milwaukee, WI that same month. The American Association had to sue for peace with the National League after the season.

Johnson was not involved again in baseball after the demise of the Players League. He died in Brooklyn, NY in 1901.

Related Sites

• Al Johnson at the SABR Bio Project