When you mention big slugging multi-sport athletes born in Bessemer, Alabama, the first name that comes to mind is Bo Jackson, but Bo is not the only player in White Sox history who fits that bill.
Before Bo, there was Lamar Johnson, who played for the White Sox from 1974-81. And along the way, Johnson had one of the most impressive single-day performances in franchise history that you might not have heard about.
Lamar was born September 2, 1950, in Bessemer and grew up in Birmingham, attending Wenonah HS, where he caught for the baseball team, played defensive end and linebacker for the football team and even lettered in basketball. He received offers from Grambling and Wichita State and had even signed a letter of intent with Tuskegee University.
While in high school, Johnson caught the attention of Sam Hairston, who had played a few games for the White Sox in 1951. Hairston was at the high school to watch his son Jerry (who later played for the White Sox), and the Sox drafted him in the 3rd round in 1968. Johnson’s brother helped convince him that there were too many injury risks in football and baseball was the way to go, and he began his path to the Majors. By 1972, he was an established power threat, leading the Midwest League with 26 home runs & 89 RBI to go along with an excellent .313/.377/.565 slash line for the Appleton (WI) Foxes.
Johnson finally cracked the Majors on May 18, 1974, and he struck out twice and singled off Vida Blue and hit .345 (10 for 29) in a brief trial due to an injury to Buddy Bradford. Unfortunately, Bradford was blocked at first base because of Dick Allen. And in 1975 the White Sox added DH Deron Johnson and shifted Carlos May to first base, so Johnson would have to wait. All he did at Triple-A Denver in 1975 was win the batting title with a .336 mark while hitting 20 home runs and driving in 101.
When Johnson was called up in September 1975 he hit his first Major League homer in his first game back – September 10 off Frank Tanana, who led the AL in strikeouts that season.
In 1976, Johnson was in the Majors to stay, and in 82 games, he hit .320/.372/.432. He only hit four home runs, but the power arrived in 1977 when as a member of the South Side Hit Men, Johnson put 18 over the fence to go along with a .302/.342/.505 slash line. Two of those 18 long ones came on Father’s Day 1977 in game one of a doubleheader against the Oakland A’s.
MLB
It wasn’t the first multi-homer game of Johnson’s career. He had one on July 18 the previous year. But the White Sox only had three hits in that game – all by Johnson; he also had a double. And the White Sox won 2-1. AND Johnson even sang the National Anthem before the game!
It’s hard to imagine that there’s another player in MLB history who had a multi-homer game accounting for all his team’s runs in a win AND sung the national anthem before the game. Also in that game, Wilbur Wood won his first game since suffering a shattered kneecap by a Ron LeFlore liner on May 9th the season prior. Said manager Bob Lemon of Johnson’s performance: “He sang, he hit the ball, and he picked it up The only thing he didn’t do was dance.”
Johnson continued on through 1981 as a serviceable first baseman/DH with a solid batting average and occasional pop. He had a career-long 19-game hitting streak in 1979. Besides his 18 round-trippers in 1977, the most he had in a season was in 1980 when he hit 13 with a career-high 81 RBI. He hit a torrid .381/.438/.619 with 4 HR and 17 RBI in April and took home American League Player of the Month honors.
He finished his White Sox career with a very respectable .291/.340/.423 slashline with 57 home runs and 343 RBI in 687 games. He played one season (1982) with the Rangers before hanging it up.
Lamar surfaced in the 1989-90 season in the Professional Baseball Association for the St. Petersburg Pelicans, who were chronicled in Peter Golenbock’s excellent book “The Forever Boys.”
Johnson went on to a long career as a coach, working in Denver (AAA) as a hitting coach in 1991-92, then Stockton (A+) as a Manager in 1993-94, then hitting coach for the Brewers (1995-98), Royals (1999-2002) and Mariners (2003) before joining the Mets as a roving instructor in 2005 and remaining with the organization through 2014 when he spent the last chunk of the season as a hitting instructor with the Major League team.
Lamar Johnson. Remember That Guy?