1944-1945

Vic Johnson was born on August 3, 1920, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He went through the Eau Claire school system, graduating from Eau Claire High School where he was unbeaten in four years of high school baseball. He also attended Eau Claire State Teachers College, where he pitched for the baseball team. When he turned 20, he was working as a laborer in the paper mill and played amateur baseball in Wisconsin in 1941.

In 1942, he pitched for the Eau Claire Bears in the Class-C Northern League. The Bears finished first in the standing and he was 18-7 with a 3.08 earned run average, his 18 wins leading the league. In February 1943, the Louisville Colonels added him to the roster.

Classified 4-F in the draft due to a hearing defect, he reported at Tufts College in the Boston in February 1944 for early spring training.  He only pitched 11 innings for the Red Sox, spread over five more appearances, and was sent to Louisville in June.

In 1945 he spent the full season with the Red Sox and got into 26 games. His best game was a four-hit, 1-0 shutout at Yankee Stadium in August. In December, the Red Sox traded him to the Cleveland Indians.

Vic’s only start was a disaster and he pitched in nine games, the last in June, with an earned run average of 9.22. A couple of weeks later, he was optioned to Baltimore (International League) and only appeared in two games, for a total of three innings.

In 1947 and 1948, and into 1949, he pitched for the Double-A Oklahoma City Indians and in 1948, had a no-hitter to his credit. It was said to have been a dominating performance, with the ball never getting out of the infield. He was next sent to the Anniston Rams in the Class-B Southeastern League. 

He retired after the 1949 season, though he returned to semipro ball as player-manager at Colfax and with Leif’s Conoco Oilers of Eau Claire.

After his playing career, he served for more than 20 years as the Physical Director of the Eau Claire YMCA. He also worked for the recreation department at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, heading up their intramural program for the next 15 years. He helped form Little League in Eau Claire, and was one of the managers in its first year. 

Vic Johnson suffered a stroke that impaired his speech significantly in his final years. He died on May 10, 2005, in Eau Claire, at age 84.