Former major league player finds new voice as an artist
There was so much Micah Johnson wanted to say when he was an MLB player, but he was afraid to say it.
There were so many times Johnson wanted to speak out about social inequality in America as a Black man, but he wanted to keep his job.
Now with paint in his hands instead of a bat, Johnson is speaking out through his art.
“It’s a shame I wasn’t able to speak up or pay attention like I wanted,” Johnson tells USA TODAY Sports. “I was selfish. I was trying to make money. It’s embarrassing I didn’t speak out. I came to the field every day worrying about being sent down. I was just trying to survive. I couldn’t run my mouth about different causes, or else they would have forgotten about me so quick.
“Now, I have a platform that motivates me, that overshadows my baseball career. I have an opportunity to send a message, a really important way of expressing myself. I should have done that when I played. I’m not going to miss out on it this time.”
Johnson, 29, who spent seven years in professional baseball, including parts of three years in the big leagues with the White Sox, the Dodgers and Atlanta, has given up baseball for a paintbrush.
He spent his life dreaming of being a ballplayer and on April 6, 2015, played his first major league game with the White Sox, getting his first hit off Yordano Ventura of the Royals.
Three years later, Johnson was out of baseball.
“Growing up in the ’90s, baseball was all I cared about,” he says. “I miss that competition, but I don’t miss the game. It’s just a mess. I was a small-ball guy. I couldn’t hit home runs. I couldn’t change the game. It got depressing. So I got out.”
Johnson turned to painting and suddenly feels free, expressing his mind, displaying his raw emotions, on canvases for everyone to see at the Art Angels Gallery in Los Angeles.
His first painting was a portrait of Dodgers great Maury Wills, done on a whim in 2016 when manager Dave Roberts asked the young players in spring training about their hobbies away from the playing field. Johnson was a piano player but too embarrassed to admit it in front of his teammates. So he spit out that he was a painter. He just forgot to include the part that his last art class was in elementary school.
“I wasn’t going to play the piano in front of the team,” Johnson said, “so I told him I painted.”
“Now, with what’s going on in America, and as a Black artist, I wanted to depict the emotions of this time. You’re seeing a lot of pride. You’re seeing Black history being rediscovered, history people didn’t know about. It’s my way of preserving history in this very critical time in America, a raw look at what’s going on in America.”
Micah Johnson
He spent all spring working on the painting, turned it in just before the end of camp, and it was a hit, with even Wills loving the rendition. “I don’t think it was good,” Johnson said, “but everyone else sure seemed to like it.”
A new career was born. Johnson, who retired from baseball two years ago, is a full-time artist, focusing his work on the Black Lives Matter movement. He has painted pictures of George Floyd, whose death in Minneapolis in May triggered the ongoing movement. He has also painted scenes from the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. He and Phillies outfielder Matt Szczur co-painted a portrait of Floyd that was purchased by Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward for $10,000, with the proceeds going to charities fighting for social justice.
“Now, with what’s going on in America, and as a Black artist,” Johnson says, “I wanted to depict the emotions of this time. You’re seeing a lot of pride. You’re seeing Black history being rediscovered, history people didn’t know about. It’s my way of preserving history in this very critical time in America, a raw look at what’s going on in America.”
He also wants to inspire kids, believing that this generation of Black kids could be the most resilient group ever in America, with his own 4-year-old nephew, Elijah, motivating him. It was Elijah who recently asked his mother, “Mom, can astronauts be Black?” Johnson was speechless.
“To think he was putting limitations on his dream,” Johnson said, “that really hit me. That hurt me. He inspired me to start painting astronauts. An astronaut is a universal statement and can stand the test of time.”
Looking at Johnson’s recent art work, you’ll see Black children wearing astronaut suits. Some are wearing capes. One stands with a cello in his hand. A backpack on another. There are no limits to anyone’s dreams in Johnson’s art world.
Johnson, who grew up in Indianapolis and went to Indiana University, is moved by ballplayers now speaking out about systematic racism in this country. He loves seeing today’s young players, such as 24-year-old Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty, speak his mind, openly raising the possibility of players showing unity on opening day by kneeling during the national anthem.
“I think it will happen,” he says, “because there is no risk anymore. When a guy like Bruce Maxwell did it, there was risk, and he paid the price. Now, if someone bashes you speaking out, they’re in the wrong, which is great place to be.”
He applauds Dodgers Cy Young pitcher Clayton Kershaw opening his eyes to Black Lives Matter, saying in a statement that it’s time to end the silence: “I want to listen, I want to learn, I want to do better and be different.”
He was stirred by Cubs President
Theo Epstein’s criticism of himself, saying, “The majority of people that I’ve hired, if I’m being honest, have similar backgrounds as me and look a lot like me. That’s something I need to ask myself why. I need to question my own assumptions, my own attitudes.”
The power and the energy created by the moment, Johnson wonders aloud, might not have been possible if it wasn’t for COVID-19. The disease shut down most of the world. And the moment George took his last breath, captured on camera for the world to witness the horrifying scene, people had time to reflect, explore their inner soul and examine their own consciousness.
“There were no sports, no movies being on, so everybody’s attention was on this,” Johnson says. “I truly believe that if sports were happening, baseball was going on, the NBA was going on, we would not see the same response.
“It was almost the perfect storm, people sat and had to re-evaluate. You think Theo Epstein would have been so thoughtful and questioning his hiring practices if the Cubs were playing the Cardinals that day. You think Kershaw would have been saying that if he was ready to pitch in San Francisco. Just the fact there were no sports to distract from that.
“Hopefully what we’re going through will spark change and what I’m painting will benefit future generations.”
He adds, “It’s weird to think this is my new life’s path because I was so obsessed with baseball. It was such an integral part of my life. Well, I learned it’s OK to have more dreams. I found my new dream. Really, I found happiness.”