Huntington Johnnies Explained

Huntington Johnnies
Firstseason:1908
Lastseason:1911
City:Huntington, Indiana
Past Class Level:
  • Class D
Past League:
Pastnames:
  • Huntington Miamis (1908)
  • Huntington Johnnies (1909-1910)
  • Huntington Indians (1911)
Leaguechamps:1908‡
‡ In 1st place when the league folded, no official title awarded

The Huntington Johnnies were a minor league baseball, based in Huntington, Indiana, as a member of the Northern State of Indiana League from 1909-1911. Prior to being named the Johnnies, the team played as the Huntington Miamis in the short-lived Indiana-Ohio League in 1908. The team changed its name for a final time, in 1911, to the Huntington Indians before folding.

Team name

The "Miamis" name was in reference to the Miami people, a Native-American tribe that inhabited parts of Indiana, Michigan and western Ohio, while the Johnnies name holds various meanings. The name be traced to three Civil War references. The first being John Hunt Morgan, a Confederate general who raided southern Indiana in 1863. The second reference for soldiers in the Union Army, termed "Johnnies", after the song, When Johnny Comes Marching Home. Then the third reference to confederate soldiers known as "Johnny Rebs". However the name can also be a reference to the team's manager from 1909-1911, John Lawrence "Larry" "Johnny" Strands. Meanwhile the "Indians" moniker was a spin-off of the Miami Indian name from the 1908 team.[1]

Year-by-year record

YearRecordFinishManagerNotes
1908 14-10 1st Jack Smith League folded in mid-season
1909 61-46 3rd
1910 23-41 5th Larry Strands
1911 40-30 2nd Larry Strands

Notes and References

  1. Book: Worth, Richard. Baseball Team Names: A Worldwide Dictionary, 1869-2011. 26 February 2013. McFarland & Company. 136. 978-0786468447.