Career
His father, ex-Confederate army colonel Albert W. Johnson, moved north after the war and became a street car magnate, with operations in Indianapolis, Cleveland and New York City. Al learned the business and, with the wealth gained, largely bankrolled the Players League. Johnson owned the Cleveland franchise in the new league.
In the aftermath of the league's first season, a year in which all baseball owners lost money, the new league folded. Al Johnson briefly owned the Cincinnati Reds, before selling out and moved to New York.
