Former Dodger Micah Johnson trades his bat for a brush as a professional artist
Micah Johnson started painting while he was with the Dodgers and now it's his full-time profession.
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Micah Johnson played pro baseball for six years, including a brief stint with the Dodgers.
Now he's moved on to a new career, and doesn't regret trading a bat for a brush, and cowhide for a canvas.
"Art is so different from baseball because baseball is so specific to what you need to do to get to that level," said Johnson. "With art it's the complete opposite."
When Johnson was a new player at 2016 spring training, manager Dave Roberts asked him to tell the team his hobbies outside of baseball. Micah didn't want to say piano for fear he'd have to play in front of the team.
'So what I did was, I said I like paint. There's no way he's gonna make me paint!" said Johnson. "But sure enough, he's like, do a painting of Maury Wills. A lot of the players were very supportive. So I guess I'm good at art!"
Johnson played baseball with the Dodgers, but he's now with the Angels: Los Angeles-based gallery Art Angels exhibits his work.
"Art Angels reached out to me. They saw a painting I did, and they asked me, do you have any other works?" said Johnson.
He found purpose in his art when his four-year-old nephew asked a question that touched his soul: Can a Black person be an astronaut?
"To hear him ask that, for me in my perspective, when I was four I had a dream of playing Major League Baseball. I didn't think there was limitations to it, which is why I think I achieved it," said Johnson. "So for him to ask that, at four, it made me realize how could he feel his dreams have limitations on them? And how many other kids are out there feeling like that?"
"I was so proud of him to find something else that he loves to do and to keep doing it," said Roberts.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, Micah Johnson speaks volumes.
