Davey Johnson

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David Allen Johnson (born January 30, 1943) is an American former professional baseball player and manager.

He played as a second baseman from 1965 to 1978, most notably as a member of the Baltimore Orioles dynasty that won four American League pennants and two World Series championships between 1966 and 1971.

Johnson played in Major League Baseball from 1965 to 1975, then spent two seasons in the Nippon Professional Baseball league before returning to play in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago Cubs from 1977 to 1978.

He was voted to four All-Star Game teams during his playing career, and he was a three-time Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner. Johnson, who had left as a player, became a good boss.

In 1997, he received the American League's Manager of the Year Award, leading the Baltimore Orioles wire-to-wire to the American League East Division Championship.

In 2012, he received the same award in the National League, leading the Washington Nationals to the franchise's first division championship since 1981.

He made his greatest contribution as a manager when the New York Mets won the 1986 World Series championship.

Under his watch, the team won the National League East in 1988.

In the three years from 1995 to 1997, the Cincinnati Reds and the Orioles made it to their respective League Championship Series – the Cincinnati Reds in 1995 and the Orioles in 1997 and 1997.

He later ruled the Dodgers and Nationals.

Personal life

Johnson was born in Orlando, Florida. He graduated from Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio, Texas. He graduated from Trinity University in 1964 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Johns Hopkins University and Texas A&M University. Johnson is known for taking a scientific approach to baseball, where he earned the nickname "Dum Dum" for his attempts to tell his pitching teammates to throw for the middle of the plate rather than the corner; he made computer printouts to present to manager Earl Weaver in an attempt to allegedly maximize the lineup, but not used. As a manager, he pioneered computer-based sabermetrics. He was instrumental in directing the Mets.

While she was coordinating a golf tournament for her deaf-blind son Jake and his learning center, Johnson met his future wife, Susan in 1993 (they married the following January).

Andrea Johnson, Johnson's daughter, became a nationally ranked amateur surfer in the late 1980s. Andrea died in 2005 of septic shock and schizophrenia complications. Jake's older brother, Jake, died of pneumonia at the age of 34 in 2011.

He and Erik Sherman wrote his autobiography My Wild Ride in Baseball and Beyond in 2018, with the proceeds going to Susan's non-profit group, Support Our Scholars.

Johnson was admitted to hospital after suffering from COVID-19 but he recovered.

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Playing career

Johnson joined the Baltimore Orioles as an amateur free agent after one season playing baseball at Texas A&M University. Johnson was then sent to the Stockton Ports in the California Class C California League, where he batted in 97 games for.309 with 10 home runs and 63 runs. In 1963, Johnson was promoted to the AA Elmira Pioneers, who played for.326 in 63 games before advancing to the AAA Rochester Red Wings for the final 63 games of the season. Johnson was back in the Red Wings for the entire 1964 season, with 19 HR, 73 RBI, and 87 runs.

Johnson took the Orioles out of spring practice in 1965, but after hitting only.170 in 20 games, the Red Wings spent the latter half of the season with a batting.301 in 52 games. Johnson, who was with the Orioles in 1966, saw limited playing time before the Orioles filled it up in the lineup for him by transferring second baseman Jerry Adair to the Chicago White Sox on June 13. Johnson finished third in American League Rookie of the Year balloting for 1966, with a.257 batting average, seven home runs, and 56 RBI. Johnson was a full-time starter in the major leagues for the next eight seasons, with over 142 games played in a season.

In 1966 and 1970, Johnson won World Series rings with the Orioles in 1966, 1969, 1970, and 1971. During the three seasons, he also received the AL Gold Glove Award. Mark Belanger, a shortstop in 1969 and 1971, received the award twice before, one of a select group of shortstop-second baseman pairings to have earned the award in the same season. When Johnson and Belanger won their awards, third baseman Brooks Robinson was also in the middle of his record-breaking Gold Glove streak.

Johnson was traded by the Orioles, alongside Pat Dobson, Johnny Oates, and Roric Harrison, to the Atlanta Braves for Earl Williams and Taylor Duncan on the last day of the Winter Meetings in 1972. Upset after being displaced as the starting second baseman by Bobby Grich, and with the Orioles in dire need of a power-hitting catcher. Johnson's second baseman with 42 runs, tied for most single-season home runs by a third baseman with 42 runs, and a pinch-hitter with 43 runs. Marcus Semien hit 45 home runs in 2021, his highest performance in 48 years until he reached his high point in 2021. In the 1971 season, Johnson's second-highest home run total was 18. Darrell Evans of Atlanta hit 41 home runs and Hank Aaron hit 40 home runs, making the 1973 Braves the first team to feature three teammates who all scored 40 home runs in the same season.

Johnson was released by the Braves four games into the 1975 season after being hit in his first at bat.

He then joined the Yomiuri Giants of Japan's Central League, with whom he competed in both 1975 and 1976 seasons. Johnson was the Giants' first international player of note in more than 15 years, and he was put under a lot of pressure to perform in Japan. He struggled in his first season, fighting injuries, and suffered under Giants' wrath, including former Hall of Fame player Shigeo Nagashima. Johnson was not welcomed back by the Giants, who also barred him from joining any other NPB teams, despite being much better in 1976.

Johnson returned to the United States in 1977 as a free agent with the Philadelphia Phillies. Johnson, a utility infielder, was still hitting.321 with 8 home runs in 78 games and appeared in one game in the Phillies' National League Championship Series loss to the Dodgers.

Johnson made two grand slams as a pinch-hitter in 1978, becoming the first major leaguer to do so in a season. (Mike Ivie (1978), Darryl Strawberry (1998), Ben Broussard (2004), and Brooks Conrad (2010) equaled Johnson's feat.) Philadelphia traded him to the Chicago Cubs shortly after, with whom he played the final 24 games of his career before retiring at the end of the season.

Managing career

Johnson was hired to be the manager of the Miami Amigos of the AAA Inter-American League in 1979. Despite Johnson's contribution to the team's.708 winning percentage, the league folded 72 games into its first season, despite planning to play a 130-game season. Johnson was hired to lead the New York Mets AA team, the Jackson Mets, in 1981, defeating the team to a 68–66 record in his first season with the team. Johnson was appointed as the head of the Mets AAA Tidewater Tides in 1983, which ended with a 71–68 record.

Johnson took over the Mets in 1984, a team that had not won a pennant since 1973. In each of his first five seasons, he was the first National League manager to win at least 90 games. The 1986 World Series against the Boston Red Sox was the highlight of his Mets' tenure. Johnson was the final out in the Miracle Mets World Series victory in 1969, when the Orioles won in 1969.

"I treated my players like men," he summed up his approach to managing by saying, "I treated my players like boys." I didn't give a flying fuck what they did otherwise," as long as they did for me on the track. With rookie Darryl Strawberry, the 1983 team had won 68 games, but talent was proving for a future winner. Keith Hernandez and Johnson's decision to trade them in made them into a champion of 90 games for the 1984 season. Gary Carter was drafted before the year and the Mets won 98 games the following year, but it wasn't good enough to place them second in second place (three games behind St. Louis). The 1986 team won 108 games, the highest in the majors. It was only the second time the Mets had won 100 games in a season, the other time being 1969.

The Mets won 92 games in the first season, but they fell three games short of beating St. Louis. They won the division by 100 games last year. The NLCS came to a seven-game loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who lost in Game 4 after winning the first two of three games.

He and general manager Frank Cashen had a tumultuous rivalry. He was fired early in the 1990 season, beginning the season 20-21. In the regular season, he had 595 victories and 417 losses, as well as 11 wins and nine losses in the post-season. He is the winningest manager in Mets history and was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame with Frank Cashen, Darryl Strawberry, and Dwight Gooden on August 1, 2010.

Johnson, who was out of baseball for more than two seasons, was brought to the Cincinnati Reds by the 1993 season. Johnson, as was the case with the Mets, had the Reds resurgent the Reds almost immediately. At the time of the 1994 players' strike, he led the team to the National League Central lead, winning the first official NL Central title in 1995. However, Reds owner Marge Schott announced that Johnson would not return in 1996, regardless of how the Reds did. Schott announced former Reds third baseman Ray Knight (who played for Johnson on the Mets championship team) as a bench coach, with the understanding that he would take over as manager in 1996.

Johnson and Schott never got along, and family ties had deteriorated to the point that he had nearly been fired after the 1994 season. Schott might even send notes to him that had been sent by her St. Bernard, according to Johnson. Schott did not approve of Johnson's relationship with his fiancée Susan before they were married (the two met in 1993 and married a year later). Schott had predicted that it would be Johnson's last one in Cincinnati before the 1995 season even began. In Johnson's last season as the Reds' boss, the Reds defeated the Dodgers in the NLDS and advanced to the NLCS, defeating the eventual World Series champions, the Atlanta Braves. Johnson had a record of 204 victories and 172 losses in the regular season, as well as three victories and four losses in the post-season.

Johnson returned to Baltimore as the Orioles' boss on a three-year, $2.25 million deal in 1996. The Orioles had gone 71-73 last year, but the team had a promising future with future Hall of Famers Cal Ripken Jr., Mike Mussina, Eddie Murray, and Roberto Alomar. In the AL East, the team went 88-74, finishing four games behind the New York Yankees, but it was good enough for the Wild Card to win by three games. It was the Orioles' first return to the postseason after winning the 1983 World Series. The Orioles defeated the Cleveland Indians in the Division Series, the defending champion of the American League who had won 99 games, the best in the majors that season. The Orioles won the first two games before Cleveland compelled a Game 4 with a win, but they were just one inning away from causing another one before the Orioles roared against the New York Yankees in the 12th inning on a home run. In the eighth inning, the Orioles were leading Game 1 4–3 until Derek Jeter was mistakenly catches a fly ball by fan Jeffrey Maier in the fence, causing the game to be called off by fan Jeffrey Maier. In the eleventh game, the Yankees won Game 2, while the Orioles took the lead in Game 2 for a 5–2 loss, while the Yankees won Game 3 for Game 3, while the Yankees scored three runs in Game 4's eighth inning for a 6-4 victory.

The Orioles did even better in the coming season, going 98-64 to finish with the best record in the American League while retaining the main core from before (although with Murray's departure when buying future Hall of Famer Harold Baines mid-season). They met the Seattle Mariners in the Division Series. The Orioles won the series in four games as they defeated the Mariners by 23 runs while allowing just 11. In the Championship Series, the Cleveland Indians defeated the Yankees, who had defeated the Yankees. However, the Orioles lost in a heartbreaker of a playoff series. Both four losses in the Indian series were by one run, with two of them falling in extra innings (Game 3, for example, was lost on a suspected missed call of a foul tipped bunt). The Orioles outscored Cleveland 19–18 and out-hit them 54–40, but the Indians won Game 6 and advanced to the World Series, but the Indians triumphed.

Johnson and Orioles owner Peter Angelos didn't get along. In fact, the two guys barely spoke to each other. According to reports, Johnson sanctioned Roberto Alomar for skipping a team banquet in April 1997 and an exhibition game against the AAA Rochester Red Wings during the 1997 All-Star Break. Alomar was ordered to pay the fine by writing a check to a charity for which his wife worked as a fundraiser. However, Alomar's funds were donated to another charity after players' union lawyers warned him of the potential conflict of interest. Angelos let it be known that he was considering firing Johnson for the Alomar fine, despite the fact that his conduct was not appropriate. Johnson was expected to admit to making an error in determining the fine, but Angelos demanded that Johnson confess to his mistake in not leaving the decision to him, which would obviously have caused Angelos to fire Johnson for cause. Johnson declined to do so. Johnson was unsure whether he would return for the last year of his deal (saying as much eight days after the Orioles lost on October 15), and a fiery 90-minute phone call between Johnson and Angelos a week later was the last time they talked to each other. He resigned by fax (after struggling to contact Angelos by phone), which Angelos accepted on the same day that Johnson was named American League Manager of the Year on November 5. Johnson did not express sadness with his time in Baltimore, but Angelos announced the text of his response letter to the resignation, saying that Johnson's letter, which exposed the wrong concept suggested by your naming and handling of the Alomar fine, and your divisive statement to the media in July that if the Orioles returned to the World Series, you would not be allowed to return... if the Orioles returned to the World Series. "Your own life and conduct, not mine, have fulfilled your prophecy."

Ray Miller, the Orioles' pitching coach, was hired after the Angels ordered Pat Dobson to be fired after the 1996 season, but the team will not have another winning season, let alone a postseason berth until 2012. Johnson, the Orioles' boss, had a winning percentage of.574.

During the 1997 season, Johnson had worked with the Toronto Blue Jays but wasn't hired. He returned to the majors as the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who had won 88 games in the previous year. He won his 1,000th game as boss on May 3, defeating the Montreal Expos 7–0. In his 1,740th game as boss, Johnson played as a king. In 2020, no manager reached the 1,000 wins plateau as fast as Johnson until Joe Girardi (1,808). Johnson had his first losing season as a manager, finishing third place eight games under.500 with 77 wins. Although the Dodgers resurgent to second place in second place this year, it was not enough to save Johnson's employment. Despite being surrounded by high-priced talent, such as Kevin Brown and Gary Sheffield (alongside rising talent in future Hall of Fame candidate Adrian Beltone), he finished with a record of 163 wins and 161 losses.

During Robert Eenhoorn's absence, Johnson briefly managed the Netherlands national team, then served as a bench coach under Eenhoorn at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Since it had gone undiagnosed, he had a ruptured appendix that required multiple stomach surgeries. He then became the head coach of Team USA, where he led the United States team to their seventh-place finish in the 2005 Baseball World Cup, which was held in The Netherlands, out of an 18-team field. During group play, the team finished second in its division with a 6–2 record before losing 11–3 to eventual winner and 24-time World Cup champion Cuba in the quarterfinals. The Americans advanced to the seventh-place match with Puerto Rico after losing by 9–0.

Johnson served as bench coach for Team USA during the 2006 World Baseball Classic, supervised Team USA at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and coached Team USA in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Johnson served as the head coach for the Florida Collegiate Summer League, DeLand Suns, in 2009, and he returned as the head coach for the 2010 Sanford River Rats season.

Johnson first joined the Washington Nationals front office on June 7, 2006, when he was first appointed as a consultant by vice president/general manager Jim Bowden. During the 2009 campaign, Mike Rizzo was appointed as a senior advisor to current GM Mike Rizzo. After Jim Riggleman's unexpected departure three days earlier, he became the Nationals manager on June 26, 2011. He was in charge of the 2011 season as the head coach. The Nationals won eighty total games in the season, the best finish for the team since the move to Washington. Davey Johnson, the Nationals' assistant, was announced on October 31.

Johnson led the Nationals to their first division title since 1981 (when they were the Montreal Expos) on October 1, 2012, winning a franchise-record 98 games, led by rising stars in Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Ian Desmond, and Bryce Harper. However, the team will be without Strasburg for the entire season if he missed out on UCL surgery (which had limited him in 2011) and was off to a slow start on September 7 (he ended with a 15–6 record and a 3.16 ERA). The Division Series was the first playoff game in the District of Columbia in 79 years, and the Pittsburgh Cardinals defeated the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals. Although they had a close start, two subsequent blowouts put them on the wall for Game 4, which they secured on a walk off home run by Jayson Werth. The Nationals took the lead by 6–0 in Game 5, but the Nationals gradually faded over the next five innings to where it was just 7-5 going into the ninth inning. Drew Storen, who had pitched in the blowout loss in Game 2 and the two following games, was supposed to save the ninth inning, but the Cardinals came together to score four runs, caping a dramatic meltdown for the Nationals. It was the third and final time that Johnson had led a team to the top most majors record without directing them to the World Series. On November 10, Johnson agreed to return as the Nationals' manager for the 2013 season. Johnson was named National League Manager of the Year three days later. Johnson said in his autobiography that right before being named as the Manager of the Year, he was prompted to sign a contract by owner Mark Lerner and GM Mike Rizzo before deciding not to renew it. On any rate, Johnson called the year a "World Series or bust" year, which brought backfire on him.

The 2013 team failed after a promising start to winning seven of their first ten games as they went into the All-Star break with a 48-47 record. Despite having an 18–9 record in the month of September, the team dropped four games out of a Wild Card berth while finishing second in the NL East with an 86-76 record. Johnson resigned on September 29, 2013. He had the club record for victories (224) before Dave Martinez passed him in 2021. Johnson became a consultant in 2014.

Just fifteen managers have won more than 300 games over.500. Johnson was the best manager in 1,372–1,071–2 to finish 301 games above.500 as a manager. With 1,000 wins, he is ranked tenth all time in winning percentages for managers. Both except Johnson have been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum four times, and twice with Today's Game ballot in 2017 and 2018.

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