| Roy Johnson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Outfielder | |
| Born:(1903-02-23)February 23, 1903 Pryor, Oklahoma, U.S. | |
| Died: September 10, 1973(1973-09-10) (aged 70) Tacoma, Washington, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 18, 1929, for the Detroit Tigers | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| April 27, 1938, for the Boston Bees | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .296 |
| Home runs | 58 |
| Runs batted in | 555 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Roy Cleveland Johnson (February 23, 1903 – September 10, 1973) was an Americanleft fielder andright fielder inMajor League Baseball who played for theDetroit Tigers (1929–32),Boston Red Sox (1932–35),New York Yankees (1936–37) andBoston Bees (1937–38). A native ofPryor, Oklahoma, who grew up inTacoma, Washington, he was the elder brother of"Indian Bob" Johnson, also a major league outfielder. The Johnson brothers were one-quarterCherokee.
Roy Johnson batted left-handed and threw right-handed; he stood 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg). Unlike his younger brother, who slugged 288home runs in his 13-year MLB career, Roy was basically a contact, line-drive hitter. He also was a fine defensive outfielder with a strong throwing arm. His pro career began in 1926, when hehit .369 in the Class CUtah-Idaho League, earning him a call-up to the top-levelSan Francisco Seals of thePacific Coast League. Then, in 1927 and 1928, he teamed withEarl Averill andSmead Jolley to give the Seals one of its most feared hitting-outfields inminor league history.
On October 19, 1928, the independently-operated Seals traded Johnson to the Detroit Tigers, launching his decade-longMLB career, where he would be a four-time .300 hitter, and six times finish in the Top 10 amongAmerican League (AL) leaders instolen bases.
In his1929 debut, Johnson became the firstrookie in major league history to get 200hits in a season (201) and also led the AL with 45doubles and 640at-bats while hitting .314 with a career-high 128runs. Defensively however, he led all outfielders in the AL committing 31 errors.[1] In1931, he led the AL with 19triples and stole 33 bases.
Traded by Detroit to the Red Sox in the midseason of1932, Johnson enjoyed three productive years with Boston, hitting .313 with 95runs batted in during1933, however defensively, he again led the AL for the second time in his MLB career by committing 25 errors as an outfielder. Johnson followed with career-highs .320 and 119 RBI in1934, and .315 in1935.[2] After that, he became a part-time outfielder with the Yankees, with whom he appeared in the1936 World Series as apinch runner andstriking out in his onlyplate appearance. Johnson became a world champion when the Yanks defeated the rivalNew York Giants in six games.
One month into the1937 season, the Yankees lost two in a row to the Tigers. Johnson thought that managerJoe McCarthy was brooding over the losses and snapped, "What's the guy expect to do, win every day?" In a horrible stroke of luck, McCarthy happened to overhear him. Almost as soon as he returned to the team hotel, McCarthy calledgeneral managerEd Barrow and demanded that Johnson be waived immediately. Barrow obliged;Tommy Henrich took his spot on the roster.[3] The Boston Bees of theNational League claimed Johnson off waivers, and Johnson played 92 games as a Bee through April 27,1938, when he was sent to the minors. He would never play in the majors again.
In his ten-season career covering 1,155 games, Johnson posted a .296batting average (1,292-for-4,359) with 716runs, 275doubles, 83triples, 58home runs, 555RBI, 135stolen bases, 489walks, .369on-base percentage and .437slugging percentage. He recorded a .938fielding percentage at all three outfield positions.[4]
Roy Johnson died in Tacoma at the age of 70 on September 10, 1973.
Johnson holds the followingDetroit Tigers records: