| Alex Johnson | |
|---|---|
 Johnson in 1968 | |
| Left fielder | |
| Born:(1942-12-07)December 7, 1942 Helena, Arkansas, U.S. | |
| Died: February 28, 2015(2015-02-28) (aged 72) Detroit,Michigan, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| July 25, 1964, for the Philadelphia Phillies | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 1, 1976, for the Detroit Tigers | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .288 |
| Home runs | 78 |
| Runs batted in | 525 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Alexander Johnson (December 7, 1942 – February 28, 2015) was an American professionalbaseballoutfielder, who played inMajor League Baseball (MLB), from1964 to1976, for thePhiladelphia Phillies,St. Louis Cardinals,Cincinnati Reds,California Angels,Cleveland Indians,Texas Rangers,New York Yankees, andDetroit Tigers. He was theNational League Comeback Player of the Year in1968 and anAmerican LeagueAll-Star andbatting champion in1970. His brother,Ron, was anNFLrunning back, most notably for theNew York Giants.
Johnson was born inHelena, Arkansas, and grew up inDetroit,Michigan with his two brothers and sisters. One brotherRon Johnson, was anNFL running back from 1969 to 1976.[1] Alex playedsandlot ball withBill Freehan,Willie Horton, andDennis Ribant.[2]
Johnson attendedNorthwestern High School, where he excelled as anoffensive lineman for the school's football team. He received a scholarship offer to attendMichigan State University to playfootball for theMichigan State Spartans, but opted to sign with thePhiladelphia Phillies instead.[3]
Johnson worked his way up the ranks quickly in the Phillies'farm system, batting .322 with 40home runs and 187runs batted in across two seasons to earn a spot on the Phillies' bench for the start of the 1964 season. However, he was optioned back to theArkansas Travelers of thePacific Coast League without having logged a major leagueat-bat in order to make room on the major league roster forrelief pitcherEd Roebuck, who was acquired from theWashington Senators shortly after the season started.[4]
Johnson soon earned a call back up to the majors as he batted .316 with 21 home runs and 71 RBIs in just over half a season with Arkansas. In his Major League Baseball debut, Johnson went 3-for-4 with awalk, two RBIs and arun scored.[5] He remained hot for his first month in the majors, batting .400 with one home run and nine RBIs through August. He eventually settled into a lefty-rightyplatoon withWes Covington in left field, which he would do through the 1965 season. That October, the Phillies traded Johnson,Pat Corrales andArt Mahaffey to theSt. Louis Cardinals forBill White,Dick Groat andBob Uecker.[6]
To make room for Johnson in left field, St. Louis shiftedHall of FamerLou Brock toright field. Along withCurt Flood in center, the Cardinals boasted one of the top youngoutfields in theNational League heading into the 1966 season.[7] However, Johnson batted just .186 with two home runs and six RBIs through May 17 when he was sent down to theTulsa Oilers of theTriple-APacific Coast League (PCL). That year, he was named the "Most Dangerous Hitter" in the PCL.[8]
Johnson returned to the Cardinals in 1967, batting .223 with one home run and twelve RBIs mostly as apinch hitter and back up forRoger Maris in right field. The Cardinals defeated theBoston Red Sox in theWorld Series that year, though Johnson did not appear in the post-season. Just beforespring training 1968, he was traded to theCincinnati Reds forDick Simpson.[9]
Pete Rose, theleft fielder inCincinnati in 1967, was shifted to right field for 1968.Mack Jones, a left-handed hitter acquired from theAtlanta Braves shortly before Johnson, was the early favorite to inherit the left field job.[10] While Johnson was labelled as "moody" and "uncoachable" during his days with the Phillies and Cardinals, he impressed RedsmanagerDave Bristol that spring and was given the starting job in left field even though a lefthanded bat would have been more suitable for the Reds' line-up.[11]
By the time Johnson joined the Reds, he had a reputation as a notoriously slow starter. After batting .259 with four RBIs through April, Johnson got hot in May, batting .366 to move into theNational League batting race. He finished the season at .312, fourth in the league behind Rose and two of the Alou brothers (Matty andFelipe), to be named theSporting News' National LeagueComeback Player of the Year.[12]
Though his potential to hit for power was recognized throughout his early career, he entered the 1969 season having hit just 17 career home runs. He matched that total in 1969, while also driving in a career high 88runs and scoring a career high 86 runs. He also finished sixth in the N.L. with a .315batting average.[2]
Despite his hitting prowess, Johnson was a defensive liability as he led National League outfielders inerrors both seasons in Cincinnati. In need of pitching, and withoutfield prospectBernie Carbo ready to jump to the majors, the Reds dealt Johnson andutilityinfielderChico Ruiz to theCalifornia Angels forPedro Borbón,Jim McGlothlin, andVern Geishert.[13]
Johnson hit the ground running inCalifornia, leading the league with a .366batting average through May. He cooled off as the 1970 season progressed, but still went into theAll-star break at .328 to earn selection to the A.L. squad.[14] He remained in the batting title race throughout the season, and went into the final game of the season with batting average which was .002 behind Boston'sCarl Yastrzemski. In the last game of the season against the White Sox, Johnson went two-for-three to win the A.L. batting title by 0.0004 over Yastrzemski. He was removed from the game after his third at-bat, to ensure the title.[15]
Johnson became the subject of some controversy toward the end of his first season in California when he was fined by Angels managerLefty Phillips for not running out a grounder. This continued into the following spring, when Phillips fined Johnson $100 for loafing in anexhibition game. The following day, Phillips removed Johnson from a second exhibition after he failed to run out a first-inning grounder.[16]
Things deteriorated during the 1971 regular season as Johnson was benched three times in May for indifferent play. On June 4, he was pulled in the first inning of a 10–1 loss to the Red Sox when he failed to run all the way tofirst base on a routine ground ball.[17] After being replaced byTony González in left field, Johnson intimated that some of his battles with teammates and management were racially motivated.[18]
Hell yes, I'm bitter. I've been bitter ever since I learned I was black. The society into which I was born and in which I grew up and in which I play ball today is anti-black. My attitude is nothing more than a reaction of their attitude.
Following a June 13 loss to the Washington Senators, Johnson claimed thatChico Ruiz, who had been a close friend and was the godfather of Johnson's adopted daughter, pointed a gun at him while the two were in the clubhouse. Ruiz denied the claim.[19]
Johnson, limited as a fielder, stopped taking outfield practice before games. In June, after a potential trade deadline deal with theMilwaukee Brewers forTommy Harper fell through, Johnson told reporters that he needed to get out of California, and that "playing in hell" would be an improvement.[20] Johnson was benched after he loafed on two balls hit to him in left field against Milwaukee, which resulted in a five-run fourth inning for the Brewers, and failed to run out a ground ball in his final at-bat in the ninth inning.[21] Phillips put it simply, "If you had seen him play lately, you'd know why he isn't in the line-up."[22]
By the end of June, Johnson had been benched five times and fined 29 times.[23] On June 26, Angels GMDick Walsh suspended him without pay indefinitely for "not using his best efforts."[24]
Marvin Miller, executive director of theMajor League Baseball Players Association, immediately filed a grievance against the Angels on Johnson's behalf claiming that Walsh failed to properly outline the basis for the suspension in specific terms. His case, however, was weakened when Johnson defended his actions rather than deny the claims made against him by his ballclub. He admitted to not being in the spirit to play properly as the whole team was indifferent toward playing together.[25] Miller eventually ended up filing a grievance on Johnson's behalf suggesting that Johnson was emotionally disabled.[2]
Regardless of the grievance, Phillips remained defiant that Johnson would not be returning to his ballclub[26] (Phillips' stance was perhaps, in part, due to the fact that his fourth place team was suddenly playing better – 17–11 in the month of July.) When a meeting between Miller and the Owners' Players' Relations committee on July 21 failed to resolve the grievance, it went to an independentarbitrator.[27]
After a 30-day suspension, the longest the Angels could give,Commissioner of BaseballBowie Kuhn placed Johnson on the restricted list, allowing the Angels to continue the suspension.[28] On August 10, Phillips, the Angels' coaches and six players (including team captainJim Fregosi) met with Kuhn's labor advisor John Gaherin,[29] who was part of the three-man arbitration panel attempting to resolve the case along with Miller and professionalArbitrator Lewis Gill of theNational Labor Relations Board. On August 31, the panel indefinitely postponed a decision on Johnson's appeal, and indicated that they were unlikely to come to an agreement before the end of the regular season.[30]
The Angels' case against Johnson hit a snag on September 7, when theChicago Sun-Times reported that Walsh had lied about the gun incident with Ruiz, and ordered that the weapon be concealed.[31] Based on the findings of two psychiatrists, Gill found in favor of Johnson, determining that an emotional disturbance was no worse than a physical ailment, and that the Angels should not have suspended him, but rather should have placed Johnson on thedisabled list. Johnson was awarded $29,970 in back pay (as players on the disabled list still receive full pay); however, Gill upheld the $3,750 in fines he received from the team.[32]
After the season, the Angels cleaned house. Phillips and Walsh were both fired,[33] Ruiz was released, and Johnson was traded to the Cleveland Indians withJerry Moses forVada Pinson,Alan Foster, andFrank Baker.[34]
While more "emotional disturbance" followed Johnson to his new club when Ruiz was killed in an auto accident on February 9, 1972 (Johnson attended the funeral),[35] Johnson got off to a fast start for the Indians, as his batting average reached .328 on May 6. But a 6-for-66 slump brought his average down to .208 by June. Johnson appeared to be rebounding when he learned that Phillips, who had been rehired by the Angels as ascout, had had a fatalasthma attack on June 12.[36] He then went into a 5-for-37 slump that dropped his season average to .219.
Johnson's hitting problems were blamed on a heel injury, which limited him to pinch hitting during the first half of August.[37] He resumed his role of everyday left fielder on August 19, and batted .351 over the rest of the season.
Johnson held out for a new contract with the Indians the following spring. Unable to reach an agreement, they traded him to theTexas Rangers for pitchersRich Hinton andVince Colbert. Rangers managerWhitey Herzog made it clear upon his team's acquisition of Johnson that he would release Johnson immediately if he turned out to be a discipline problem with his club.[38] However, with the American League's institution of thedesignated hitter rule in 1973, Johnson was able to provide strong offensive production for the Rangers without hindering his team defensively, and soon won over his new manager.[39] He appeared in 116 games at DH while spelling an occasional day off forRico Carty in left in an additional forty games, and batted .287 with eight home runs and 68 RBIs. His 179hits were the fifth most in the AL, and he held the Senators/Rangers franchise record in that category until 1979.[2]
Johnson became an everyday outfielder again whenBilly Martin took over as Rangers manager toward the end of the 1973 season. At first, Johnson and Martin got along,[40] but by the time the Rangers sold Johnson's contract to theNew York Yankees on September 9, 1974, Martin had also gotten fed up with him.[41]
Johnson joined a Yankees club that was in first place by one game over theBaltimore Orioles in theAmerican League East. In his first game as a Yankee, he hit anextra innings home run to defeat the Boston Red Sox.[42] It was, however, his only highlight with the Yankees as he batted just .214 in ten games with his new club, and the Orioles won the division by two games.
He started the 1975 season as the Yankees' regular DH, but a knee injury limited his role.[43] After Billy Martin was named Yankees manager on August 2, Johnson logged just nine more at-bats before he was released on September 2.
Johnson signed with his hometownDetroit Tigers for the 1976 season,[44] and enjoyed something of a resurgent year as he batted .268 with six home runs and 45 RBIs as his team's everyday left fielder. Regardless, he was released at the end of the season.[45] He played briefly with theMexican League'sDiablos Rojos del México before retiring.[46]
After Johnson retired, he returned to Detroit and in 1985, after his father's death, took over Johnson Trucking Service,[47] which was founded by his father, Arthur Johnson, in the 1940s.[8] The company rents dump trucks to construction companies.[48] In 1998, he toldSports Illustrated "Do I enjoy my life?" Johnson asks rhetorically. "I enjoy not being on an airplane all the time. I enjoy not having to face everything I did. I just want to help people with their vehicles. It's a nice, normal life — the thing I've always wanted."[49]
Johnson married Julia Augusta in 1963, and they adopted daughter Jenifer in 1969 and had son Alex Jr. in 1972. Alex and Julia divorced after his baseball career ended.[50]
Johnson died on February 28, 2015, from complications ofprostate cancer.[51]
| Games | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | BA | OBP | SLG | FLD% |
| 1322 | 4948 | 4623 | 550 | 1331 | 180 | 33 | 78 | 525 | 113 | 244 | .288 | .326 | .392 | .953 |
