Longtime Major League manager and infielder Davey Johnson passed away on Friday at age 82. A four-time All-Star during his 13-year playing career, Johnson went on to manage five different teams over 17 seasons as a manager, capturing a World Series with the Mets in 1986.
Breaking into the majors with the Orioles in 1965, he emerged as Baltimore’s everyday second baseman the following year, and finished third in AL Rookie of the Year voting. Johnson also won his first World Series ring that same season, adding a second with the Orioles in 1970. Such superstar teammates as Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, and Jim Palmer drew most of the headlines during this golden age of Orioles baseball, but Johnson provided excellent glovework (three Gold Gloves) and above-average offense while locking down the keystone.
Johnson delivered one more All-Star season with the Braves in 1973, hitting 43 home runs in what stood as the single-season record for a second baseman until Marcus Semien went yard 45 times with the 2021 Blue Jays. Johnson’s production then declined in 1974, and he spent the 1975-76 playing in Japan with the Yomiuri Giants. It was something of a tumultuous two-year run that saw Johnson fight through some injuries to ultimately help the Giants reach the 1976 Japan Series, and Johnson then returned to the majors for his final two MLB seasons with the Phillies and Cubs in 1977-78.
Regarded as a future manager even early in his career, Johnson indeed turned to minor league managing almost immediately after retiring as a player, and started managing in the Mets’ farm system beginning in 1981. This led to a promotion as the Mets’ big league skipper in 1984, and Johnson immediately led New York to a string of five straight seasons with at least 90 wins. This excellent run included a pair of NL East titles in 1986 and 1988, highlighted by the 108-win team in 1986 that remains the most recent Mets club to capture a World Series title.
Things eventually soured between Johnson and Mets GM Frank Cashen, leading to Johnson’s firing in 1990. This essentially set the tone for the rest of Johnson’s managerial career — he would lead a team to success, yet would be dismissed relatively quickly due to clashes with ownership or upper management. Johnson’s next four stints as a skipper saw him never stay with a team for longer than three seasons, even though Johnson had a sub-.500 record in just one of his eight final full seasons as a manager.
For instance, Johnson’s feud with infamous former Reds owner Marge Schott saw Johnson dismissed after the 1995 season, even though he led Cincinnati to the NL Central title and a NLDS victory over the Dodgers that remains the Reds’ most recent postseason series win. Johnson then returned to his old stomping grounds and led the Orioles to postseason appearances in both 1996 and 1997, but even winning AL Manager of the Year honors in 1997 didn’t smooth over a dispute between Johnson and O’s owner Peter Angelos.
Johnson managed the Dodgers to a 163-161 record in 1999-2000, marking the only time Johnson didn’t lead a team to at least one postseason berth as a manager. He spent much of the next decade managing in international baseball, while also working for the Nationals in a consulting role (beginning in 2006) that paved the way for his final managerial job in 2011, when Johnson took over as interim skipper following Jim Riggleman’s resignation. Johnson was made the full-time skipper following that initial year in Washington, and won NL Manager of the Year honors for leading the Nats to their first NL East crown in 2012. Johnson was 70 years old during his final season in Washington, however, and the Lerner family didn’t view him as a long-term manager, so Johnson retired after an 86-win season in 2013.
Known for his brash personality, Johnson’s outspoken ways may have hurt him in terms of keeping steady employment, yet it certainly aided his ability to manage a clubhouse. Johnson was viewed as being somewhat ahead of his time in terms of running a team, being one of the first skippers to use some analytics to help in formulating his game plans. A mathematics major during his college days, Johnson’s reputation for using analytics to gain an edge on the field earned him the ironic nickname of “Dum-Dum” from his Orioles teammates.
Johnson’s career managerial record was 1372-1071 over parts of 17 seasons. His resume as a player includes 136 homers and a .261/.340/.404 slash line over 1435 games and 5465 plate appearances during his 13 MLB seasons, good for a 112 wRC+. Though Johnson has fallen short of Hall of Fame induction on multiple veterans’ committee ballots, his overall body of work in baseball would certainly seem worthy of Cooperstown, and it can be argued that Johnson could deserve a HOF nod based on his managerial work alone.
We at MLB Trade Rumors express our condolences to Johnson’s family, friends, and peers.
