Brian David Johnson (born January 8, 1968) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

, Kansas City Royals, and

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

from 1994 to 2001. Prior to his professional career he attended

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

and played for the Stanford Cardinal baseball and football teams.

Early life

Johnson attended Skyline High School in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, from 1983 to 1986, where he was a three-sport varsity

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

. As a

and

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the Titans, Johnson tied one national record and broke six state records while being selected as an All-American. Johnson was the starting

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

during all three of his years at Skyline. In addition, he was the backup to

Gary Payton Gary Dwayne Payton Sr. (born July 23, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who played the point guard position. Widely considered one of the greatest point guards of all time, he is best known for his 13-year tenure with ...

on Skyline's varsity basketball team. Johnson was named the California Athlete of the Year by Cal-Hi Sports three times. Brian was also the bat boy and later played for th
Oakland Horsehide
softball club during the 1980s. Johnson projected to be a first-round draft pick after his senior year (1986). A week prior to the draft, he notified each team that he would not sign if drafted as he wanted to pursue his dream of playing two-Division I sports - while earning his degree on-time in four years. The

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

selected him in the 30th round of the 1986 MLB draft.

Career at Stanford University

Johnson earned a full scholarship to play

for

. He was the starting

during parts of his first 3 seasons. Johnson also played for the Cardinal's baseball team where he played seven different positions (all but catcher and second base) helping the team win two

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

championships.

Major League Baseball career

After his junior year at

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

, Johnson was drafted by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

in the 16th round (413th overall) of the 1989 MLB draft to play third base. Although Johnson hadn't played catcher since high school, that was the position he was destined for during his professional baseball career. Johnson played for six different ballclubs during his career: the

(-),

(),

(-),

(), Kansas City Royals () and

(). He made his Major League Baseball debut on April 4, 1994, and played his final game on September 21, 2001. On September 18, 1997, when he hit a home run in the bottom of the 12th inning against the

to move the

into a tie with the Dodgers for first place. The Giants won the

National League West The National League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was formed for the 1969 season when the National League expanded to 12 teams by adding the San Diego Padres and the Montreal Expos. For purpose of keeping a re ...

References

External links

The Pride of two cities
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Brian 1968 births Living people Albany-Colonie Yankees players Baseball players from Oakland, California Players of American football from Oakland, California Cincinnati Reds players Columbus Clippers players Detroit Tigers players Fort Lauderdale Yankees players Fresno Grizzlies players Greensboro Hornets players Gulf Coast Dodgers players Gulf Coast Yankees players Indianapolis Indians players Indios de Mayagüez players Kansas City Royals players Las Vegas 51s players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball catchers Memphis Redbirds players San Diego Padres players San Francisco Giants players Stanford Cardinal baseball players Stanford Cardinal football players Toledo Mud Hens players Wichita Wranglers players Skyline High School (Oakland, California) alumni