Joseph Richard Johnson (born October 30, 1961) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

former right-handed starting

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 ...

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), ...

who played for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

and

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

from

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

Career

A native of

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton, A ...

, Johnson attended the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

. In 1981, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox The Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox, or Y-D Red Sox, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Red Sox play thei ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

and was named a league all-star. Johnson was drafted by the

in the second round of the 1982 MLB Draft. He made his debut with the Braves in 1985, compiling a record of 4–4 with a 4.10

earned-run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

. He had a solid

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

season, going 13–9 with both the Braves and the

, to whom he was traded on July 6 for fellow pitcher

Jim Acker James Justin Acker (born September 24, 1958) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played from to . He played college baseball at the University of Texas. Acker was drafted in the first round by the Atlanta Braves in the 1980 Major Leagu ...

. Johnson had a subpar 1987 in Toronto, and was featured in a ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' article for their "One Day in Baseball" issue. An issue entirely focused on each of the Major League Baseball games of June 21, 1987 where a sportswriter was assigned to each game played that day and had to write an article about their day, whether it be action in the field or in the stands. While some features included a fan catching his first foul ball, coverage from inside the Green Monster in

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Base ...

, a rare inside the park grand slam in Oakland. For the Toronto game, a sportswriter spent the day with Johnson, the scheduled starting pitcher for that day, and his family. Johnson had been struggling for the Blue Jays that year and in the game gave up three runs in three innings raising his ERA for the season to 5.13, but avoided the loss as the Blue Jays came back to win the game 7–6. Johnson was sent down to the minors after the game. It was expected to be a short term demotion so that he could work on his mechanics, but it turned out to be the last time he would ever pitch in the majors. He remained in the minor leagues until 1990 when he retired.

References

External links

1961 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Massachusetts Edmonton Trappers players Greenville Braves players Maine Black Bears baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Pawtucket Red Sox players Sportspeople from Brookline, Massachusetts Richmond Braves players Savannah Braves players Syracuse Chiefs players Toronto Blue Jays players Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1960s-stub