Jonathan Kent Johnson (born July 16, 1974) is a former

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), ...

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 ...

who played for six seasons. He played for the Texas Rangers from 1998 to 2001, 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 penna ...

in 2002, and the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

in 2003.

High school and college career

Johnson attended high school at Forest High School in

Ocala, Florida Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County within the northern region of Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 63,591, making it the 54th most populated city in Florida. Home to ...

. In his senior year, he committed to playing

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

and was considered to be "clearly the most dominant pitcher" in his region. After graduating from high school, he spent three seasons with the

Florida State Seminoles baseball The Florida State Seminoles baseball team represents Florida State University (variously Florida State or FSU) in the sport of college baseball. Florida State competes in NCAA Division I, and the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conferenc ...

team. In his freshman season, Johnson finished the year with a 10–1 record, a 1.68

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 ...

(ERA), and 124

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s in

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. He was named

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC) Rookie of the Year and was named to Baseball America's All-Freshman team. The following year, Johnson finished his sophomore season with a 12–1 record and 137 strikeouts, and earned third-team All-America and second-team All-ACC honors. Johnson also played in the

1994 College World Series The 1994 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1994 NCAA Division I baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Serie ...

, pitching against the

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets baseball The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets baseball team represents the Georgia Institute of Technology in NCAA Division I college baseball. Along with most other Georgia Tech athletic teams, the baseball team participates in the Atlantic Coast Conferen ...

team. In his junior year, Johnson finished the season with a 12–3 record, leading Florida State to the ACC Championship. He also participated in the

1995 College World Series The 1995 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1995 NCAA Division I baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Series ...

, and was a finalist for the 1995

Golden Spikes Award The Golden Spikes Award is bestowed annually to the best amateur baseball player in the United States. The award, created by USA Baseball and sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association, was first presented in 1978. It is given to ...

, as well as being a Baseball America first-team All-American. In 1995, 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

Orleans Cardinals The Orleans Firebirds, formerly the Orleans Cardinals, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Orleans, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Firebirds play t ...

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 ...

. Johnson was admitted to the Florida State University Hall of Fame in 2006. Jonathan Johnson coached for the Dutch Fork Silver Foxes in Irmo, South Carolina. Currently, he is the manager of the

Lexington County Blowfish The Lexington County Blowfish are a summer collegiate baseball team in the Coastal Plain League. The team plays its home games at the Lexington County Baseball Stadium in unincorporated Lexington County, South Carolina (with an address in the ...

Professional career

Johnson was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the first round of the

1995 Major League Baseball Draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1995 Major League Baseball draft. ''*'' Did not sign Background Outfielder Darin Erstad of the University of Nebraska was the first pick in the 1995 Rule 4 Draft. Erstad ...

, and signed with the team on July 18. He spent the next few seasons in the minor leagues until he made his debut on September 27, 1998, making the start and allowing four earned runs in innings. He made one more appearance in 1999, then in 2000 he pitched in 15 games for the Rangers, finishing the season with a 1–1 record and a 6.21 ERA. After starting the 2001 season with the Rangers, he was sent to the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

, but did not play a game for the team. After two seasons of play, one with the

and one with the

, Johnson retired. In 2006, he was signed by 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 joined their minor league system, hoping to make a major league comeback. He spent two seasons with the

Richmond Braves The Richmond Braves were an American minor league baseball club based in Richmond, Virginia, the Triple-A International League affiliate of the Atlanta Braves from 1966 to 2008. Owned by the parent Atlanta club and colloquially referred to as the ...

before being released.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Jonathan 1974 births Living people Ocala High School alumni Texas Rangers players San Diego Padres players Houston Astros players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Florida State Seminoles baseball players Orleans Firebirds players Charlotte Rangers players Tulsa Drillers players Oklahoma City 89ers players Oklahoma RedHawks players Gulf Coast Rangers players El Paso Diablos players Tucson Sidewinders players Portland Beavers players New Orleans Zephyrs players Richmond Braves players People from LaGrange, Georgia