Nicholas Robert Johnson (born September 19, 1978) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

. During his career Johnson played for 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 ...

(2001–2003; 2010),

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 ...

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

(2004–2009),

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

(2009), and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

(2012). Johnson was known for his patience and discipline at the plate, which led to him having a career

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

of .399. Lifetime, with the

bases loaded B backdoor breaking ball :A breaking pitch, usually a slider, curveball, or cut fastball that, due to its lateral motion, passes through a small part of the strike zone on the outside edge of the plate after seeming as if it would miss the p ...

he had a .370

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, a .444

, 72

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

, and 2 grand slams in 73

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a bat ...

s. Johnson was also the last remaining player on the Nationals' roster to relocate with the team from Montreal, before being traded to the Marlins at the 2009 non-waiver

trade deadline In professional sports within the United States and Canada, a trade is a sports league transaction between sports clubs involving the exchange of player rights from one team to another. Though player rights are the primary trading assets, draft p ...

Personal

He is the nephew of

Larry Bowa Lawrence Robert Bowa (born December 6, 1945) is an American former professional baseball shortstop, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB), who played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and New York Mets. Bowa went on to ma ...

. Johnson and his wife, Liz, had their first child, Brianna, on January 31, 2006. He graduated from C. K. McClatchy High School in

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

where he was teammates with future Major Leaguer Steve Holm. As a senior he was named to the all-state team and was named to the All-America Third Team by the

American Baseball Coaches Association The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) is the world's largest amateur baseball coaching organization. It was founded in 1945 as the American Association of College Baseball Coaches. Now, the ABCA is composed of over 13,000 baseball coac ...

and

Rawlings Rawlings may refer to: *Rawlings (company), a U.S. sports equipment company *Rawlings, Maryland, an unincorporated community in Allegany County, Maryland *Rawlings (surname) Rawlings is an English-language surname. Notable people with the name in ...

Minor league career

Johnson was drafted by the Yankees in the third round (89th overall) of the 1996 Major League Baseball draft. In , he batted .317/.466/.538 with 17 home runs in 303 at-bats for the

Tampa Yankees Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

. In , he was an All-Star for the

Norwich Navigators Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, and batted .345/.525/.548 with 37 HBP and 123 walks in 420 official at-bats. He participated in the 1999 and 2001 Futures Games during All-Star Weekend, playing for the United States team. Johnson has a .446 lifetime minor league on-base percentage.

Major League career

New York Yankees

In 2002, Johnson was 7th in the AL in hit by pitch (12), in just 378 at-bats with the Yankees. Johnson hit .284/.422/.472 with the Yankees in 2003. From May 15 to July 25, Johnson was on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

due to a

stress fracture A stress fracture is a fatigue-induced bone fracture caused by repeated stress over time. Instead of resulting from a single severe impact, stress fractures are the result of accumulated injury from repeated submaximal loading, such as running or ...

in his right hand. During this time, he ranked ninth among first baseman in Runs Above Replacement, position-adjusted (RARP)—a

Sabermetric Sabermetrics, or originally SABRmetrics, is the empirical analysis of baseball, especially baseball statistics that measure in-game activity. Sabermetricians collect and summarize the relevant data from this in-game activity to answer specific ques ...

statistic. Only four of the hitters ahead of him (

Carlos Delgado Carlos Juan Delgado Hernández (born June 25, 1972) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball primarily as a first baseman, from 1993 to 2009, most prominently as a member of the Toronto ...

Todd Helton Todd Lynn Helton (born August 20, 1973) is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played his entire 17-year career for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB). A five-time All-Star, four-time Silver Slugger, and ...

Jason Giambi Jason Gilbert Giambi (; born January 8, 1971) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter. In his Major League Baseball (MLB) career, which began in 1995, Giambi played for the Oakland Athletics, New York Yank ...

, and

Jim Thome James Howard Thome (; born August 27, 1970) is an American former professional baseball corner infielder and designated hitter, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 22 seasons (1991–2012). He played for six different teams during th ...

) had a better EqA, and the other four played more than Johnson. Expanding beyond his position, he would have tied with

Edgar Martínez Edgar Martínez (born January 2, 1963), nicknamed "Gar" and "Papi", is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a designated hitter and third baseman for the Seattle Mariners from 19 ...

for the 17th-best EqA in baseball. After the 2003 season, the Yankees traded him, along with Juan Rivera and

Randy Choate Randol Doyle Choate (born September 5, 1975) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. The New York Yankees selected him in the 1997 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft from Florida State University. Choate made his MLB debut for the Ya ...

, to the

for Javier Vázquez. Nick Johnson on June 28, 2009

Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals

In 2004, his first season (and last, because of their relocation to Washington at the end of the season) with the Expos, injuries struck again. He could not play until May 28 because of a back injury, and struggled after initial success. By the time his season was ended by a ball hit to first that took a bad hop and broke his cheekbone, he was down to a .251/.359/.398 line. The back injury was another troubling sign regarding his fragility; in addition, the year was considered a disappointment as far as his hitting was concerned. In , with the new

, Johnson compiled a performance more reminiscent of his 2003 season than of his injury-riddled 2004 campaign. He hit .289/.408 (sixth-best in the league)/.479, and had a .478 on-base percentage with runners in

scoring position In the sport of baseball, a baserunner is said to be in scoring position when they are on second or third base. The distinction between being on first base and second or third base is that a runner on first can usually only score if the batter h ...

. Johnson batted fourth in the lineup for most of the season, despite the fact that he had a much higher OBP than

José Guillén José Manuel Guillén (pronounced ; born May 17, 1976) is a Dominican former professional baseball outfielder. Guillén played for ten Major League Baseball (MLB) teams in his career. Professional career Pittsburgh Pirates Guillén was signed b ...

, the three-hole hitter. Just before the 2006 season began, Johnson signed a three-year, $16.5 million contract extension, with a trade clause after the second year. In , Johnson hit .290/.428/.520, in his best year thus far. The .428 OBP was the 4th-highest in the league. He was second in the NL in walk percentage (18.0%), third in walks (110), seventh in doubles (46) and intentional walks (15), and tenth in times hit by pitch (13). He had a .454 OBP with runners in scoring position. Johnson had his worst season to date in the field, however, with 15 errors. On September 23, 2006, playing against the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

Shea Stadium Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.Austin Kearns Austin Ryan Kearns (born May 20, 1980) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2002 through 2013 for the Cincinnati Reds, Washington Nationals, Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, and ...

collided while attempting to catch a fly ball. Johnson sustained a broken

femur The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates with ...

and underwent surgery that night to repair the injury. He missed the entire season, though he still earned $5.5 million. Returning from his broken leg, Johnson played in the Nationals'

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

games in . Though he was off to a rocky start, he regained his form and competed with

Dmitri Young Dmitri Dell Young (born October 11, 1973) is an American former professional baseball player. He played all or parts of 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a left fielder, first baseman, and designated hitter, for the St. Louis Cardinals ...

, his replacement while injured and the 2007 recipient of the NL Comeback Player of the Year Award, for the role of starting first baseman, and opened the season as the starting first baseman over Young. On March 30, 2008, Johnson knocked in the first RBI in the new baseball stadium for the Nationals. However, soon after, he sustained a tear in a

ligament A ligament is the fibrous connective tissue that connects bones to other bones. It is also known as ''articular ligament'', ''articular larua'', ''fibrous ligament'', or ''true ligament''. Other ligaments in the body include the: * Peritoneal li ...

on the

ulna The ulna (''pl''. ulnae or ulnas) is a long bone found in the forearm that stretches from the elbow to the smallest finger, and when in anatomical position, is found on the medial side of the forearm. That is, the ulna is on the same side of t ...

r side of his wrist, and missed the rest of the 2008 season. There were rumors he may be traded before the season; however, he opened the season as the starting first baseman.

Florida Marlins

On July 31, 2009, he was traded from the Washington Nationals to the

for minor league pitcher

Aaron Thompson Aaron M. Thompson (born February 28, 1987) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Minnesota Twins. Early life Thompson was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He ...

. With Johnson's trade, the Nationals franchise no longer had any player on the roster who made the Montreal/Washington crossover in 2005 (although that changed again shortly after when

Liván Hernández Eisler Liván Hernández Carrera (; born February 20, 1975) is a Cuban-born former professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball. Over a 17-year career, he played for nine different teams and was named to two Major League Baseball All-S ...

was reacquired). One of the reasons Johnson was dealt to the Marlins was because of his past history of injury. In 2009, he walked 17.8% of the time, the highest percentage in the major leagues. His .426 on-base percentage was second-best in the league to

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

Albert Pujols José Alberto Pujols Alcántara () (); born January 16, 1980) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball first baseman, designated hitter and third baseman who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed "The Machine", ...

Return to New York

On December 23, 2009, Johnson signed a one-year, $5.5 million contract to return to the Yankees. The contract also included a second-year team option. On May 8, Johnson was placed on the

with a wrist injury. He required season-ending surgery after a setback in his rehabilitation in August. The Yankees declined his 2011 option, making him a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

again.

Cleveland Indians

On March 7, 2011, Johnson signed a minor league contract with the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

. He spent the season in AAA with the

Columbus Clippers The Columbus Clippers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They are located in Columbus, Ohio, and are named for speedy Merchant ship, mercha ...

Baltimore Orioles

On February 8, 2012, Johnson signed a minor league contract with the

. He attended spring training and competed for a spot on the major league roster, which he earned. He was hitless through his first 28 at-bats for the Orioles, before finally collecting a double in a game against the Yankees on May 1. He suffered a wrist injury on June 27, 2012, and did not play again for the rest of the season. Due to long-lasting injuries sustained throughout his career, Johnson decided to retire from

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), ...

on January 28, 2013.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Nick 1978 births Living people Akron Aeros players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Sacramento, California Brevard County Manatees players Columbus Clippers players Edmonton Trappers players Florida Marlins players Greensboro Bats players Gulf Coast Yankees players Jupiter Hammerheads players Major League Baseball first basemen Montreal Expos players New Orleans Zephyrs players New York Yankees players Norwich Navigators players Tampa Yankees players Trenton Thunder players Washington Nationals players