Roy Cleveland Johnson (February 23, 1903 – September 10, 1973) was an American

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

and

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

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 Detroit Tigers (1929–32),

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

(1932–35),

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

(1936–37) and

Boston Bees The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During ...

(1937–38). A native of

Pryor, Oklahoma Pryor Creek or Pryor''Oklahoma Atlas & Gazeteer,'' DeLorme, 1st Edition, 1998, p. 36 is a city in and county seat of Mayes County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 8,659 at the 2000 census and 9,539 in the 2010 census. Originally ...

, who grew up in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...

, he was the elder brother of "Indian Bob" Johnson, also a major league outfielder. The Johnson brothers were one-quarter

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

Playing career

Roy Johnson batted left-handed and threw right-handed; he stood tall and weighed . Unlike his younger brother, who slugged 288 home runs in his 13-year MLB career, Roy was basically a contact, line-drive hitter. He also was a fine defensive outfielder with a strong throwing arm. His pro career began in 1926, when he

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

.369 in the Class C Utah-Idaho League, earning him a call-up to the top-level San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League. Then, in 1927 and 1928, he teamed with

Earl Averill Howard Earl Averill (May 21, 1902 – August 16, 1983) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a center fielder from 1929 to 1941, including 11 seasons for the Cleveland Indians. He was a six-ti ...

and

Smead Jolley Smead Powell Jolley (January 14, 1902 – November 17, 1991) was an American outfielder in professional baseball. He played from 1922 to 1941, including four seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1930 to 1933. Jolley was considered a good h ...

to give the Seals one of its most feared hitting-outfields in minor league history. On October 19, 1928, the independently-operated Seals traded Johnson to the Detroit Tigers, launching his decade-long

MLB 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), ...

career, where he would be a four-time .300 hitter, and six times finish in the Top 10 among

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

(AL) leaders in stolen bases. In his debut, Johnson became the first

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

in major league history to get 200 hits in a season (201) and also led the AL with 45 doubles and 640 at-bats while hitting .314 with a career-high 128 runs. In , he led the AL with 19 triples and stole 33 bases. Traded by Detroit to the Red Sox in the midseason of , Johnson enjoyed three productive years with Boston, hitting .313 with 95

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 ba ...

during , then following with career-highs .320 and 119 RBI in , and .315 in . After that, he became a part-time outfielder with the Yankees, with whom he appeared in the

1936 World Series The 1936 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1936 season. The 33rd edition of the World Series, it matched the New York Yankees against the New York Giants, with the Yankees winning in six games to earn t ...

as a pinch runner and

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...

in his only plate appearance. Johnson became a world champion when the Yanks defeated the rival New York Giants in six games. One month into the season, the Yankees lost two in a row to the Tigers. Johnson thought that manager

Joe McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most vis ...

was brooding over the losses and snapped, "What's the guy expect to do, win every day?" In a horrible stroke of luck, McCarthy happened to overhear him. Almost as soon as he returned to the team hotel, McCarthy called

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

Ed Barrow Edward Grant Barrow (May 10, 1868 – December 15, 1953) was an American manager and front office executive in Major League Baseball. He served as the field manager of the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox. He served as business manager (de facto ...

and demanded that Johnson be waived immediately. Barrow obliged;

Tommy Henrich Thomas David Henrich (February 20, 1913 – December 1, 2009), nicknamed "The Clutch" and "Old Reliable", was an American professional baseball player of German descent. He played his entire Major League Baseball career as a right fielder an ...

took his spot on the roster. The Boston Bees of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

claimed Johnson off waivers, and Johnson played 92 games as a Bee through April 27, , when he was sent to the minors. He would never play in the majors again. In his ten-season career covering 1,155 games, Johnson posted a .296

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 ...

(1,292-for-4,359) with 716 runs, 275 doubles, 83 triples, 58

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, 555 RBI, 135 stolen bases, 489 walks, .369 on-base percentage and .437 slugging percentage. He recorded a .938 fielding percentage as an outfielder. Roy Johnson died in Tacoma at the age of 70 on September 10, 1973.

Records

Johnson holds the following Detroit Tigers records: * Most runs by rookie—128 (1929) * Most doubles by rookie—45 (1929)

Honors

Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall of Fame
(member since 1960)
State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame
(member since 1978)

References

External links

Roy Johnson
- Baseballbiography.com
Baseball Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Roy 1903 births 1973 deaths American people of Cherokee descent Baltimore Orioles (IL) players Baseball players from Oklahoma Boston Bees players Boston Red Sox players Detroit Tigers players Idaho Falls Spuds players Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball right fielders Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Native American baseball players New York Yankees players People from Pryor Creek, Oklahoma San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Seattle Rainiers players Baseball players from Tacoma, Washington Syracuse Chiefs players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players

Playing career

Records

Honors

See also

References

External links