Darrell Johnson
Encyclopedia
Darrell Dean Johnson was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 catcher
Catcher
Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...

, coach
Coach (baseball)
In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, or head coach, who determines the lineup and decides how to substitute players during the game...

, manager
Manager (baseball)
In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...

 and scout.

Playing career

Johnson was born in Horace
Greeley County, Nebraska
-History:Greeley County was formed in 1871. It was named after Horace Greeley, a newspaper editor and politician of the mid-19th century.-Demographics:...

, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

, and made his Major League debut on April 20, 1952. Johnson, a catcher, played in six major league seasons between 1952 and 1962. He was listed as ft 6 in (1.85 m), 180 lb (82 kg), bats right, throws right.

Johnson graduated from Harvard, Nebraska
Harvard, Nebraska
Harvard is a city in Clay County, Nebraska, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 998. It is part of the Hastings, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Harvard is located at ....

, High School in 1944. He was signed by the St. Louis Browns as an amateur free agent in 1949, and played for the Browns, Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...

, New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

, St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...

, Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...

, Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....

 and Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...

, who released him on June 12, 1962, ending his playing career. Johnson finished with a career batting average of .234. He appeared in the 1961 World Series
1961 World Series
The 1961 World Series matched the New York Yankees against the Cincinnati Reds , with the Yankees winning in five games to earn their 19th championship in 39 seasons. This World Series was surrounded by Cold War political puns pitting the "Reds" against the "Yanks"...

 for the Reds against the Yankees and had two singles in four at-bats.

Manager of Red Sox, Mariners and Rangers

Johnson had more success as a manager, leading three different teams during eight seasons. His biggest success was as manager of the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...

 from 1974 through 1976, when he compiled a record of 220-188 for a .539 percentage. He guided the Red Sox to a 95-65 .594 mark in 1975 and a first-place finish in the AL East. The Sox swept the Oakland A's in the playoffs, 3-0, then lost to the Cincinnati Reds "Big Red Machine" in the thrilling World Series
1975 World Series
The 1975 World Series was played between the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds . It has been ranked by ESPN as the second-greatest World Series ever played...

, four games to three. But when the Sox slumped the following season, Johnson was fired by the middle of July.

Johnson served as the original manager of the Seattle Mariners
Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are a professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. Enfranchised in , the Mariners are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Safeco Field has been the Mariners' home ballpark since July...

 from 1977 to 1980, and also managed the Texas Rangers
Texas Rangers (baseball)
The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...

 in 1982. He finished with a record of 472-590 for a .444 career percentage as a manager.

Coach and scout

Johnson's playing career was interrupted by eleven months spent as an MLB coach
Coach (baseball)
In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, or head coach, who determines the lineup and decides how to substitute players during the game...

. In August , Johnson was released as a player and added to the coaching staff of Cardinals manager Solly Hemus
Solly Hemus
Solomon Joseph Hemus is a retired infielder, manager and coach in American Major League Baseball.As a player with the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies, Hemus was primarily a shortstop, although he also saw significant time as a second baseman. He compiled a lifetime batting average...

, then reappointed for . When the Redbirds fired Hemus on July 8, 1961, Johnson also was released. The following day, he signed a playing contract with the Phillies, and spent five weeks (catching in 21 games) in Philadelphia before finishing the year as one of the catchers with the Reds' National League champions
1961 Cincinnati Reds season
The Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. It consisted of the Reds winning the National League pennant with a record of 93-61, four games over the runner-up Los Angeles Dodgers, but losing the World Series in five games to the New York Yankees. The Reds were managed by Fred...

. Johnson had two singles
Single (baseball)
In baseball, a single is the most common type of base hit, accomplished through the act of a batter safely reaching first base by hitting a fair ball and getting to first base before a fielder puts him out...

 in four at bats for the Reds in the 1961 World Series
1961 World Series
The 1961 World Series matched the New York Yankees against the Cincinnati Reds , with the Yankees winning in five games to earn their 19th championship in 39 seasons. This World Series was surrounded by Cold War political puns pitting the "Reds" against the "Yanks"...

 against his old team, the Yankees, who won in five games. Cincinnati released Johnson only a few days into the season, and he signed with the Orioles as a backup catcher. Then, in June 1962, Johnson retired from the active ranks again and served out the year as Baltimore's bullpen coach
Bullpen
In baseball, the bullpen is the area where relief pitchers warm-up before entering a game. Depending on the ballpark, it may be situated in foul territory along the baselines or just beyond the outfield fence. Also, a team's roster of relief pitchers is metonymically referred to as "the bullpen"...

.

He then became a minor league
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 manager in the Baltimore system and won championships with the Rochester Red Wings
Rochester Red Wings
The Rochester Red Wings are a minor league baseball team based in Rochester, New York. The team plays in the International League and is the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins major-league club. The Red Wings play in Frontier Field, located in downtown Rochester.The Red Wings were an...

 of the Triple-A International League
International League
The International League is a minor league baseball league that operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so named because it had teams in both the United States...

 (1964) and Elmira Pioneers
Elmira Pioneers
The Elmira Pioneers are an amateur baseball team based in Elmira, New York. They currently compete in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, a wood bat collegiate summer baseball league. Prior to the 2006 baseball season, the team was a professional ballclub with a rich history of league...

 of the Double-A Eastern League (1966). After a year as a scout for the 1967 Yankees, he was named pitching coach of the defending AL champion Red Sox under Dick Williams
Dick Williams
Richard Hirschfeld "Dick" Williams was an American left fielder, third baseman, manager, coach and front office consultant in Major League Baseball. Known especially as a hard-driving, sharp-tongued manager from 1967–69 and 1971–88, he led teams to three American League pennants, one National...

 in 1968–1969. After Williams' firing, Johnson was retained by the Red Sox as a scout in 1970, then managed Boston's Triple-A Louisville Colonels
Louisville Colonels (minor league baseball team)
The Louisville Colonels was the name of several minor league baseball teams that played in Louisville, Kentucky, in the 20th century. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels.-Twentieth century minor league teams:...

 in 1971–1972. He became the first manager of the AAA version of the Pawtucket Red Sox
Pawtucket Red Sox
The Pawtucket Red Sox are the minor league baseball Triple-A affiliates of the Boston Red Sox and belong to the International League...

, finishing 78-68—and winning the Governor's Cup, emblematic of the IL's playoff championship—in his only PawSox season in 1973. That championship earned him a promotion to the Red Sox managing job.

After his firing in Seattle in 1980, Johnson served as third-base coach on Don Zimmer
Don Zimmer
Donald William "Popeye" Zimmer is a former infielder, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball, currently serving as a senior advisor to the Tampa Bay Rays baseball organization...

's Ranger staff beginning in , before taking over for Zimmer as manager on July 30, 1982. Ironically, six years earlier, the roles had been reversed when coach Zimmer had relieved Johnson of his managerial duties in Boston. Johnson then moved to the New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...

 as a Major League coach, minor league coordinator of instruction, and longtime scout.

He died from leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...

 in Fairfield, California
Fairfield, California
Fairfield is a city located in Solano County in Northern California, USA. It is generally considered the midpoint between the cities of San Francisco and Sacramento, approximately from the city center of both cities, approximately from the city center of Oakland, less than from Napa Valley, 18...

, at the age of 75.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK