Davey Johnson, who won three World Series titles as a player and manager with the Baltimore Orioles and New York Mets, has died. He was 82.
Johnson played 1,435 games with the Orioles, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, and Chicago Cubs. He also spent two seasons in Japan with the Yomiuri Giants. He was a four-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove Award winner and was part of two World Series-winning teams with the Orioles in 1966 and 1970.
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Following a playing career that spanned from 1965 to 1978, Johnson began managing in the minor leagues. In 1981, the Mets hired him to lead their Double-A team. Three years later he took over the MLB club and won 90 teams in each of his first five seasons in New York.
In 1986, the Mets finished 108–54 and defeated the Houston Astros in the National League Championship Series and beat the Boston Red Sox in seven games in the World Series. Altogether, he managed the Mets for seven years — never finishing lower than second place — until he was fired during the 1990 season following a rocky relationship with then-general manager Frank Cashen.
With 595 wins, Johnson has the most managerial wins and top winning percentage (595–417, .588) in Mets history and is a member of the team’s Hall of Fame.
Former Mets public relations executive Jay Horowitz recalled Johnson’s time with the Mets.
But wins and losses don’t really tell the story of what made Davey great. He was brash, had swagger, and was the perfect guy to lead our team in the 1980s which had so many different personalities. He was never afraid to speak his mind.
When he got the job in October, 1983, Davey asked the media, “Why did it take Frank Cashen so long to hire me?” In spring training, 1986 Davey addressed the team in this matter. “Not only we will win this year, but we will dominate.” Well, I guess 116 wins proved his point.
After we got off to a 2–3 start in 1986, he told our welcome dinner, “Don’t worry we won’t lose 50 games the rest of the season. Well, we actually lost 51 to wind up 108–54.
During his managerial career, Johnson won five division titles and also guided the Orioles to the 1996 ALCS as a wild card. (His 1994 Cincinnati Reds team was first in the NL Central when the season was cut short due to a players’ strike.) Additionally, he managed Team USA to a gold medal in the 2007 Baseball World Cup, and bronze medals in the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2009 World Baseball Classic.
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In 2006, Johnson was hired by the Washington Nationals as a consultant to vice president and general manager Jim Bowden. He would later become a senior advisor to GM Mike Rizzo in 2009 before replacing Jim Riggleman as manager in June 2011.
Johnson helped the Nationals to a 98-win season in 2012, the most in franchise history, and the NL East crown.
Johnson’s 1,372 wins rank No. 33 on MLB’s all-time list. He won Manager of the Year awards in both the American (1997) and National League (2012), one of seven skippers to win in both leagues.