Howard Johnson

Name: Howard Michael Johnson

Nickname: HoJo

Years Played: 1982 - 1995

Teams: Detroit Tigers, New York Mets, Colorado Rockies, Chicago Cubs

Highlights/Awards: Won 2 Silver Slugger Awards, 2 All-Star Games, Led the NL in Home Runs, RBI, XBH and Sac Flies in 1991, Led the NL in Runs in 1989

Career Stats: .249 BA, .446 SLG, 228 HR, 760 RBI, 247 2B, 231 SB, 1053 K

Best Season: 1989; .287 BA, .559 SLG, 36 HR, 101 RBI, 41 2B, 41 SB

Did You Know: Three time member of the 30-30 club. First switch-hitter to lead the league in RBI. Current Mets hitting coach.

Thoughts: Loved the Mets in the 80’s and I remember HoJo as a scruffy looking, paunchy guy, not the kind of player you would expect to steal a lot of bases. He got ripped in the MVP voting in 1989 finishing 5^th. I’m alright with Kevin Mitchell winning it that year, he did hit 47 bombs, but HoJo should have been ahead of Clark, Guerrero and my least favorite player or all time, Sandberg. Last thought: How does a guy w/ a .249 career BA become the hitting coach for a major league team? That might explain some of the Mets problems in recent years.