Howard Johnson "Hojo"- (Part One: The Eighties) World Champion Mets - 30/30 Club Member & Two Time All Star

Howard Michael Johnson known as "Hojo" was born on November 29, 1960, in Clearwater, Florida. The five-foot eleven switch hitter was originally drafted as a first round, pitcher out of St. Petersburg College, by the Detroit Tigers in 1979.

In the minors he was converted into a third baseman due to bat & his strong arm. In his third minor league season he hit 22 HRs at AA Birmingham in 1981. In 1982 he hit 23 HRs while batting .317 stealing 35 bases at AAA Evansville earning a call up to the big leagues.

MLB Career: He came up to the Tigers in 1982 as a backup to Tom Brookens batting .316 with 4 HRs in 54 games. By 1984 he was being platooned with Brookens, starting out the year hot, driving in run in six of ten games in May. 

A strong June had him hit up at the .300 mark along with four HRs. But he tailed off as the year came to an end, and he saw less playing time in September after the Tigers rolled over the American League. Soon veterans Darrel Evans & Marty Castillo were getting more playing time, especially in the post season.

Hojo had 12 HRs 50 RBIs & batted .248 in 116 games, but only had one at bat going 0-1 in the post season as the Tigers won the World Series. After the season, he was traded to the New York Mets for pitcher Walt Terrell.

Mets Career: He arrived in New York as one of three third baseman, but Hubbie Brooks was quickly traded in a deal to acquire All Star catcher, Gary Carter. 

Hojo was the Mets starting third baseman on Opening Day 1985, getting a hit & drawing an RBI walk in the 6-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Hojo's debut went under noticed, since Carter was also making his debut & hit a walk off game winning HR.

Johnson struggled not getting above the .200 mark until July 4th, that month things got better for him. As Ray Knight struggled, hitting just .218 on the year, Johnson remained the teams main third baseman. He drove in 16 runs, raised his average thirty-four points and hit four HRs. 

On August 3rd his top of the 10th inning HR in Chicago, off the Cubs George Frazier broke the 4-4 tie & was the game winner. On September 10th he hit a grand slam HR off the St. Louis Cardinals John Tudor, keeping New York in first place, one game up after the 5-4 win.

Three weeks later on September 29th, his three hit three RBI Day, including a HR, helped the Mets beat the Pirates in Pittsburgh 9-7. Hojo hit, 242 with 11 HRs 18 doubles & 46 RBIs, posting a .300 on base %. For 1985 he played 126 games at third base posting a .941 fielding % making 15 errors in 253 chances.

1986 Championship Season: he started out well batting .357 in April. On April 24th Hojo hit a two run HR off St. Louis' Todd Worrell tying up the game in the top of the 9th inning. The Mets went on to beat the rival Cardinals 5-4 on George Fosters RBI base hit. 

On May 9th, his double off the Reds Maio Soto drove in the first of two Mets runs in a 2-1 win over the Reds. He would not hit a HR in all of the month of June. Hojo then spent time on the DL missing most of the month of June.

Upon his return he struggled, losing his starting job at third base to Ray Knight who would bat .298. 

On June 23rd, he hit two HRs in a 5-4 Mets loss to the Montreal Expos. It was the first HR he had hit in two months. But he then went on a tear hitting 6 HRs during the next month.

One of his biggest blasts came during the legendary July 22nd game at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. The Reds Eric Davis had slid hard into third base & Mets third baseman Ray Knight took offense. Knight immediately took his glove off & threw a punch at Davis. 

A classic bench clearing brawl occurred as both dugouts & bull pens emptied. Players were ejected & manager Davey Johnson had to fill spots on the field, including having to use pitcher Roger McDowell to play in the outfield. 

Johnson followed up with a three-run HR off Ted Power in the top of the 14th inning, which led to the Mets 6-3 victory. 

Later that week he homered in a loss at Atlanta & then drove in three runs in a 9-2 Mets win over
the Cubs at Shea Stadium. Later in the year he hit a September three HR off Greg Maddox in a 5-0-win over the Cubs at Shea Stadium.

His last HR of the year came against Pittsburgh ina 3-1 win at Three Rivers Stadium.

 Hojo’s constant smile and good sense of humor was constant throughout the year.


The Hot Foot:
He became Roger McDowell’s side kick in the Mets dug out, issuing the “hot foot” to Mets players. 

The “Hot Foot” was a matchbook that was stuck with bubble gum to the back of a player's shoe, then lit on fire by either Johnson or McDowell.

This was demonstrated in detail the 1987 “Let’s Go Mets” video by both Johnson & McDowell. 

He finished the 1986 Championship year batting .249 with 10 HRs 14 doubles, 39 RBIs & a .341 on base %. 




1986 Post Season: HoJo was shut out in the postseason, going 0-for-7 in the four games he played in. 

His only start was in Game #2 of the 1986 World Series against the Boston Red Sox, when he went 0-for-4 in the Mets loss. 

His only other at bat in the series was in Game #6 when he struck out in the ninth inning.

Mets Trivia: Hojo goes down in Mets history as the first Met to greet Ray Knight at home plate as he scored the miraculous winning run in the classic World Series Game # 6.

At age 25 Johnson already had won his second World Series title. That night at Shea Stadium he went back to the mound to drink champagne & celebrate in front of the remaining fans.

After the Championship: Ray Knight was let go to free agency & signed with the Baltimore Orioles. Dave Magadan was Johnson's newest competition at third base. He got injured & Johnson became the Mets regular third baseman. He developed into one of the league’s top power hitters over the next two seasons. 



1987: After a slow April, he went on a three-month tear starting out with a five HR 15 RBI stretch from May 10th through May 20th. 

On that road trip he homered in Atlanta & San Francisco, then came home to hit three more. He also drove in at least a run in five straight games, eight of ten.

On May 19th, his 7th inning sac fly off the Padres Rich Gossage broke a 4-4 tie & was the winning run-in a 5-4 win over San Diego at Shea.

On June 8th & 9th he hit HRs in back-to-back games at Wrigley Field, although the Mets lost both of them. He then hit HRs in Pittsburgh & Montreal on the long road trip. When the Mets returned home, he hit HRs in consecutive winning games over the Phillies.

Walk Off Hit: Hojo came to bat against the Cardinals Ricky Horton, in the bottom of the 9th inning with two men on & one out in a 2-2 tie. His base hit to left field scored Lenny Dykstra with the game winning run.

On July 9th the Mets opened up a four-game set at the Astrodome in Houston, after dropping the first game the Mets took the next three as Johnson homered in all three games. 

On July 11th, he hit two HRs off Danny Darwin in an 8-6 Mets win. The next day he hit his 20th HR of the year, a solo shot off Bob Knepper in a 5-2 Mets win over the Astros.

He had 20 HRs by the All-Star break but the World Champs were struggling at 9.5 games back of the Cardinals.

After the break, he returned to homer in back-to-back games on the homestand. Hojo would hit HRs in back-to-back games in a series sweep in St. Louis at the end of July. The Mets entered the series 7.5 back but now getting to 4.5 back put them back in the race.

Accusations of Corking the Bat: In that series Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog asked home plate umpire Joe West to check his bat. It was ok, but it started a trend in which Houston Manager Hal Lanier, Expos manager Buck Rogers & Giants manager Roger Craig all asked umpires to check his bat for corking.

Quotes- Roger Craig:
" When a man hits a ball 480 ft. I have to take a precaution. I knew Hojo well when I was with him in Detroit. He really hit that ball & I don't recall him hitting them that far in Detroit".

The x-rays of the bat never showed up anything & he was never proven guilty. After his career he said, "I know a few good carpenters yeah". Even his old manager Davey Johnson chimed in "did I see cork? No. Did he probably cork his bat? Yes."

Grand Slam: He started August with a grand slam off Randy St. Claire of the Expos in Montreal in the Mets 12-4 blowout win. 

From July 26- August 9th, during a thirteen-game span he had at least one RBI in all but one game. 

In mid-August he homered in three straight games, driving in seven more runs in that span.

On August 31st he hit a top of the 10th inning HR off The Pares Keith Comstock for a game winning 6-5 Mets win in San Diego. Two days later his two run HR off  Ed Whitson led New York to a 3-2 win, helping Dwight Gooden complete the three-game sweep of the Padres. Johnson drove in a run in all three of the games.
 
Grand Slam: On September 21st he hit his second grand slam of the season, this one-off former Met & old fiend Ed Lynch. It came after Lynch had shut the Mets out into the 8th inning, at Wrigley Field in what turned out to be a 7-1 Mets win. 

The win had the Mets keep pace with the Cardinals just 2.5 games back with twelve games left to play. But they would go 6-6 the rest of the way finishing three games back.

30/30 Club: Hojo had always been a quick base runner as well. In the late eighties the trend became joining the & so called exclusive 30/30 club. Hojo did just that as he stole 32 bases & finished the year with 36 HRs (7th in the league). That year he set a HR record for NL switch hitters with his 36 HRs. He was overall a much a better hitter from the right side of the plate.

He had 99 RBIs, second on the club to Daryl Strawberry & tenth most in the league. He hit 22 doubles with 93 runs scored while posting a 3.64 on base percentage. He was now being recognized as a new Mets slugger as the careers of Gary Carter & Keith Hernandez were beginning to wind down. 

Johnson even earned 42 points in the MVP voting as well. The free-swinging Hojo struck out 113 times (9th in the NL). It was the first in a five-year stretch where he struck out over 100 times.

1988 NL Eastern Champion Season:  Johnson started out the year slow, in April he batted just .171, not hitting .200 until mid-May.  On May 1st he helped Doc Gooden go to 6-0 as he hit a three run HR & drove in four of the Mets 11 runs in an 11-0 shutout. 

Pete Rose Shoves Umpire: On April 30th, in a wild game at Riverfront Stadium, against the Reds, Mookie Wilson hit a ball to short & the throw pulled first baseman Nick Esasky off the bag. In a delayed call, by umpire Dave Pallone, Wilson was ruled safe at first & Howard Johnson scored from third base.

 Red's manager Pete Rose went crazy, during the heated argument Rose shoved Dave Pallone. He was ejected & suspended for nearly a month. Play was halted as fans littered the field.

The next day the Mets blew out the Reds 11-0, Hojo hit a three run HR & drove in four runs. In the week of May 20th, he hit HRs in three games.

Walk Off HR: On June 2nd, the Mets & Cubs were tied up 1-1 with the Cubs in the 13th inning. Hojo led off the inning against Chicago pitcher Frank DiPino  & blasted a walk off HR to center field. Mets took an exciting 2-1 win. It was one of three, extra inning game winning HRs that Mets had in a five-game span.

In the final week of the month he hit four HRs & drove in runs in six of eight games. 

From June 24th to June 29th, he hit four HRs in a six-game span. On June 29th he hit a bottom of the 9th inning HR at Shea Stadium, off the Pirates Jim Gott. The HR tied the game, in which the Mets went on to win in the bottom of the 13th. The next day Hojo drove in four runs, matching his season high.

He began July by driving in runs in the first four games of the month. The Mets had a 7.5 game lead over the Cardinals, but a slump had St. Louis come within a game & half by the All-Star Break. But the Mets came back & built their lead back up to nine games by September.

On July 30th, Hojo hit a solo HR & drove in all three runs in Sid Fernandez / Randy Myers 3-0 shut out of the Pirates. 

 On August 27th, his first inning two run single, were the only runs Ron Darling needed in his 2-1 win over the San Francisco Giants Rick Reuschel.


Five Hit Game:
On September 8th, at Wrigley Field. he had the first & only five hit day of his career, as he drove in four runs, hitting his 23rd HR of the year & also hitting a double.

But Johnson was struggling on the field defensively, mostly due to his back issues. The Mets tried out the highly touted 21-year-old prospect, Gregg Jefferies at third base, Jeffries started out on a tear & then went on to have a hot September. 

The Mets clinched another NL Eastern title that season, as Johnson batted .230 with 24 HRs 21 doubles & 68 RBIs. He walked 86 times (fourth in the NL) posting another good on base % at .343%, while playing in 148 games.

Trivia: Johnson set a Mets record that season with 25 intentional walks.

1988 Post Season- NLCS: Johnson struggled in the 1988 NLCS going just 1-for-18 with six strikeouts. He did not help the Mets cause, in the losing effort to the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

He was benched in the final two games, with the exception of a Game #7 appearing in a pinch-hit role, where he struck out. Greg Jeffries played third base in both those games.

Off Season Rumors: Trade rumors about Johnson were all over the news during that off season, but instead it was Wally Backman who got shipped out of New York. Jeffries took over second base & Johnson remained as the Mets third baseman. 

He would commit 24 errors at third, second most in the league in the position & fifth most out of all position players. Johnson committed a lot of errors in his career (163 overall), leading the league twice (1990-1991) & coming in the top four at third base four times.

Davey Johnson moved him up from sixth in the batting order to the number three spot in front of Daryl Strawberry in 1989. He responded by having an awesome year & the fact that he stayed healthy certainly was a difference. It began with a solo HR & three RBIs on Opening Day, as he helped New York beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-4.

Walk Off HR: On May 4th the Mets Ron Darling went up against the Reds Danny Jackson to a 2-2 tie. The game went to extra innings & the Reds Nasty Boys came on. Norm Charlton shut down the Mets for two innings, then Rob Dibble came on for the 10th. After Mookie Wilson struck out, Johnson hit a walk off HR over the left field fence.

The next day his two run HR led David Cone to a 2-1 win over the Astros, in Houston. He would hit six HRs in the month, just starting to get hot. He won the Player of the Month Award for June, batting .340 collecting 33 hits with 11 multi hits game hitting 11 HRs with 24 RBIs.

He started the month with a three-hit game on June 3rd, in a hitting a HR & driving in three runs in a 9-3 Mets win. From June 7th to 9th, he hit HRs in three straight games. On June 19th, he hit two HRs off Montreal's Kevin Gross & drove in four runs in a Dwight Gooden win over the Expos. 

Two days later David Cone & Randy Myers shut out the Expos with Hojo hitting a HR in the 2-0 win. The next night he drove in two more runs in a 9-3 win over the Phillies. That earned him a Player of the Week Award as well.

On June 27th, he hit his 20th HR of the year. He closed out his big month with a four RBI game at Cincinnati, hitting his 21st HR of the year. In that game he stole his 14th base of the year as well.


With all his honors in June, he hit safely in 16 of 18 games entering July. In July he stole 12 bases & had ten multi-hit games. From July 16th to July 18th, he hit HRs in three straight games

1989 All Star: That season he was named to his first All Star team & started at third base for the
NL in the All-Star Game held in Anaheim. 

In his first at bat, he drove in a run with a single off Oakland's Dave Stewart. The A.L. won the game 5-3.

On August 4th he swiped two bases in St. Louis to reach the 30 stole base mark for the second time in his career. 

In mid-August he hit HRs in back-to-back games in a series with the Padres. That got him closer to the 30/30 club once again. 

30/30 Club- Again: On August 20th he hit his 30th HR of the season, it came against the Dodgers off Ramon Martinez. He joined the exclusive club along with Bobby Bonds and Willie Mays as the only multi-year members of the 30-30 club. 

He hit five HRs in September, but as the Mets started the month 2.5 games out, they finished second that year, six games behind the Chicago Cubs. They finished one game ahead of the Cardinals.

He personally finished 1989 second in the NL with 36 HRs, (tying his career-high and his own NL record for switch hitters).


He led the league with 104 runs scored, drove in 101 runs (4th in the league) hit 41 doubles which set a Mets club record & was third most in the league. Johnson stole 41 bases (4th in the NL) finishing fifth in the MVP voting.

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