Remembering Davey Johnson: 1986 World Champion Mets Manager (1984 -1990)
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Davey Johnson began managing in 1979 with an Independent team in Florida. The next season he joined the New York Mets minor league organization, as manager of AA Jackson. In 1983 he became manager of the AAA Tidewater Tides & led the Tides to their second straight league championship. There he managed & observed many young players he would later manage in the major leagues with the Mets.
Davey had moved up quickly through the organization, with some of his peers feeling he was passing more experienced managerial candidates. Looking back, this was not to be the case.
Sabermetrics: Johnson had earned a mathematics degree at Trinity University. Back ack in the early 1980's, was one of the first baseball people to use computer data as information for baseball. Davey pioneered what was to become computer-based sabermetrics which is now a big part of MLB while his time managing the Mets.
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Davey was a strong advocate of on base percentages, the art of batter-pitcher match ups, as well as platooning & in-game replacements. Even in his playing days he would suggest to pitchers to throw more strikes challenging hitters but was called 'dum dum" for his suggestions. Johnson was a firm believer in solid pitching, a trait he picked up with his old Orioles team & their superior staffs. " He also used unconventional strategies using his relief pitchers, he liked statistical matchups as well. He had two closers on his Mets teams that would sometimes serve as a set up man to the other depending on the matchups.
In 1984 his old GM & friend from his playing days in Baltimore; Frank Cashen was now the Mets General Manager. Cashen gave the 41-year-old Johnson the job as the Mets manager.
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Mets Managerial Career: In his first season he took the club from a 1983 last place finish (68-94) to a second place 90-72 season. An improvement of 22 games. Johnson was very familiar with these young talented players having seen what many of them could do while in the Mets minor leagues. Davey believed in the youngsters being able to make it at the big-league level and gave them a chance.
He convinced Frank Cashen to bring up the young 18-year-old pitcher Dwight Gooden, who was striking out hitters in the minor leagues with a blazing fastball at record levels. Goodn became a phenom winning 17 games & the Rookie of the Year Award.
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In 1986 the Mets were the heavy favorite & they ran away with the division from the start. The club played with an attitude & chip on their shoulder to the delight of the Shea Stadium fans.
The rest of the league hated these 1980's Mets, they were confident, arrogant & took curtain calls for their fans. The team partied hard, brawled with anyone who messed with team getting into several on field bench clearing incidents. They got into trouble, on & off the field but more importantly they won.
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Johnson brought the ’86 Mets to their best season ever, winning 108 regular season games.
1986 Post Season: In the 1986 NLCS they beat the Houston Astros in an grueling, exciting seven game series. In the World Series win over the Red Sox, they were on the brink of elimination in Game #6 comeback in one of the greatest comebacks in World Series history to tie the series up, then go on to win Game #7 in another comeback effort. Davey's decision to bring in Sid Fernandez in relief turned the game around.
After the Championship: Johnson went on to become the first NL Manager to win at least 90
games in each of his first five seasons. But after the Championship, the Mets underachieved as they made just one other post season appearance, winning the NL East in 1988.
His clubs would finish second in all other five seasons he was at the helm. Johnson is the most successful manager in franchise history, with his 595 victories. He has a Mets record of 595-417 and a .588 winning percentage.
In New York baseball history, he is tied for fourth all time behind Joe McCarthy Miller Huggins, John Mcgraw in winning percentage.
Looking back, there were many contributing factors to the Mets falling short, injuries to key
players, the aging of All Star veterans Keith Hernandez & Gary Carter, the personal as well as substance abuse problems of Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry & Lenny Dykstra along with championship caliber competition of St. Louis, Pittsburgh & Chicago.
But, thru it all in the end the manager was eventually held responsible. In 1990 he & Frank Cashen clashed getting involved in a media feud. After 42 games, on a road trip to Cincinnati, Cashen came to Johnson's hotel room & fired him. At the time the team had a 20-22 record.
Mets management told the media Davey's laid-back style wasn’t cutting it anymore. The players had no discipline & no leadership in their eyes.
In 2006 he was on hand at Citi Field enjoying good memories with the reunion honoring the 30th Anniversary of the Mets '86 Championship team.
After the Mets: Cincinnati Reds: In 1993, after two seasons out of baseball, the Cincinnati Reds hired Johnson 40 games into the season, replacing Tony Perez. In Cincy, Davey soon revived the Reds. After a fifth place finish that year, he led them into first place up to the 1994 Players' Strike.
The 1995 Reds went on to win the first NL Central title beating the Dodgers in the NLDS. They then lost to the eventual World Champion Atlanta Braves in the NLCS.
Return to Baltimore: In 1996, Johnson returned to Baltimore, now as the Orioles' manager for owner Peter Angelos. Davey & Angelos didn’t get along well either as the two almost never spoke a word to each other.
In Baltimore, Johnson once again was successful leading the Orioles to a wild-card playoff berth in 1996 & the AL East title in 1997. Both seasons he got his team as far as the ALCS but lost both times.
Manager of the Year: In 1997 he won the A.L. Manager of the Year Award as his team won 98
games (98-64). They beat the Seattle Mariners in the ALDS taking a loss to the Cleveland Indians in a six game ALCS.
Netherlands: In 2003, Johnson briefly managed the Netherlands National team, then served as their bench coach at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Team USA: In 2005 he was manager of Team USA, then in 2006 was the teams bench coach in the World Baseball Classic. In 2008 he served as Team USA’s Manager in the Olympics.
In 2009 he served as a coach in Florida. In 2009 Johnson was named the Washington nationals senior adviser. He had begun working within the Washington Nationals organization in 2006.
Washington Nationals: In 2009 he was named senior adviser to GM Mike Rizzo. In June 2011 he took over as manager after the sudden resignation of Jim Riggleman.
In the NLDS, without their star pitcher, the Nat's lost to the St. Louis Cards in five games. Edwin Jackson, Strasburg’s replacement gave up five runs in six innings over two games in the series.
In 2013 the Nats struggled until the latter part of
the season, they made a playoff run but fell short in the final days of the
season, finishing with a 86-76 record. At the end of the season, he announced
his retirement.
In his 17-year managerial career spanning 2445 games, Johnson is 1371-1071 (.562 %) winning his one world championship with the Mets.
Andrea Johnson: In the 1980's Davey's daughter, Andrea, was a nationally ranked surfer in the 1980's. Sadly, she suffered from schizophrenia & medications led to complications that led to her death. Davey was devastated at the loss.
Johnson was not particularly a fan of the small ball mentality of bunting runners over as he preferred the HR. One of Davey's moto's was "play for one run, lose by one run.
In 1984 his old GM & friend from his playing days in Baltimore; Frank Cashen was now the Mets General Manager. Cashen gave the 41-year-old Johnson the job as the Mets manager.
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Mets Managerial Career: In his first season he took the club from a 1983 last place finish (68-94) to a second place 90-72 season. An improvement of 22 games. Johnson was very familiar with these young talented players having seen what many of them could do while in the Mets minor leagues. Davey believed in the youngsters being able to make it at the big-league level and gave them a chance. He convinced Frank Cashen to bring up the young 18-year-old pitcher Dwight Gooden, who was striking out hitters in the minor leagues with a blazing fastball at record levels. Goodn became a phenom winning 17 games & the Rookie of the Year Award.
His easy-going managing style was also a good mix for veterans on the team, Keith Hernandez, George Foster, Ray Knight, Mookie Wilson & Jesse Orosco. Johnson helped bring the Mets franchise back to life. The Shea Stadium’s seats were now filled up again & there was a new baseball excitement in New York.
In 1985 the team acquired Hall of Famer; Gary Carter to join slugging All Stars Keith Hernandez, Daryl Strawberry with the mix of exciting young spark plug players at the top-of-the-line up Len Dykstra & Wally Backman. They along with Mookie Wilson provided speed as well. The team had an exciting young pitching staff with Gooden, Ron Darling & Sid Fernandez to improve to a 98-win season. Unfortunately, they finished second that year, just three games back of Whitey Herzog & the St. Louis Cardinals in the last week of the season.
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In 1986 the Mets were the heavy favorite & they ran away with the division from the start. The club played with an attitude & chip on their shoulder to the delight of the Shea Stadium fans. The rest of the league hated these 1980's Mets, they were confident, arrogant & took curtain calls for their fans. The team partied hard, brawled with anyone who messed with team getting into several on field bench clearing incidents. They got into trouble, on & off the field but more importantly they won.
Quotes- Davey Johnson: " I treated my players like men. As long as they won for me on the field, I didn't give a flying f#@k what they did otherwise".
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1986 Post Season: In the 1986 NLCS they beat the Houston Astros in an grueling, exciting seven game series. In the World Series win over the Red Sox, they were on the brink of elimination in Game #6 comeback in one of the greatest comebacks in World Series history to tie the series up, then go on to win Game #7 in another comeback effort. Davey's decision to bring in Sid Fernandez in relief turned the game around.
games in each of his first five seasons. But after the Championship, the Mets underachieved as they made just one other post season appearance, winning the NL East in 1988.
His clubs would finish second in all other five seasons he was at the helm. Johnson is the most successful manager in franchise history, with his 595 victories. He has a Mets record of 595-417 and a .588 winning percentage.
The Mets were expected to win more than one World Series in the late eighties. Second place finishes were not enough for the fans or Mets management. This was in a time before a wild card winner.
players, the aging of All Star veterans Keith Hernandez & Gary Carter, the personal as well as substance abuse problems of Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry & Lenny Dykstra along with championship caliber competition of St. Louis, Pittsburgh & Chicago.
But, thru it all in the end the manager was eventually held responsible. In 1990 he & Frank Cashen clashed getting involved in a media feud. After 42 games, on a road trip to Cincinnati, Cashen came to Johnson's hotel room & fired him. At the time the team had a 20-22 record.
After Johnson was fired, long time Mets favorite; Bud Harrelson was named manager. He took the team to a 71-49 record & another second place finish. The next season they finished fifth & were labeled the worst team money could buy. Ahead were five terrible seasons.
Post Mets Carrer & Mets Honors: In 1986, Davey Johnson did not attend the 20th Anniversary of the Championship team, nor did he attend the closing ceremonies at Shea Stadium in 2008. He had said the personal falling out between him & the organization were the main reasons.
Post Mets Carrer & Mets Honors: In 1986, Davey Johnson did not attend the 20th Anniversary of the Championship team, nor did he attend the closing ceremonies at Shea Stadium in 2008. He had said the personal falling out between him & the organization were the main reasons.
Return to Mets Family: In 2010 he made his triumphant return to New York at Citi Field, being elected to the Mets Hall of Fame. Also on that day, his 1986 World Champion Players Dwight Gooden & Daryl Strawberry were honored as well as his former GM Frank Cashen.
In 2006 he was on hand at Citi Field enjoying good memories with the reunion honoring the 30th Anniversary of the Mets '86 Championship team.
In 1995 former Met, Ray Knight was named his bench coach, with the intention he would replace Johnson after the season regardless of how the team did. Davey did not get along with eccentric Reds owner Marge Schott.
Johnson was still fired at the end of the season. According to some reports at the time, the final straw for Scott was that she didn't approve of Johnson living with his fiancée Susan at the time.
Return to Baltimore: In 1996, Johnson returned to Baltimore, now as the Orioles' manager for owner Peter Angelos. Davey & Angelos didn’t get along well either as the two almost never spoke a word to each other.
In Baltimore, Johnson once again was successful leading the Orioles to a wild-card playoff berth in 1996 & the AL East title in 1997. Both seasons he got his team as far as the ALCS but lost both times.
games (98-64). They beat the Seattle Mariners in the ALDS taking a loss to the Cleveland Indians in a six game ALCS.
O's Drama: After his star player; Roberto Alomar missed a charity banquet, Johnson fined him. He told Alomar to write a check to his wife’s charity. Alomar was also informed to do so by the Players Union but refused. Team owner Peter Angelos' was furious Johnson did not include him in the matter. The situation exploded into a media frenzy& led to Johnson resigning as manager.
L.A. Dodgers: In 1999 he was soon hired by the Los Angeles Dodgers replacing Glenn Hoffman. Johnson suffered his first full losing season as the Dodgers finished 77-85 in third place. The team rebounded to second place the next year (86-76), but Johnson was let go replaced by Jim Tracy.
L.A. Dodgers: In 1999 he was soon hired by the Los Angeles Dodgers replacing Glenn Hoffman. Johnson suffered his first full losing season as the Dodgers finished 77-85 in third place. The team rebounded to second place the next year (86-76), but Johnson was let go replaced by Jim Tracy.
Netherlands: In 2003, Johnson briefly managed the Netherlands National team, then served as their bench coach at the 2004 Summer Olympics.Team USA: In 2005 he was manager of Team USA, then in 2006 was the teams bench coach in the World Baseball Classic. In 2008 he served as Team USA’s Manager in the Olympics.
In 2009 he served as a coach in Florida. In 2009 Johnson was named the Washington nationals senior adviser. He had begun working within the Washington Nationals organization in 2006.
In his first meeting against the New York Mets, he lost 8-5 at Washington D.C. but took the series three games to two.
In September he made a triumphant return to New York getting a huge ovation at Citi Field from the crowd. He then went out and swept the Mets in a four game series. For the season his team was 40-43 under his leadership, finishing 80-81 in third place.
In 2012 he took the Nats to an NL Eastern title with a 98-64 record, again combing veterans with outstanding young players. He inserted young star Bryce Harper in the line up with no pressure put on him & had a star young pitcher in Steven Strasburg. He brought some of the biggest excitement in baseball the D.C. area ever saw.
More Drama: But controversy between him & the GM Mike Rizzo began when Rizzo shut down Steven Strasburg after the certain number of innings as promised. Johnson publicly disagreed saying Rizzo had no idea how to manage a team.
More Drama: But controversy between him & the GM Mike Rizzo began when Rizzo shut down Steven Strasburg after the certain number of innings as promised. Johnson publicly disagreed saying Rizzo had no idea how to manage a team.
Johnson went on to win the NL Manager of the Year Award once again.
In his 17-year managerial career spanning 2445 games, Johnson is 1371-1071 (.562 %) winning his one world championship with the Mets.
Trivia: He is one of just 15 MLB managers to retire with at least 300 wins above .500.
Family: Johnson was married twice & had three children, two stepchildren in his second marriage to Susan Johnson & two grandchildren as well.
Family: Johnson was married twice & had three children, two stepchildren in his second marriage to Susan Johnson & two grandchildren as well.
Andrea Johnson: In the 1980's Davey's daughter, Andrea, was a nationally ranked surfer in the 1980's. Sadly, she suffered from schizophrenia & medications led to complications that led to her death. Davey was devastated at the loss.The year before Andrea's passing, he himself suffered from a serious stomach issue, which almost took his own life. Eventually his appendix was removed then he was able to recover.
Covid 19: In January of 2021, Mets spokesman, Jay Horowitz Johnson confirmed Johnson was hospitalized in Orlando Florida, due to complications from the Corona virus. He did recover & was back home. Johnson said, "all the prayers were needed & helped".
Passing: On September 5th, 2025, Johnson passed away in hospital in Florida.
Quotes- Mets Jay Horowitz: 'I'm glad I got to say goodbye in person last February. Susan Davey's second wife told me that my dear friend & manager of the 1986 World Championship team had passed away at the age of 82."