Howard Johnson

Howard Michael Johnson (born November 29, 1960), nicknamed "HoJo", is an American former professional baseball third baseman.

Johnson was born on November 29, 1960, in Clearwater, Florida, to Bill and Sue Johnson.

He was the oldest of three children.

He was named for his grandfather, Raymond Howard Johnson.

His family went to Howard Johnson's every Sunday after church, where he was never charged for lunch.

Bill coached Howard in Little League Baseball and taught him to become a switch hitter when he was three or four years old.

Johnson attended Clearwater High School and played for the baseball team.

He had a .375 batting average in his junior year, but it declined to .275 in his senior year.

As a pitcher, Johnson had a 0.91 earned run average and 110 strikeouts in 91 innings pitched in his senior year.

The New York Yankees selected Johnson in the 23rd round of the 1978 MLB draft, but they did not offer him a signing bonus and he instead attended St. Petersburg Junior College and played college baseball as a pitcher and a position player.

The Detroit Tigers selected Johnson in the first round, with the 12th overall selection, of MLB's secondary draft in January 1979.

He signed with the Tigers, who converted him into an infielder.

He played for the Lakeland Tigers of the Class A Florida State League in 1979 and 1980.

The Tigers promoted him to the Birmingham Barons of the Class AA Southern League, where he hit 22 home runs.

He played for the Detroit Tigers, New York Mets, Colorado Rockies, and Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1982 to 1995.

He has also coached in MLB for the Mets and Seattle Mariners.

Johnson made his MLB debut with the Tigers in 1982 and was a part of the 1984 World Series champions.

Johnson began the 1982 season with the Evansville Triplets of the Class AAA American Association.

He was promoted to the major leagues.

Johnson finished the season with a .316 batting average in the major leagues.

He began the 1983 season in the major leagues with the Tigers, but was demoted to Evansville in May.

He returned to the Tigers later in the year.

In 1984, Johnson was back with the Tigers and was made the left side of a platoon with Tom Brookens.

Johnson started fairly well but had a poor second half.

He finished the regular season with a .248 batting average, 12 home runs, and 50 runs batted in (RBIs) and in 355 at bats.

The Tigers led the division for the entire season to reach the 1984 MLB postseason, but Johnson did not play in the 1984 American League Championship Series as manager Sparky Anderson preferred to use more experienced players.

Brookens, Marty Castillo, and Darrell Evans split time at third.

In the 1984 World Series, the Tigers used Johnson as a pinch hitter once; he reached base on an error by second baseman Alan Wiggins as the Tigers eased through the postseason en route to the world championship.

The Tigers traded Johnson to the New York Mets for Walt Terrell at the Winter Meetings on December 7, 1984.

Three days later, the Mets traded third baseman Hubie Brooks to the Montreal Expos as part of a trade for catcher Gary Carter.

The Mets, as they had in 1984, narrowly missed the postseason in 1985.

Johnson's inability to hit well from the right side resulted in him being platooned by the Mets in 1985, this time with Ray Knight.

Both started terribly and neither reached .200 until early July.

Johnson hit below average all season, while Knight was even worse.

The Tigers traded Johnson to the Mets after the season and he won a second World Series title in 1986.

1986 was the year of the Mets and both Johnson and Knight started very well.

Johnson was a two-time All-Star with the Mets, in 1989 and 1991, and led the National League in home runs and runs batted in in 1991.

After playing for the Mets through the 1993 season, Johnson finished his career with the Rockies in 1994 and the Cubs in 1995.

Johnson is third on the Mets' all-time lists for home runs, runs batted in, doubles, and stolen bases.

He was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame.