Page 181 - 1975 BoSox

DERON ROGER JOHNSON, labeled the “next Mickey Mantle,” spent 16 seasons as a major-league
slugger. His nest year was not as a Bronx Bomber but as a Cincinnati Red. A dual football and baseball interscholastic sports star, the San Diego native excelled on the gridiron. Johnson played end, line- backer, kicker, and punter for San Diego High School. In 1955 he scored 15 touchdowns for the Cavers as the team captured the Southern California champi- onship. His high-school football coach, Duane Maley, said Johnson was “the top player I have ever coached... the easiest kid to coach you’ve ever met. If he has a bad habit, it’s escaped me.” He was indeed, as the San Diego Union wrote, a “coach’s dream.”1 Johnson’s baseball coach, Les Cassie, said the All-American end was among the top athletes ever to come out of San Diego High School.
Pursued by several colleges, Johnson was o ered nu- merous football scholarships, including one from Notre Dame, but Johnson turned down the Fighting Irish and the other schools. Upon graduation from high school in 1956, having been also sought by the Yankees, Braves, Red Sox, Indians, and Pirates, Johnson signed with New York Yankees scout Gordon “Deacon” Jones to a Class-D contract for $1,000 a month.
Johnson avoided being a Bonus Baby, who by the rules at the time was someone who signed a contract for more than $4,000 and had to be kept on the major- league roster for two years. Brent P. Kelley
in his book ey Too Wore Pinstripes showed that New York skipper Casey Stengel simply did not play 1954’s Frank Leja or 1955 signee Tommy Carroll. So by mid-1956 the Yankees front o ce opted out of the Bonus Baby game. Kelley wrote that Johnson had decided he would rather be in the minor leagues playing every day. e Kearney club of the
Class-D Nebraska State League played only 63 games
over two months. us, the net deal “was essentially
2
the major-league minimum ($6,000 a year)” and with
a good season Johnson could be given a raise. Johnson gured correctly.
At Kearney the 17-year-old out elder led the league in total bases (167), runs scored (70), RBIs (78), and home runs (24). He was named to the circuit’s all-star team. He also tied for the league lead in double plays by out elders with four. e next year, the young phenom was promoted to Class-A Binghamton. Again he made the all-star team, and led the Eastern League with 279 total bases, 103 runs scored, and 26 home runs. In 1958, Johnson moved up to Triple-A Richmond (International League), where he clubbed 27 doubles, 5 triples, and 27 homers, and was selected as an IL all-star. In addition to the out eld, the Californian was called upon to handle third base. e year also brought the rst of military duties that would occa- sionally interrupt his ballplaying career. In 1958 and 1959 Johnson served in the US Army for six months under the Reserve Training Program. On the eld, his 1959 and 1960 seasons were spent with Richmond (25 and 27 HRs respectively).
Called up to the Yankees in September 1960, Johnson made his major-league debut on the 20th. e 22-year- old pinch-hit in the ninth inning of a 1-1 tie game between New York and Washington with Bill Skowron on second base. Facing Senators southpaw Hal
Woodeshick, Johnson advanced Skowron to third with a y to center. e Yankees won, 2-1, in the 11th.
Overall, Johnson donned the pinstripes for 19 games in 1960 and ’61. e Big Apple sports media had tagged him as a replacement for Mickey Mantle. But that never came about. On June 14, 1961, Johnson joined numerous other would-be
Deron Johnson
by John Vorperian
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