Page 182 - 1975 BoSox

’75—THE RED SOX TEAM THAT SAVED BASEBALL 175
Bombers in being sucked into the NY-KC trade pipeline. e Athletics got Johnson and right-handed pitcher Art Ditmar for lefty Bud Daley.
At Kansas City in 1961, Johnson batted .216. In October he was recalled to active Army duty and served until August 1962. e remainder of the 1962 season he batted a paltry .105. at October he wed Lucille DeMaria. ey had three children, two sons, Deron Jr. and Dominick, and a daughter, Dena. In April 1963 Kansas City sold Johnson to the Cincinnati Reds, who assigned him to their San Diego Padres team in the Paci c Coast League.
At San Diego, 1963 was a honeymoon of a year. Johnson returned to his native California and was golden. He topped the Paci c Coast League with 33 home runs, tied for fth with 91 RBIs, and was picked as the rst baseman on the PCL all-star team. His performance pushed him onto the Reds’ 1964 roster, where he re- mained for four seasons. Johnson later said of his full major-league season, 1964, “ at was my rst year. at was a hell of a pennant race. ere was ve teams right there: us, the Cardinals, the Phillies, the Braves, and the Giants. ere was so many damned teams there, if you won one day you’d go from fourth to rst. It was really fun. Once we were tied for rst. Every day you go you know it means something.”3 Cincinnati did not capture the NL ag. In 477 at-bats, as their starting rst baseman, Johnson hit .273, with 24 doubles, 4 triples, 21 home runs, and 79 RBIs.
Johnson was moved to third base and had a banner year in 1965. He led the league with 130 RBIs, despite typically batting fth or sixth in the order. He shared top rank in sacri ce ies with 10 and batted a career high .287 with 30 doubles, 7 triples, and 32 home runs. Johnson made e Sporting News and Associated Press all-star teams as a third baseman, and came in fourth for the NL MVP award. Johnson told Brent Kelley, “I had a good year. I was on a good ballclub. We had some good hitters. We had Pete Rose and Vada Pinson. I had Frank Robinson hitting in front of me. I had a hell of a year, really.”4
After a .257 season in 1966, Johnson fell to .224 in 1967 with 13 home runs, 53 RBIs, and 104 strikeouts. After the season the Reds dealt him on October 10 to the Atlanta Braves for out elder Mack Jones, pitcher Jay Ritchie, and rst baseman Jim Beauchamp. Johnson hit .208 with Atlanta in 127 games and lasted just a season. On December 3, 1968, the Braves sold him to the Philadelphia Phillies in a cash deal.
e move to Philadelphia revived the slugger in Johnson. From 1969 to 1973, he clubbed 88 homers, had 304 RBIs, and hit 82 doubles despite playing in only 12 games in 1973 before being traded to Oakland. His most productive year was 1971; Johnson batted .265, garnered 95 RBIs, and hit 34 home runs. He homered 22 times at home, breaking Del Ennis’s 1950 Philadelphia record. Further proof of Johnson’s long- ball skill was evident on July 10 and 11, 1971, as he belted four consecutive home runs against the Montreal Expos, three of them coming on the 11th.
On May 2, 1973, after nearly a decade of playing in the National League, Johnson found himself back in the American League, as the Phils traded him to the Oakland A’s for minor-league third baseman-out elder Jack Bastable. Johnson clocked 19 homers and had 81 RBIs, for Charlie Finley’s Athletics. e switch got him a World Series ring as the A’s bested the New York Mets in the ’73 fall classic. Johnson entered base- ball history as the rst player to hit 20 home runs in a season divided between both leagues.
Johnson was 1-for-10 as the A’s DH in the ALCS against the Orioles. He pinch hit in the rst ve games of the Series, collecting a double in Game Two and a single in Game Four, and played rst base in Games Six and Seven, adding another single.
Johnson was on the A’s disabled list for 15 days in April 1974. On June 24 he was released on waivers to the Milwaukee Brewers. ( e Brewers later assigned hurler Bill Parsons to complete the transaction.) On September 7, 1974, the Brewers sold Johnson to the Boston Red Sox for the stretch drive. He hit .120 with two RBIs. e Red Sox released him after the season.