Page 214 - 1975 BoSox

’75—THE RED SOX TEAM THAT SAVED BASEBALL 207
so Johnson tabulated only 46 at-bats over 21 games in 1957. He hit one home run — his rst in the majors, o VirgilTrucksonJune15—anddroveineightruns, batting .217.
Elston Howard remained the backup to Berra in 1958, so while Johnson stuck with the Yankees as the third- string catcher, he appeared in just ve games, hitting .250 without either a homer or a run batted in. In both years, he was on the World Series roster, and received a full share each year, and a ring, but didn’t see any action at all.
In 1959 Johnson began the season with the Yankees but didn’t appear in a single game. He was sent to the Richmond Virginians of the Triple-A International League,whichhadbecomeaYankeesfarmclub. ere, he played in 94 games and hit for just a .218 average, with four homers and 28 RBIs. He was selected the best-throwing catcher, in a poll of managers in the league.
Johnson was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the Rule 5 draft at the 1959 winter meetings. St. Louis general manager Bing Devine realized Johnson was rusty after a couple of underutilized seasons, but thought he might have a chance to hit. He was one of ve catchers competing for a spot during spring training in 1960, a group that included a young Tim McCarver. Since Johnson had spent most of his major- league career in the bullpen, he was kept on the team as a catcher-coach. McCarver was sent to the minors, but when he was recalled on July 31, Johnson was released as a player, and promptly signed to a new contract as just a coach. He played just eight games with the Cardinals in 1960, going hitless in two at-bats, without driving in a run.
After the season, Johnson was named manager of the Cardinals’ entry in the Peninsula Winter League, which played on the San Francisco Bay peninsula during the wintertime.
Johnson began the 1961 major-league season as a coach with the Cardinals, but he was let go when manager Solly Hemus was red on July 8. e very next day,
the Philadelphia Phillies signed him as a player. ey had to designate Pete Whisenant a coach to make room on the roster. Manager Gene Mauch was unhappy with Jimmy Coker’s catching, and hoped Johnson’s handling of pitchers would improve his pitching sta . Darrell played 21 games with the Phillies in July and early August, batting .230. On August 14 Johnson was sold to the Cincinnati Reds, his third major-league team of the year. e Reds had two rookies sharing catching duties, Johnny Edwards and Jerry Zimmerman, and they were looking for a veteran catcher for the pennant run. Johnson, a right-handed batter like Zimmerman, platooned with the lefty Edwards down the stretch as the Reds won the pennant.
Johnson appeared in 20 games for the Reds, batting .315 with one homer (on his second day on the job) and six RBIs in 54 at-bats. e Reds won the pennant, but Johnson almost missed out on postseason play when he pulled a muscle in his side on September 29. Expectations were that the “aging Darrell Johnson” would play rather than the two Reds rookie catchers, but Arthur Daley in the New York Times warned that “his only recommendation is experience.”3 Johnny Edwards saw more duty and batted .364, with four hits in 11 at-bats.
After sitting unused on the Yankees bench in the 1957 and 1958 World Series, however, Johnson nally got his chance to play in the Series—this time against the Yankees. He played in pain but started in the two gamesbegunbyNewYorkleftyWhiteyFord—Games One and Four — and he went 2-for-4 o the Yankees ace, both hits in the fourth game. Ford shut out Cincinnati twice, 2-0 and 7-0. Jim Coates threw the nal four innings of Game Four. Unlike the Yankees, who had voted Johnson a full Series share, while what he’d mostly done was catch in the bullpen, the Reds voted him only a quarter-share.4
e 115 at-bats for the Phillies and the Reds matched the total he’d had as a rookie for the Browns and White Sox in 1952, and stand as his career high.
Browns fans still had not forgotten Johnson, and he was named “Brownie of 1961,” an award given by the