Reed Johnson
Outfielder
Born: December 8, 1976 (1976-12-08) (age 33) Riverside, California
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 17, 2003 for the Toronto Blue Jays
Career statistics (through September 17, 2009)
Batting average	.282
Home runs	52
Runs batted in	304
Teams
Toronto Blue Jays (2003–2007) Chicago Cubs (2008–2009)

Reed Cameron Johnson (born December 8, 1976 in Riverside, California) is a Major League Baseball outfielder who is currently a free agent.

Contents 1 College career 2 Professional career 3 Accomplishments 4 Personal life 5 References 6 External links

[edit] College career

Johnson grew up in Temecula, a suburb of Riverside, California, and attended Temecula Valley High School, where he participated in baseball and soccer. He was an All-League and an All-County selection.

Johnson attended college at Cal State Fullerton and was named an Academic All-American. He also set records by being the first Cal State Fullerton player to score 100 runs and collect 100 hits in a season.

[edit] Professional career

Before playing with the Toronto Blue Jays, Johnson played for the Syracuse SkyChiefs, the club's AAA affiliate. Johnson made his Major League debut on April 17, 2003. He finished his rookie season, with a .294 batting average, 10 home runs, and 52 runs batted in.^[1] Johnson also won the American League Rookie of the Month Award for the month of September.^[2]

He is one of only five batters, through August 2009, to have hit both a leadoff and walkoff home run in the same game (having done so in 2003), the others being Billy Hamilton (1893), Victor Power (1957), Darin Erstad (2000), and Ian Kinsler (2009).^[3]

Johnson extended his tenure with the Blue Jays on December 7, 2005, after signing a one-year extension worth $1,425,000 dollars.

At the start the 2006 season, Johnson was platooned with Frank Catalanotto in left field, as they had been for the previous two seasons. In a Toronto Star article, Johnson was quoted as saying, "I train so that I can play every day. I don't train to be a fourth outfielder, or there would be a lot less training. I wouldn't be waking up as early. I wouldn't be trying to be in the shape that I'm in. I know my body can take the pounding of an everyday season".

After posting a .319 batting average in the 2006 season, and a .390 on-base percentage, Johnson was named the starting left fielder in July, leaving Catalanotto as the odd man out. Catalanotto also rivaled Johnson's production, but Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi stated that Reed "did everything we asked of him this year", and felt that he needed to be rewarded for his hard work.

One of Johnson's more dubious honors is his propensity for being hit by pitches. Consistently among the Blue Jays leaders in being hit, in 2006 Johnson moved past Ed Sprague to take second on the Blue Jays all-time hit by pitch list, trailing only Carlos Delgado.^[4] He is also one of several players to be hit a major-league record three times in one game; Johnson was hit three times in a game against the Texas Rangers on April 15, 2005. He equaled this feat again on April 7, 2006, against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.^[5][6]

The Blue Jays and Johnson agreed to a one-year $3.075 million contract, avoiding salary arbitration on February 2, 2007.^[7]

Early in the Blue Jays 2007 season, Johnson injured his back and had a herniated disc which required surgery. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list and later, he was placed on the 60-day disabled list. On July 7, 2007, he was activated from the 60-day DL and rejoined the Toronto Blue Jays.

On January 2, 2008, the Blue Jays signed Johnson to a one-year contract worth $3.275 million. Johnson's exact role on the Blue Jays had yet to be determined. The presence of veteran Matt Stairs, who was kept on despite his age due to his solid performance in 2007, probably had Johnson relegated to a platoon situation similar to the Catalanotto/Johnson platoon of a few seasons ago. Also, the signing of all-star shortstop David Eckstein removed Johnson from his familiar role as leadoff hitter. Eckstein's signing caused a stir among Blue Jays fans, primarily due to the popularity of the two players he displaced from their regular roles: Johnson, and shortstop John McDonald. The Blue Jays also signed outfielder Shannon Stewart to a minor league contract, adding some depth to the position in response to the injuries of last season. Stewart, who played in 855 games for Toronto from 1995 to 2003, was a dependable and consistent force at the top of the Blue Jays lineup for many years, although he is considered a liability in the field at times because of an injury suffered playing football which greatly reduced his throwing strength. His presence at spring training made Johnson's role all the more uncertain. Johnson was released by the Jays on March 23, and replaced by Stewart. Johnson's popularity with Blue Jays fans was shown on June 13, 2008 when he pinch-hit in the top of the 9th inning, and was giving a standing ovation by the fans at the Rogers Centre.

On March 25, he signed a one year deal with the Chicago Cubs. Johnson platooned center field with Jim Edmonds and together they were known as the "Two-Headed Monster." Johnson "batted in" a game winning run after he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded on June 12, against the Atlanta Braves.^[8] During a crucial game in the 2008 season against the Milwaukee Brewers, Johnson executed a perfect hard slide into second base that prevented a double play, and allowed the Cubs to take a one-run lead.^[9] When Johnson returned to Rogers Centre to play the Toronto Blue Jays on June 13, 2008, he received a long standing ovation from Blue Jays fans. ^[10]

During a game early in the 2009 season, also against the Brewers, Johnson showed versatility on the field by catching a Prince Fielder drive that had cleared the wall, preventing the Brewers from tying the game on a grand slam. He was placed on the 15-day DL on July 30 that same year with a left foot fracture.

[edit] Accomplishments

• In 2006, led all leadoff hitters in the American League with a .390 on-base percentage.^[11]

[edit] Personal life

Growing up, Johnson participated in gymnastics. He currently resides in Chicago, Illinois.

[edit] References

1. ^ "Reed Johnson #9 CF - Game Log", ESPN. Retrieved on June 15, 2008
2. ^ "Reed Johnson named American League Pepsi Rookie of the Month for September". http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/tor/news/tor_press_release.jsp?ymd=20030930&content_id=552136&vkey=pr_tor&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor. Retrieved May 3, 2009. 
3. ^ Andro, Anthony, "Francisco goes back on DL because of pneumonia," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, July 20, 2009, accessed September 16, 2009
4. ^ "Toronto Blue Jays Top 10 Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TOR/leaders_bat.shtml. Retrieved May 3, 2009. 
5. ^ "Blue Jays Single-Game Records". Toronto Blue Jays. http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/tor/history/single_game_records.jsp. Retrieved August 8, 2006. 
6. ^ "Devil Rays 9, Blue Jays 8". Yahoo! Sports. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=260407114. Retrieved May 3, 2009. 
7. ^ "Jays keep non-arbitration streak intact". http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/content/printer_friendly/tor/y2007/m02/d02/c1793310.jsp. Retrieved May 3, 2009. 
8. ^ "Cubs beat Braves 3-2 in 11 innings on hit batsman". http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap;_ylt=Aiiynz_tQBkDwlK.QC1ygpUV0bYF?gid=280612116. Retrieved May 3, 2009. 
9. ^ "Lee doubles in go-ahead run in ninth in Cubs win". http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=280728108. Retrieved May 3, 2009. 
10. ^ "Cubs can't make it five in a row". http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080613&content_id=2907354&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc. Retrieved July 28, 2009. 
11. ^ "2/14: Spring Training News and Notes". http://bluejays.scout.com/2/618839.html. Retrieved May 3, 2009. 

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube