"In seven games."
Posted on 09/06/2025 8:13:45 AM PDT by DFG
Davey Johnson, who made the final out of the 1969 World Series as the Mets won their first world championship and who guided the franchise to its second and most recent World Series title as the team’s manager 17 seasons later, died on Friday, per team historian Jay Horwitz.
He was 82.
A second baseman with the Baltimore Orioles on that October afternoon, Johnson launched a fly ball just in front of the warning track in left field where a genuflecting Cleon Jones made the catch, setting off a raucous celebration that saw thousands of Mets fans stream onto what would become a ravaged Shea Stadium field.
After a successful 13-year major league playing career, Johnson managed the Mets from 1984-90. He also managed the Reds, Orioles, Dodgers and Nationals during a 17-season managerial career, compiling a record of 1,372-1,071.
He was twice named manager of the year, winning the honor in the American League with the Baltimore Orioles in 1997 and in 2012 with the National League’s Washington Nationals.
Johnson was the manager of the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate in Tidewater, Va. when he was tapped to manage the big-league club in 1984, taking over a team that had won just 68 games the previous season.
The 1984 Mets would go on to win 90 games, no doubt helped immeasurably by the arrival of 19-year-old Dwight Gooden, who would win 17 games in his rookie season and the continued blossoming of 22-year-old Darryl Strawberry.
It would be the first of five consecutive seasons of 90 or more wins for the Mets under Johnson as he became the only manager in major league history to win 90 or more games in each of his first five seasons.
Johnson’s Mets would twice win 100 games or more (1986, 1988).
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
RIP
"In seven games."
The ‘86 team was a wild bunch...Mets really should’ve had more than 1 WS with the squad Johnson had at his disposal.
RIP
(But the 1984 Detroit Tigers pulled it off in five games).
Rest In Peace, Davey Johnson.
RIP, Mr. Johnson, but once again we see the overuse of the term “legendary.” A “legend” is either a fictional character, a real person whose life has been embellished with stories that may or may not be actually true, or someone whose accomplishments were so extraordinary that they are almost beyond belief. Sometimes stories arise about these people that embellish their actual deeds with stories that may have an element of truth, such as Babe Ruth’s “called shot” home run.
The Mets didn’t win, the Red Sox lost.
(Let the flame war begin!)
Per his family, he will be buried at sea, in a locker.
I remember Davey Johnson all the way back to his playing days as an Oriole. He was traded to the Braves for Earl Williams and promptly hit 48 HRs ( I believe) playing in Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, aka The Launching Pad... many more than he ever hit as an Oriole. He also had a successful stint as Os manager after his Mets years, but he didn’t get along with owner Pete Angelos (who did or could?!).
RIP Davey Johnson, a baseball lifer.
Frank Cashen was Orioles GM at the time (he would later have the same position with the Mets and largely put together the 1986 championship team) and was friendly with some extended family members. He once said he was worried about getting out of Shea Stadium alive that day.
Crushing defeat for the Mets in the 1988 NLCS to the Dodgers. Yes that was the Year of Orel Hershiser and Kirk Gibson's miracle and all that.... but why did he - DJ that is -have Ron Darling pitching Game 7 of the NLCS and not Dwight Gooden?!
Yes, immensely talented team but... Gooden and Strawberry had significant ... ahem... off-field problems. And for some reason they traded away Kevin Mitchell for virtually nothing (and Mitchell then went on to be NL MVP. in 1989)... And a couple of their stars like Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter were reaching their twilight playing years. As I mentioned above, they did go to the NLCS Game 7 in 1988. The nineties rolled around and the NL became the Braves domain.
Somehow they lost one game to the Padres (the only game the Tigers lost that postseason). Yes I’m a font of useless baseball information.
I'll grant you the Red Sox lost Game 6. But the Mets won Game 7.
A little soon, but LOL nonetheless!
I lived and worked with a couple of miles of Tiger stadium that year and I remember the wire-to-wire season but I still had to go look it up just now.
1984 Tigers are the greatest team, ever. You’ll never see another 35-5 start like they had.
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