Posted on 08/13/2004 10:43:26 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
Thursday, Mar. 18, 1999 Jays fire Johnson for Vietnam lies By BEN WALKER Associated Press
DUNEDIN, Fla. - The lies Tim Johnson told about his Marine service in Vietnam cost him the trust of his team. Now, it's cost him his job. Johnson was fired Wednesday as manager of the Toronto Blue Jays and replaced by Jim Fregosi in a rare spring training dismissal. "The unsettledness and the distractions had become the issue," general manager Gord Ash said. "It had become apparent it wasn't going to work." Johnson never saw combat, but supposedly made up stories - including one about shooting a young girl - to inspire the club. He taught mortar training to recruits going to Vietnam, yet never served there. The truth was revealed last year, causing conflicts with several players and pitching coach Mel Queen. Johnson apologized to the club at camp last month, trying to put behind him a winter full of turmoil. But with the Blue Jays at 3-12, and just a few days after former Toronto third baseman Ed Sprague called Johnson a "liar" and a "back stabber," Ash had seen enough. Johnson was fired at 1 a.m. after a 2-1 loss to the Yankees. "It wasn't going to fade into the background as quickly as I hoped," Ash said. "It had become a preoccupation and was making it hard to focus." Firing a manager in spring training is not unprecedented. Phil Cavaretta was fired by the Chicago Cubs on March 29, 1954, when with a 5-15 record, he told owner P.K. Wrigley he thought they were doomed to a bad season. "They were looking for leadership," Fregosi said. "We've got 18 games. We'll be ready by opening day." Johnson, 49, was offered a job as a scout, and it was not known whether he would take it. He was driving to visit family in Kansas and was unavailable for comment. The Blue Jays went 88-74 and finished third in the AL East in Johnson's only season as a major league manager. Fregosi also interviewed for the spot before Ash picked Johnson. Fregosi, 56, managed the Philadelphia Phillies when they lost the 1993 World Series to Toronto. Fired after the 1996 season, he was with the San Francisco Giants as a special assistant to the general manager when Ash sought permission Friday to talk to him. They reached agreement Sunday and Fregosi signed a two-year deal. He had an 861-937 record while managing Philadelphia, the Chicago White Sox and California Angels. "I have always wanted to manage," Fregosi said. "I missed the action, I missed the field." In his first exhibition game for Toronto, he faced the Phillies and shook hands with manager Terry Francona, who replaced Fregosi in 1996. The Blue Jays stole a run with a double steal in the first inning, then Fregosi came on the field to argue a ground-rule double call in the fifth of a 10-6 victory. "It was exciting," Fregosi said. "It was fun to be back a part of the action." His friends were glad to see him in uniform. "What can they expect? An outstanding manager," said Phillies coach John Vukovich, one of Fregosi's closest buddies. Even though it took several months to fire Johnson, the Blue Jays had thought about it for a long time. Last November, he was given the choice of being dismissed, resigning to become a coach or apologizing to the team. Johnson chose to apologize, though it took him a few days in camp before he did it. He also cleared up another lie - his official Blue Jays bio said he was a high school All-American basketball player who turned down a chance to play for UCLA, but none of it was true. "I believe people deserve second chances, and I think Tim deserved that," Ash said. Ash said the move to change managers began last week when he met with the Toronto's owners and "expressed some concern about our ability to move forward." The Blue Jays stumbled at the start of last year before finishing strong. Still, Johnson's lies about his service in the U.S. Marines became the story of their season. "Obviously, that had something to do with it," infielder Tony Fernandez said of the firing. During a key series last season at Boston, Johnson said he planned to pitch Roger Clemens instead of Pat Hentgen in the final game. When Hentgen complained, Johnson sharply told the pitcher he didn't know anything about tough spots, adding "pressure is Vietnam." Hentgen, one of Johnson's critics, had little to say after the firing. "It's a front-office decision and Gord Ash made it," he said.
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WOW! I'm a huge baseball fan and had totally forgotten about this.
I forgot about that. Good catch!!!
John Kerry is UNFIT FOR COMMAND.
Stolen Valor is a serious offense.
Maybe he served with Kerry, on the supre-top-secret missions into Cambodia that no one is free to discuss.
It's always the guys who admit to "attrocities" and killing children who are lying, or it only seems that way...
Yeah, that's a good point -- all the guys who admit to the worst atrocities seem to be the ones who are the liars. The other way to spot a liar is his exaggerated claims of heroism.
Agreed.
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