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Kenneth Travis Johnson
Atlanta Braves
Pitcher
Born: June 16, 1933, West Palm Beach, FL
Signed: Signed by the Philadelphia Athletics as an amateur free agent before 1952 season
Major League Teams: Kansas City Athletics 1958-1961; Cincinnati Reds 1961; Houston Colt .45s 1962-1964; Houston Astros 1965; Milwaukee Braves 1965; Atlanta Braves 1966-1969; New York Yankees 1969; Chicago Cubs 1969; Montreal Expos 1970
World Series Appearances: Cincinnati Reds 1961
Died: November 21, 2015, Pineville, LA (age 82)
He appeared in 334 games over a 13-year Major League career with seven different clubs, but Ken Johnson is perhaps best remembered for being the losing pitcher while throwing a complete-game no-hitter. On April 23, 1964, in Houston and pitching against the Reds, Johnson and Joe Nuxhall were locked in a scoreless pitching duel. In the top of the ninth, Pete Rose (#120) reached second on an error committed by Johnson, advanced to third on a ground out and scored on another error committed by second baseman Nellie Fox. Nuxhall retired the Colts in the bottom of the ninth to win the game for the Reds and hand Johnson the loss, despite his no-hitter.
Died: November 21, 2015, Pineville, LA (age 82)
He appeared in 334 games over a 13-year Major League career with seven different clubs, but Ken Johnson is perhaps best remembered for being the losing pitcher while throwing a complete-game no-hitter. On April 23, 1964, in Houston and pitching against the Reds, Johnson and Joe Nuxhall were locked in a scoreless pitching duel. In the top of the ninth, Pete Rose (#120) reached second on an error committed by Johnson, advanced to third on a ground out and scored on another error committed by second baseman Nellie Fox. Nuxhall retired the Colts in the bottom of the ninth to win the game for the Reds and hand Johnson the loss, despite his no-hitter.
Johnson appeared in one game in the 1961 World Series for the Reds, pitching 2/3 of an inning against the Yankees and retiring both Elston Howard and Bill Skowron. Johnson's best seasons came with the Colt .45s/Astros and the Braves. He won at least 10 games five seasons in a row between 1963 and 1967, hitting his career high in 1965 with 16 wins. With the Braves, and relying on his knuckle ball, he paired with fellow knuckleballer Phil Niekro (#355) to stymie National League hitters in the late 1960s. He retired in 1970 having spent 18 seasons pitching in professional baseball. Johnson had a career record of 91-106 with a 3.46 ERA, 1,042 strikeouts and one famous no-hitter.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #233
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Braves Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
Johnson began the season with the Braves, appearing in nine games and making two starts before the team sold him to the Yankees on June 10th. He'd relieve in 12 games for the Yankees before moving on again, this time sold to the Cubs on August 11th. The Cubs picked up Johnson to help bolster their bullpen during the pennant drive, but they'd soon fade to the Mets during September. In 30 games with three different teams, Johnson was 2-5 with a 3.89 ERA in 74 innings pitched. He saved two games - one with the Braves and one with the Cubs.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #135
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10): 1960-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #232
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 46 in the Beckett online database as of 2/11/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set. That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon. I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.
This is the 156th of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York. My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside. After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far. With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298. The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing me $1.25.
The Card / Braves Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
The photos used for Johnson's 1968 and 1969 Topps cards are from the same photo session, and this is his final appearance in a Topps flagship set. As expected, Topps references Johnson's no-hitter, and loss, on the back of the card.
Accuracy Index: Johnson's card scores a solid +5 for the accurate uniform.
1969 Season
Johnson began the season with the Braves, appearing in nine games and making two starts before the team sold him to the Yankees on June 10th. He'd relieve in 12 games for the Yankees before moving on again, this time sold to the Cubs on August 11th. The Cubs picked up Johnson to help bolster their bullpen during the pennant drive, but they'd soon fade to the Mets during September. In 30 games with three different teams, Johnson was 2-5 with a 3.89 ERA in 74 innings pitched. He saved two games - one with the Braves and one with the Cubs.
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First Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #135
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10): 1960-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #232
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 46 in the Beckett online database as of 2/11/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog
1965 Topps Blog
#237 Bobby Cox - New York Yankees / #239 Bob Taylor - Kansas City Royals
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