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Louis Brown Johnson
Cleveland Indians
Outfield
Born: September 22, 1934, Lexington, KY
Signed: Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1953 season
Major League Teams: Chicago Cubs 1960; Los Angeles Angels 1961; Minnesota Twins 1962; Los Angeles Dodgers 1965-67; Chicago Cubs 1968; Cleveland Indians 1968; California Angels 1969
World Series Appearances: Los Angeles Dodgers 1965-66
Died: October 1, 2020, Los Angeles, CA (age 86)
Lou Johnson had brief stints with the Cubs, Angels and Twins in the early 1960s, but it wasn't until he was pressed into duty with the Dodgers early in the 1965 season that he established himself as a major leaguer. The Dodgers recalled Johnson in early May 1965 after regular outfielder Tommy Davis (#135) had broken his ankle. Johnson batted .259 with 12 home runs 58 RBIs for the eventual World Champions, and batted .296 with a pair of home runs in the 1965 World Series. His solo home run to lead off the top of the fourth against the Twins' Jim Kaat (#290) proved to be the winning run in the decisive Game 7. As one of the Dodgers' regular corner outfielders in 1966, Johnson had a career year, batting .272 with 17 home runs and 73 RBIs.
Despite his strong seasons with the Dodgers in 1965 and 1966, Johnson's big league tenure lasted just three more years. Dealt to the Cubs following the 1967 season, he'd play for the Cubs, Indians and Angels in 1968 and 1969, retiring after batting .203 in 67 games for the Angels. Johnson collected 529 hits in 677 big league games, batting .258 with 48 home runs and 232 RBIs.
Died: October 1, 2020, Los Angeles, CA (age 86)
Lou Johnson had brief stints with the Cubs, Angels and Twins in the early 1960s, but it wasn't until he was pressed into duty with the Dodgers early in the 1965 season that he established himself as a major leaguer. The Dodgers recalled Johnson in early May 1965 after regular outfielder Tommy Davis (#135) had broken his ankle. Johnson batted .259 with 12 home runs 58 RBIs for the eventual World Champions, and batted .296 with a pair of home runs in the 1965 World Series. His solo home run to lead off the top of the fourth against the Twins' Jim Kaat (#290) proved to be the winning run in the decisive Game 7. As one of the Dodgers' regular corner outfielders in 1966, Johnson had a career year, batting .272 with 17 home runs and 73 RBIs.
Despite his strong seasons with the Dodgers in 1965 and 1966, Johnson's big league tenure lasted just three more years. Dealt to the Cubs following the 1967 season, he'd play for the Cubs, Indians and Angels in 1968 and 1969, retiring after batting .203 in 67 games for the Angels. Johnson collected 529 hits in 677 big league games, batting .258 with 48 home runs and 232 RBIs.
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
Doug and I returned to The Philly Show in early December, once again held inside the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. eBay has taken over sponsorship of the show, with the quaint, bubble-lettered Philly Show logo that had been in place since the 1980s replaced with a more modern logo, keeping with the times. I wrote about the show in a post over at The Phillies Room.
Similar to my strategy from March, I wanted to focus on accumulating commons and having found success with Uncle Dick's Cards before, I didn't mess around and headed right for the neon green binders. I pulled 145 cards from the binder containing cards 301 to the end of the set, stopping when I reached 500. This card was the 50th of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost me a little over $1.
The Card / Indians Team Set / Accuracy Index -14
This is Johnson's last appearance in a Topps flagship set, and it uses the same photo as his 1968 Topps card. He's wearing a Dodgers uniform here, and I'd guess the photo was taken at the same time as the photo used for his 1967 Topps card. The write-up on the back highlights some statistics from his minor league days, and the cartoon celebrates the two home runs Johnson hit in the 1965 World Series.
Accuracy Index: Johnson's card loses points all over the place since he didn't play for the Indians in 1969 (-2), he's hatless (-3) and wearing a Dodgers uniform (-5), and collectors had seen the photo before (-4).
1969 Season
Johnson went to spring training with the Indians, but was traded to the Angels on April 4th in exchange for Chuck Hinton (#644). Used mainly as a pinch-hitter, Johnson batted .203 with eight doubles and nine RBIs. He made 17 starts in right field and 13 starts in left field, appearing in only one game, on September 6th, between late July and the end of the season.
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First Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #476
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1960, 1963, 1966-69
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #367
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 30 in the Beckett online database as of 8/10/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia
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