Mark Johnson (catcher)
Encyclopedia
Mark Landon Johnson is a former professional baseball
player, a catcher
who played with several major league
teams, but primarily with the Chicago White Sox
. In 2011, he retired as a player and became a minor league
manager.
Standing at 6'0" and weighing 185 pounds, Johnson attended Warner Robins High School
in Warner Robins, Georgia
.
Batting left-handed
but throwing right-handed, Johnson was drafted by the Chicago White Sox
26th overall in the draft. The first two seasons of his professional career were nothing near stellar-in 1994, he hit
only .241 in 32 games, and in , he hit .182 in 107 games.
saw a slight improvement, at least while in Single-A. He hit .257 in 67 games there, but in Single-A Advanced ball that year, he hit only .241.
Great at drawing walks
, he walked 106 times and struck out
only 85 times in , but he still only hit .252. In , he had a career year in the minors, batting .283 with 105 walks and only 72 strikeouts. That prompted his promotion, and on September 14, , at the age of 22, he made his big league debut. He went 0-for-1 at the plate. The rest of his season was not impressive, either-overall, he collected only two hits
in 23 at bat
s, for a .087 batting average
. He made the best out of his two hits, though-they were both triples
. His first one came off Pedro Martínez
on September 19, and his second came off Scott Service
on September 25.
He spent his entire season with the White Sox, backing up Brook Fordyce
. In 73 games that season, he hit .227 with four home run
s and 16 RBI
.
He hit .225 in , this time as the White Sox starting catcher. In 75 games, he hit three home runs with 23 RBI.
was a career year for Johnson. Even though he spent 55 games in the minors, his Major League season would be the best of his career. He hit .249 with 10 sacrifice hit
s-good for fourth most in the league.
He hit only .209 in , and that may have prompted his trade. On December 3, 2002, he was traded with Keith Foulke
, Joe Valentine
, and cash to the Oakland Athletics
for Billy Koch
and two players to be named later (who would end up being Neal Cotts
and minor leaguer Daylan Holt).
He spent most of his season in the minors in , hitting only .228. In the thirteen games that he played in the Majors, his batting average was .111.
After the 2003 season, he was granted free agency
and signed by the Milwaukee Brewers
. Like the season before, he spent most of his time in the minors that year, actually breaking the .250 mark and hitting .259. His time in the Majors was again unimpressive-in eleven at bats, he collected only one hit, for a .097 batting average.
After , he was granted free-agency, but was re-signed by the Brewers, who then traded him to the Chicago Cubs
for Travis Ezi. He spent entirely in the minors, hitting .266 in 60 games. After the 2005 season, he was granted free agency and picked up by the Brewers again. He spent all of in the minors, hitting only .203 there.
On November 10, 2006, he signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks
and spent the entire year in the minors; though Johnson did have the best season hitting for average in his career, with a .320 batting average. In December , he signed a minor league contract with the St Louis Cardinals and was invited to their spring training
, but did not make the team. He was called up by the Cardinals in September , appearing in the majors for the first time in four years.
One source describes him as this: "He has decent gap power, resulting in his share of doubles, as well as a good eye at the plate. Defensively, he calls a good game and gets the ball quickly down to second base."
Although he has never quite lived up to the "gap power", he has shown a fairly good eye at the plate, with 123 walks and 195 strikeouts so far in his career. His defense is also reliable-his career fielding percentage is .993.
That same source goes on to say this about him: "He has very little home run power and is a fairly light hitter on the whole -- even worse against southpaws."
He has average just over two home runs a season in the Majors, and his statistics - .217 batting average with 16 home runs and 81 RBI so far in his career - are rather unsavory. In November 2009 Johnson was granted free agency from the Chicago Cubs
. On January 20, 2010, Johnson re-signed a minor league contract with the Cubs.
, the Cubs' affiliate in the Short Season Class A Northwest League
.
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player, a catcher
Catcher
Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...
who played with several major league
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
teams, but primarily with the Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
. In 2011, he retired as a player and became a minor league
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
manager.
Standing at 6'0" and weighing 185 pounds, Johnson attended Warner Robins High School
Warner Robins High School
Warner Robins High School is a high school in Warner Robins, Georgia. It is located at 401 South Davis Drive.-Campus:In 2005, the nearby Bert Rumble Middle School was merged with WRHS as Rumble Academy, with most of its former faculty and students moved to the nearby Huntington Middle School...
in Warner Robins, Georgia
Warner Robins, Georgia
Warner Robins is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located primarily in Houston County with a small portion in Peach County. The city has its own metropolitan statistical area . As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 48,804...
.
Batting left-handed
Left-handed
Left-handedness is the preference for the left hand over the right for everyday activities such as writing. In ancient times it was seen as a sign of the devil, and was abhorred in many cultures...
but throwing right-handed, Johnson was drafted by the Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
26th overall in the draft. The first two seasons of his professional career were nothing near stellar-in 1994, he hit
Hit (baseball)
In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....
only .241 in 32 games, and in , he hit .182 in 107 games.
saw a slight improvement, at least while in Single-A. He hit .257 in 67 games there, but in Single-A Advanced ball that year, he hit only .241.
Great at drawing walks
Base on balls
A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08...
, he walked 106 times and struck out
Strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout or strike-out occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters....
only 85 times in , but he still only hit .252. In , he had a career year in the minors, batting .283 with 105 walks and only 72 strikeouts. That prompted his promotion, and on September 14, , at the age of 22, he made his big league debut. He went 0-for-1 at the plate. The rest of his season was not impressive, either-overall, he collected only two hits
Hit (baseball)
In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....
in 23 at bat
At bat
In baseball, an at bat or time at bat is used to calculate certain statistics, including batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. It is a more restricted definition of a plate appearance...
s, for a .087 batting average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
. He made the best out of his two hits, though-they were both triples
Triple (baseball)
In baseball, a triple is the act of a batter safely reaching third base after hitting the ball, with neither the benefit of a fielder's misplay nor another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....
. His first one came off Pedro Martínez
Pedro Martínez
Pedro Jaime Martínez is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher. He is an eight-time All-Star, three-time Cy Young Award winner, and 2004 World Series champion...
on September 19, and his second came off Scott Service
Scott Service
Scott David Service is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the major leagues between and . He also pitched one season in Japan for the Chunichi Dragons in .-External links:...
on September 25.
He spent his entire season with the White Sox, backing up Brook Fordyce
Brook Fordyce
Brook Alexander Fordyce born is a former Major League Baseball catcher who played for the New York Mets , Cincinnati Reds , Chicago White Sox , Baltimore Orioles , and Tampa Bay Devil Rays ....
. In 73 games that season, he hit .227 with four home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
s and 16 RBI
Run batted in
Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...
.
He hit .225 in , this time as the White Sox starting catcher. In 75 games, he hit three home runs with 23 RBI.
was a career year for Johnson. Even though he spent 55 games in the minors, his Major League season would be the best of his career. He hit .249 with 10 sacrifice hit
Sacrifice hit
In baseball, a sacrifice bunt is a batter's act of deliberately bunting the ball in a manner that allows a runner on base to advance to another base. The batter is almost always sacrificed but sometimes reaches base due to an error or fielder's choice...
s-good for fourth most in the league.
He hit only .209 in , and that may have prompted his trade. On December 3, 2002, he was traded with Keith Foulke
Keith Foulke
-Career:After graduating from Hargrave High School in Huffman, Texas in 1991, he attended Galveston College and Lewis-Clark State College in Idaho. He began his career in the minor-league system of the San Francisco Giants, but was traded to the Chicago White Sox in 1997 with five other prospects...
, Joe Valentine
Joe Valentine
Joseph John Valentine is a Major League Baseball pitcher, currently pitching for the Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz of the Mexican League. He is a 1997 graduate of Deer Park High School in Deer Park, New York, where he led the Falcons to the State championship title game. He married his high school...
, and cash to the Oakland Athletics
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
for Billy Koch
Billy Koch
William Koch is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. He entered the majors with the Toronto Blue Jays and most recently pitched for the Florida Marlins in 2004.- Baseball career :...
and two players to be named later (who would end up being Neal Cotts
Neal Cotts
Neal James Cotts is a left-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who is currently a Free Agent-College career:...
and minor leaguer Daylan Holt).
He spent most of his season in the minors in , hitting only .228. In the thirteen games that he played in the Majors, his batting average was .111.
After the 2003 season, he was granted free agency
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
and signed by the Milwaukee Brewers
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are a professional baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, currently playing in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
. Like the season before, he spent most of his time in the minors that year, actually breaking the .250 mark and hitting .259. His time in the Majors was again unimpressive-in eleven at bats, he collected only one hit, for a .097 batting average.
After , he was granted free-agency, but was re-signed by the Brewers, who then traded him to the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
for Travis Ezi. He spent entirely in the minors, hitting .266 in 60 games. After the 2005 season, he was granted free agency and picked up by the Brewers again. He spent all of in the minors, hitting only .203 there.
On November 10, 2006, he signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks
Arizona Diamondbacks
The Arizona Diamondbacks are a professional baseball team based in Phoenix. They play in the West Division of Major League Baseball's National League. From 1998 to the present, they have played in Chase Field...
and spent the entire year in the minors; though Johnson did have the best season hitting for average in his career, with a .320 batting average. In December , he signed a minor league contract with the St Louis Cardinals and was invited to their spring training
Spring training
In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play...
, but did not make the team. He was called up by the Cardinals in September , appearing in the majors for the first time in four years.
One source describes him as this: "He has decent gap power, resulting in his share of doubles, as well as a good eye at the plate. Defensively, he calls a good game and gets the ball quickly down to second base."
Although he has never quite lived up to the "gap power", he has shown a fairly good eye at the plate, with 123 walks and 195 strikeouts so far in his career. His defense is also reliable-his career fielding percentage is .993.
That same source goes on to say this about him: "He has very little home run power and is a fairly light hitter on the whole -- even worse against southpaws."
He has average just over two home runs a season in the Majors, and his statistics - .217 batting average with 16 home runs and 81 RBI so far in his career - are rather unsavory. In November 2009 Johnson was granted free agency from the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
. On January 20, 2010, Johnson re-signed a minor league contract with the Cubs.
Minor league manager
In 2011, Johnson managed the Boise HawksBoise Hawks
The Boise Hawks are a minor league baseball team, located in Boise, Idaho. The team is currently a farm team for the Chicago Cubs and play in the Short-Season Class A Northwest League.-History:...
, the Cubs' affiliate in the Short Season Class A Northwest League
Northwest League
The Northwest League of Professional Baseball is a Class A-Short Season minor baseball league. The league is the descendant of the Western International League which ran as a class B league from 1937-1951 and class A from 1952-1954...
.