Cambridge Encyclopedia :: Cambridge Encyclopedia Vol. 54

Nick Johnson - Minor league career, Major league career, Injury, Awards

US government official and broadcast activist, born in Iowa City, Iowa, USA. A University of Texas Law School graduate, he fought for broadcast reform as a Federal Communications Commissioner (FCC) (1966–73). He wrote How to Talk Back To Your TV Set (1970), a manual for consumer advocates, and headed the National Citizens Communication Lobby in 1975. After leaving the FCC, he taught law at various universities, most notably the University of Iowa (1981).

Nick Johnson

Washington Nationals — No. 24
First base
Bats: Left Throws: Left
Major League Baseball debut
August 21, 2001 for the New York Yankees
Selected MLB statistics
(through 2006)
Avg     297
Teams
New York Yankees (2001-2003) Montreal Expos (2004)

Nick Johnson (born September 19, 1978 in Sacramento, California) is a first baseman in Major League Baseball, currently with the Washington Nationals.

He previously played with the New York Yankees between 2001 and 2003, and with the Montreal Expos in 2004.

Minor league career

In 1998 he batted .317/.466/.538 with 17 home runs in 303 at bats for Tampa.

In 1999 he was an All-Star for Norwich, and batted .345/.525/.548 with 37 HBP and 123 walks in 420 official at bats.

He participated in the 1999 and 2001 Futures Game during All-Star Weekend, playing for the United States team.

Johnson has a .446 lifetime minor league obp.

Major league career

Johnson had a terrific year — when healthy — in 2003 with the Yankees.

After the 2003 season, the Yankees traded him, along with Juan Rivera and Randy Choate to the Montreal Expos for Javier Vazquez.

In 2004, his first, and, as it turned out, last season with the Montreal Expos, injuries struck again.

2005: With the new Washington Nationals, Johnson continued doing what he did in 2003, and making 2004 look like a blip on the radar screen.

2006: Johnson hit .290/.428 (4th best in the league)/.520, in his best year so far.

Lifetime, with the bases loaded, he has a .385 batting average and .468 obp, with 39 RBI in 39 at bats.

Patience

A major part of his game, as illustrated by the number of walks he gets, is seeing a lot of pitches, which leads to the pitcher tiring.

Contract Extension

Just before the 2006 began, Nick signed a 3-year, 16.5 million dollar extension, with a trade clause after the second year.

Injury

On September 23, 2006, playing against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium, Johnson and right fielder Austin Kearns collided while making a sliding attempt to catch a fly ball.

Awards

1996 - 2nd team High School All-American 1B 1999 - Double-A All-Star 1B 1999 - NY Yankees Minor League Player of the Year 1999 - Eastern League All-Star 1B 2002 - Topps All-Star rookie team

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