Howard Johnson
From The Met Wiki
Howard Johnson was an infielder and outfielder for the Mets from 1985 to 1993. In 1154 games with the team, he had 192 home runs and 629 runs batted in. Johnson (nicknamed Hojo) also had 202 stolen bases as a Met.
Johnson was acquired by the Mets from the Detroit Tigers for Walt Terrell on December 7, 1984. In the 1985 season, he hit .242 with 11 homers while serving as the team's regular third baseman. On May 7, Howard hit his first home run as a Met in a 5-3 win over the Braves at Shea Stadium. He scored four times (once on his own two-run homer in the 13th inning) in the Mets' 16-13 win in 19 innings at Atlanta on July 4. In the Mets' 16-4 and 15-10 wins over the Braves at Shea on July 20 and July 21, Johnson homered in each game and drove in a total of five runs. He also hit a grand slam in the first inning of a 5-4 Mets victory over the Cardinals at Shea on September 10.
In the Mets' World Championship season of 1986, Johnson batted .245 in 88 games played. He homered 10 times and had 39 RBIs. At St. Louis on April 24, Howard hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to tie the game before the Mets won it, 5-4, in the 10th. He hit a three-run homer in the 14th inning to give the Mets a 6-3 win in a wild game at Cincinnati on July 22. Hojo hit a three-run double in the first inning of the Mets' 9-2 victory over the Cubs at Shea on July 28. He also had a three-run homer against the Cubs at Shea in a 5-0 Mets win on September 18. In the '86 post-season, Johnson went hitless in 7 at-bats against the Astros and Red Sox.
Johnson had a standout season in 1987. He played in a team-leading 157 games and hit 36 home runs with 99 RBIs. He also stole 32 bases during the year. Howard had a ninth-inning single that gave the Mets a 3-2 win over the Cardinals at Shea on June 30. He homered twice in a 9-6 Mets victory at Houston on July 11. Johnson had three singles and a game-winning homer in the 10th inning for a 6-4 Mets triumph at St. Louis on July 29. He homered in the 10th to give the Mets a 6-5 victory at San Diego on August 31. Also at San Diego, he had a two-run homer to put the Mets ahead to stay for a 4-3 win on September 2. Against the Cardinals at Shea on September 11, Johnson recorded his 30th stolen base of the season.
In 1988, Johnson had 114 hits for 209 total bases. He scored 85 runs and led the Mets in walks with 86. Howard singled, doubled, homered and drove in four runs in the Mets' 11-0 win at Cincinnati on May 1. Against the Cubs at Shea on June 2, he hit a home run in the 13th inning to give the Mets a 2-1 victory. Johnson went 5-for-5 with three singles, a double and a homer in a 13-6 Mets win at Chicago on September 8. He also scored three runs in the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers.
The 1989 season was a highly productive one for Johnson. He led the Mets in many offensive categories, including home runs (36), RBIs (101) and batting (.287) and tied for the National League lead in runs scored with 104. Howard had three singles and a homer in a 5-1 Mets win at Houston on April 29. At Cincinnati on May 4, he hit a home run in the 10th inning to give the Mets a 3-2 victory. Johnson homered twice in the Mets' 5-3 win over the Expos at Shea on June 19. He singled, tripled, homered and drove in three runs in an 11-5 Mets triumph over the Expos at Shea on August 4. In this game, Howard got his 30th and 31st stolen bases of the year. He also singled to drive in the Mets' only run in a 1-0 win at Los Angeles on August 28.
Also in '89, Johnson became the first Mets third baseman ever to play in the All-Star Game. In the first inning of the Game in Anaheim on July 11, he singled to drive home Kevin Mitchell for the National League's second run.
Howard led the Mets with 154 games played in 1990. For the year, he had 37 doubles, 23 homers and a team-high 34 stolen bases. Johnson hit a grand slam in the Mets' 15-10 win at Chicago on June 13. He had three singles and a two-run homer in a 7-4 Mets triumph over the Astros at Shea on July 4. Howard's single in the ninth inning drove in the winning run for a 4-3 Mets victory over the Giants on August 31 at Shea.
In 1991, Johnson had another standout season. He led the National League with 38 home runs and a Mets-record-setting 117 RBIs. Howard also had team-leading totals of 34 doubles, 146 hits and 108 runs scored (which tied Darryl Strawberry's team record set in '87.) At Shea on May 4, Johnson hit a two-run homer in the 12th inning to give the Mets a 6-4 win over the Giants. He homered in the 11th inning to give the Mets a 4-3 victory at Houston on June 8. Howard hit a grand slam in the Mets' 7-5 victory over the Reds at Shea on June 18. At Cincinnati on August 31, he homered twice in the Mets' 8-7 win in 10 innings. Johnson also recorded his 30th stolen base of the year at Pittsburgh on October 1, giving him three seasons with both 30 homers and 30 steals.
Johnson was switched from third base to center field in 1992. For the year, he had 78 hits and 48 runs scored in 100 games played. On April 9, Howard had a two-run double and a two-run homer in the Mets' 7-1 win at St. Louis. He doubled twice to drive in five runs in an 11-6 Mets victory at Montreal on April 19. Howard scored three runs in the Mets' 14-1 win over the Giants on June 1 at Shea. He homered in a 2-1 Mets 10-inning triumph at St. Louis on June 27. Johnson also got a game-winning single in the 12th inning in the Mets' 6-4 victory at Chicago on July 1.
Howard played in 72 games for the Mets in 1993. He had 7 homers among his 56 hits while playing third base once again. On April 16, Johnson's two-run homer in the fourth inning put the Mets ahead to stay for a 3-1 win at Cincinnati. He also hit a two-run homer in the Mets' 4-0 victory over the Marlins on May 7 at Shea. At Chicago on May 31, Howard hit a three-run triple in a 9-5 Mets win over the Cubs. In a 4-1 loss at San Diego on July 20, Johnson hit his last homer as a Met for the team's only run of the game.
Following the '93 season, Johnson joined the Colorado Rockies as a free agent. He played for the Rockies in 1994 and finished his playing career with the Cubs in 1995. Johnson later managed the Mets-affiliated Brooklyn Cyclones of the New York-Penn League and served on the Mets coaching staff.
