Johnson made the jump to the Big Leagues at the age of 21 and was immediately a starter for Oakland, and went on to post a record of 11-10 with an earned run average at 3.39 over 33 appearances, 30 of them starts.
He completed seven games while tossing two shutouts, striking out 91 batters in 186 innings of work for an Oakland team that would finish 69-93.
The following year was a rough one for Johnson, as he would start the season 2-8 for Oakland before finding himself traded to the Texas Rangers for Dave Chalk and Mike Heath in June, where he’d almost mirror those first half numbers with a 2-6 record, combining for a 4-14 showing with an ERA at 4.63 over 31 appearances.
Though he would go on to pitch another six seasons in the Majors over the next eight years, he’d never again find the success of that rookie year, mainly working out of the bullpen for the Rangers, Boston Red Sox and Milwaukee Brewers until 1987.
By the time he retired, he finished with a record of 26-33, with an ERA of 3.90 over 214 appearances and 602.2 innings pitched.