On the blog today, we have a "missing" 1975 for Deron Johnson, but it is an alternate version, showing him as a Milwaukee Brewer, the second of three teams he'd suit up for in 1974:
Since
I just cannot find a usable image of Johnson as a Boston Red Sox
player, the team he actually finished the season with, I did find this
nice image of him with Milwaukee, so here you go.
Johnson had a
bad year in 1974, hence Topps leaving him off their 1975 set, as he hit
.171 over 110 games and 351 at-bats combined with the three teams.
Opening the season with the Oakland A's, he hit .195 with them over 50 games before moving on to the Brewers.
However
the change of scenery did not help as he went on to hit .151 for
Milwaukee over 49 games, collecting only 23 hits over 152 at-bats. Ouch!
On
September 7th, he was purchased by the Boston Red Sox, where he would
go on to appear in only 11 games, again struggling to find his stroke,
to the tune of a painful .120 batting average, with three hits over 25
at-bats.
But all was not lost for Deron, as he would bounce
back in 1975 as the Chicago White Sox full-time designated hitter,
playing in 148 games for them before yet another move BACK to the Red
Sox (keeping track here?), where he'd play three games at season's end.
In
his 1975 campaign, Johnson had a decent year, hitting a combined .239
with nineteen homers and 75 runs batted in, with 68 runs scored over 151
games and 565 at-bats.
Turns out it was a last hurrah, as
1976 would see him appear in only 15 games for Boston before being
released on June 4th, never to play Big League ball again.
All
told, Johnson had himself a very nice 16 year Major League career,
hitting .244 with 245 homers and 923 RBIs, with 1447 hits in 5941
at-bats over 1765 games between 1960 and 1976.
Now to find me a good image of him with the Red Sox!
