Today on the blog we have a great "old fashioned" 1971 "not so
missing" card for three-game Major League pitcher Jim Johnson of the San
Francisco Giants:
The entirety of Johnson's
Big League tenure was during the month of April, 1970, when he appeared
in the aforementioned three games, going 1-0 with a 8.10 earned run
average over 6.2 innings.
He was hit hard over those 6+
innings, giving up eight hits and six runs while walking five, striking
out two with a balk and two wild pitches.
Though he was sent
down to the Minors for the rest of the season, it seemed probable that
he would be back up either later in the year or the following season,
however because of a stubborn Giants front office and later on a sore
arm, Johnson decided the best move for his family was to retire and move
onto a long and distinguished career in Education.
Sadly he
passed away at the young age of only 42 due to Pancreatic Cancer in
1987, at the time he was the Superintendent of Schools at North
Muskegon, Michigan High School.
He had devoted his life to
Education even before he retired, attaining advanced Degrees at
University while toiling in the Minors.
