Davey Johnson, the man who managed the New York Mets to their last World Series title, has passed away. He was 82.
SNY, the Mets’ cable network, announced his death Saturday morning without revealing a specific cause of death.
Davey Johnson managed several teams throughout his career, including the Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Washington Nationals. He was also a talented All-Star player and won two World Series titles while playing as the Orioles’ second baseman.
Interestingly, Johnson was involved in the final play of the 1969 World Series when his Orioles team was defeated by the Mets, who claimed their first Major League title. Seventeen years later, he guided New York to its second championship.
Coincidentally, two of Johnson’s former teams, the Mets and Reds, will face off Saturday evening in Cincinnati.
Johnson’s death led to an outpouring of grief online, led by long-time Mets radio announcer Howie Rose.
Davey Johnson, the man who managed the Mets to their last title, has passed away at 82
Johnson is best remembered for leading the 1986 Mets by the Red Sox in the World Series
‘Davey Johnson taught me more about the business side of baseball than anyone else throughout my career,’ Rose expressed on the platform X. ‘I’ll always value our conversations during the Mets Extra days and am heartbroken about his passing. Rest in peace, old friend. I will share more memories later today.’
Johnson’s ex-teammate, Hall of Famer Jim Palmer, also shared his feelings online.
‘Heartbroken to hear about my longtime teammate and friend, Davey Johnson’s passing,’ Palmer wrote on X. ‘We joined the Orioles in 1965, nurtured our families alongside each other, celebrated two World Series victories, and embraced the Oriole tradition. His life was dedicated to supporting others as a friend, teammate, and manager. My condolences to his wife, Susan.’
Fans quickly followed with their own memories.
‘So sad,’ one remarked on X. ‘His single presence turned a franchise into a winner and gave it swagger.’
‘Davey was the ideal manager for the 1986 Mets,’ someone remarked about the team that defeated the Boston Red Sox in a seven-game series. ‘I always appreciated his interviews discussing the players and those memorable times. Rest in peace.’
And it wasn’t just Mets fans who were grieving, but Orioles and Reds supporters as well.
Shaun Elliott, associated with Cincinnati’s NBC station, reminded fans that Johnson was the manager when the Reds last secured a playoff series victory in 1995.
John Thorn, the official historian of Major League Baseball, kept it short and sweet: ‘Hail and farewell, Davey Johnson.’
The Orioles’ Davey Johnson turns a double play against the Mets in the 1969 Word Series
Davey Johnson grounds out during the 1969 World Series at Shea Stadium in Queens
Born in Florida in 1943, Johnson studied at Trinity University in San Antonio and played just one season at Texas A&M before signing with the Orioles as an amateur free agent in 1962.
Three years later he would make the big-league roster just as the Orioles were becoming a major force in the American League. He’d go on to win three Gold Gloves at second base while reaching the World Series with Baltimore in 1966, 1969, 1970 and 1971. The team won it all in both 1966 and 1970, but was upset by the underdog Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates in 1969 and 1971, respectively.
Johnson went on to play for the Braves, Philadelphia Phillies and even the Yomiuri Giants in Japan before retiring after the 1978 season.
He’d get the change to become a big-league manager in 1984 when the struggling Mets hired him to mold a young, talented team centered around pitcher Dwight ‘Doc’ Gooden and slugger Darryl Strawberry.
His tenure in New York will forever be remembered for the 1986 title, which was made possible by Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner’s infamous error in Game 6 that allowed Mets third baseman Ray Knight to score the winning run. New York would win the team’s second Commissioner’s Trophy in Game 7.
It was in New York where the former mathematics major embraced a new analytical approach to managing known as sabermetrics – a field that was later popularized by author Bill James as well as the Michael Lewis book and film, Moneyball.
But the good times couldn’t last in New York, where Knight and general manager Frank Cashen were at odds as the team began to struggle in 1990. Johnson was fired that season with the team at 20-22.
Baltimore Orioles second baseman Roberto Alomar, left, is held back by manager Davey Johnson, center, as he takes a run at home plate umpire John Hirschbeck in 1996
This 1984 photo shows Yankees manager Yogi Berra (left) alongside the Mets’ Davey Johnson
Knight resurfaced in Cincinnati in 1993 and quickly revitalized a team that had won a World Series just a few years prior.
He led the team to the 1995 National League Championship Series, where the Reds fell to the eventual-champion Atlanta Braves.
Along the way, cantankerous Reds owner Marge Schott announced Knight would not return for the 1996 season despite the team’s success. Later the Washington Post reported that notoriously conservative Schott was upset with Johnson for living with his then-girlfriend out of wedlock.
Schott, who previously faced her own racism scandals, replaced Johnson in 1996 with Knight, his former player.
Johnson returned to Baltimore in 1996, reaching the playoffs twice, before moving on to the Dodgers and the Nationals.
He announced his retirement in September of the 2013 season after one postseason berth with the Nationals.
