Elliot Johnson

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Elliot Johnson

Tampa Bay Rays — No. 9
Second baseman & Shortstop
Born: March 9, 1984 (1984-03-09) (age 40)
Safford, AZ
Batted: Switch Threw: Right 
Organizational debut
July 5, 2002 for the Princeton Devil Rays
Last organizational appearance
September 29, 2012 for the Tampa Bay Rays
Teams

Elliot Tyler Johnson (born March 9, 1984, in Safford, AZ) was an infielder for the Tampa Bay Rays. He signed with the Devil Rays as a non-drafted free agent on June 29, 2002, by Craig Weissman. He was traded to the Kansas City Royals (along with pitchers James Shields and Wade Davis) on December 9, 2012.

Before the Rays

Johnson came to the attention of the Devil Rays organization when scout Craig Weissman saw him playing in the 2002 Arizona Baseball Coaches Association Super 50 Game at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix, AZ. He had been offered scholarships to play basketball at Mesa Community College and football at Eastern Arizona College.[1]

Professional Career

2002: Princeton Devil Rays

Elliot began at Advanced-Rookie Princeton in the Appalachian League, primarily as a second baseman (34 games), with one appearance at shortstop.

2003 & 2004: Charleston RiverDogs

Johnson started the 2003 season with Class-A Charleston in the South Atlantic League, but was limited to only 54 games with lackluster performance (.212 average, only 4 extra-base hits, all doubles) due to injury.

He was again assigned to Charleston in 2004, and was much more productive (.262 average, 43 stolen bases), including a rare feat when, against Greensboro on May 28, he hit home runs in each of the first, second and third innings (the first two were solo homers off of Greensboro starting pitcher Mauro Zarate, the third a two-run shot off of reliever Travis Chick). The game prior, Elliot hit just his first homer at Class A (and second overall) in his final at-bat of that game, giving him 4 of his 6 home runs that season in consecutive at-bats.[2]

2005: Visalia Oaks & Montgomery Biscuits

Johnson was promoted to Advanced-A Visalia in the California League to begin the 2005 season, appearing in 56 games for the Oaks. On June 10 he was promoted to Double-A Montgomery in the Southern League.[3]

2006: Montgomery Biscuits

Johnson enjoyed a breakout season in 2006, his first full season in Double-A, setting career highs in average (.281), hits (139), triples (10), home runs (hitting 15 when he had only 18 total in his prior four seasons), RBI (50), and slugging percentage (.455).

On April 26, Johnson hit the first grand slam by a Biscuit player at Riverwalk Stadium, going 3-5 (including 2 doubles) and notching 6 RBI against Birmingham. He was a starting second baseman at the 2006 Southern League mid-season All-Star Game, and Montgomery's Player of the Year.

Following the 2006 season, Johnson was added to the Devil Rays' 40-man roster for the first time.[4]

2007: Durham Bulls

2007 marked Johnson's promotion to Triple-A, when he was assigned to Durham in the International League.

2008: Tampa Bay Rays & Durham Bulls

On March 8, 2008, in a spring training game against the New York Yankees at Steinbrenner Field, a ninth inning play at the plate involved Johnson and Yankee catching prospect Francisco Cervelli. With the Rays leading, Johnson rounded third base and collided with Cervelli in an attempt to knock the ball loose from Cervelli's glove, fracturing Cervelli's wrist. Yankees manager Joe Girardi believed the play was "uncalled for." Rays manager Joe Maddon called the play "hardball," indicating that there was nothing at all dirty about the play.[5] Rays' Senior Advisor and former Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer disagreed with Girardi's comments, saying, "That's the way to play the game."[6] Johnson spoke on the incident saying that he never intended to hurt Cervelli, and that if he was safe on the play and no one was injured then it was no big deal.

Johnson made the Rays opening day roster as a bench player due to an injury to Ben Zobrist. On April 5, he made his Major League debut against the New York Yankees as the designated hitter, singling off of Andy Pettitte in his second at-bat. He was optioned to Durham on April 29 after appearing in 7 games, logging time at shortstop, second base, right field and center field.[1][7]

Before 2008 Johnson had made only four professional appearances at shortstop (each in different seasons, and none since 2005) but began playing the position more regularly (in addition to limited time in left and right field) in an effort to gain versatility.

2009 & 2010: Durham Bulls

Elliot was again assigned to Durham to begin the 2009 season, but missed most of May and all of June with a broken hand.[8]

For the first time in his professional career, Johnson spent more time at shortstop in 2010 (64 appearances) than any other position (including 35 in either left or right field and only 16 at his natural position of second base).

2011: Tampa Bay Rays

St. Petersburg Times columnist John Romano wrote in March 2011 that Elliot Johnson was likely one of three players competing for two spots on the Rays bench, with the other two being outfielder Sam Fuld and first baseman Casey Kotchman.[9] Johnson made the opening day roster as a bench player along with Fuld. He hit his first big-leage home run, a solo shot to right field off of Jake Arrieta, in a 9-3 loss to Baltimore on May 15 at Tropicana Field.[10]

Personal

Johnson's youngest brother, Cedric was drafted in the 19th round of the 2007 draft (though his contract was voided because of a knee injury). Younger brother Leon was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 10th round of the 2007 draft and played on their Arizona League team in 2007 & 2008. Older brother Isaac was drafted in 2000 by Seattle, but didn't sign. Elliot's oldest brother, Lucas, is a high school baseball and soccer coach.[1]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Vaughn, Rick; Costello, Chris; Molina, Carmen et al., eds (2009). 2009 Tampa Bay Rays Media Guide. St. Petersburg, FL: Tampa Bay Rays Communications Department. p. 139-41. 
  2. "Elliot Johnson makes history". OurSportsCentral.com. OurSports Central. May 28, 2004. http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3040810. Retrieved May 16, 2011. 
  3. "Montgomery Biscuits Transactions". Official Website of the Montgomery Biscuits. Montgomery Biscuits Baseball. Archived from the original on January 6, 2006. http://replay.web.archive.org/20060106040506/http://www.biscuitsbaseball.com/transactions.html. Retrieved May 16, 2011. 
  4. Vaughn, Rick; Costello, Chris; Molina, Carmen et al., eds (2007). 2007 Tampa Bay Devil Rays Media Guide. St. Petersburg, FL: Tampa Bay Devil Rays Communications Department. p. 110-1. 
  5. Hoch, Bryan (March 8, 2008). "Broken wrist polarizes Yanks, Rays". MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080308&content_id=2413856&vkey=spt2008news&fext=.jsp&c_id=tb. Retrieved May 11, 2011. 
  6. Chastain, Bill (March 9, 2008). "Rays' Zimmer weighs in on collision". MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080309&content_id=2414680. Retrieved May 11, 2011. 
  7. "Bulls Transactions Archive". durhambulls.com. Durham Bulls Baseball Club. http://dbulls.com/team/transactions_archive.html?y=2008. Retrieved May 11, 2011. 
  8. "Bulls Transactions Archive". durhambulls.com. Durham Bulls Baseball Club. http://dbulls.com/team/transactions_archive.html?y=2009. Retrieved May 17, 2011. 
  9. Romano, John. "Perspective is strength of Tampa Bay Rays hopeful Sam Fuld". St. Petersburg Times. http://www.tampabay.com/sports/baseball/rays/article1156112.ece. Retrieved March 10, 2011. 
  10. "Baseball Video Highlights & Clips - BAL@TB: Johnson crushes his first Major League homer - Video - MLB.com: Multimedia". MLB.com. May 15, 2011. http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=14825913. Retrieved May 16, 2011. 

External links