Reed Johnson was a kind of scrappy gamers who turned a fan favourite by advantage of pluck. Regardless of a promising begin to his profession in Toronto, Johnson was typically missed and relegated to fourth outfielder standing.
As a rookie for the Blue Jays in 2003, Johnson slashed .294/.353/.427 and slugged 10 dwelling runs. In his first Main League Baseball begin on April 20, 2003, Johnson was hit by a pitch, knocked in a run together with his first profession hit, and was then hit with one other pitch. He received plunked 20 occasions that season, only one shy of league chief Jason Giambi’s whole. Johnson didn’t obtain a single American League Rookie of the 12 months vote.
In 2006 Johnson slashed .319/.390/.479 with an OPS+ of 124. He additionally clubbed a career-high 12 dwelling runs and led Main League Baseball with 21 HBP. He additionally posted a career-best bWAR of 5.1 however didn’t obtain a single MVP vote—regardless of posting a bWAR larger than winner Justin Morneau (4.3).
In 2007, Johnson missed a while in spring coaching with nagging again points. Regardless, he was Toronto’s Opening Day left fielder and performed each inning of seven of the Blue Jays’ first eight video games. Nevertheless, he sat out the sport in Detroit on April 12 when he “confirmed up on the ballpark with a wonky decrease again.” Johnson didn’t return to the lineup till July 6 and ended the season together with his worst offensive output as a Main Leaguer. Johnson was launched by Toronto on March 23, 2008 and signed a few days later with the Chicago Cubs as a free agent.
On April 25, 2008 Johnson was in heart subject because the Cubs visited the Washington Nationals. Within the fifth inning Felipe López drove a ball to deep heart subject destined for additional bases. On a lifeless dash, Johnson did his greatest Superman impression. He laid out, landed on the warning monitor, and crashed into the wall. He leapt up with the invoice of his hat askew and the ball in his glove. Though the Cubs finally misplaced the sport, that single play epitomized Reed Johnson’s grit and immediately endeared him to Cubs followers all over the place.
Mired in a Could 2008 stoop that noticed Johnson’s batting common drop 40 factors to .256, nevertheless, the Cubs signed Jim Edmonds to a free agent deal on Could 14, after Edmonds had been given his outright launch by San Diego. By the tip of 2008, Johnson had labored himself again to .303/.358/.420 in 374 plate appearances.
Regardless of his contributions through the common season, Johnson didn’t make an look within the NLDS for the Cubs, with Edmonds making all three begins in heart because the Cubs had been swept by the Dodgers. The Cubs granted Edmonds his free company in October 2008.
On January 9, 2009, the Cubs signed Milton Bradley (and all his baggage) to a free agent contract following his season in Texas by which Bradley had led the American League in OBP (.436), OPS (.999) and OPS+ (162). Bradley was given the beginning position in proper subject and Kosuke Fukudome was moved over to heart.
On Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009, the Cubs performed in Milwaukee. Bradley began in proper subject for the Cubs and was hit by a pitch in his second plate look main off the highest of the fourth inning. Johnson got here to run for Bradley and finally scored on a bases loaded stroll to Koyie Hill. The Cubs batted round and Johnson got here to the plate, ending the inning on a floor out.
The Cubs had been staked to a 6-2 lead because the Brewers got here to bat within the backside of the fifth. Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster gave up singles to Rickie Weeks and Craig Counsell after which hit Ryan Braun with a pitch. With no outs and the bases loaded, slugger Prince Fielder strode to the plate. Fielder murdered Dempster’s 1-1 providing to proper subject, a towering ball destined for the seats; a dramatic game-tying grand slam.
Johnson turned and gave chase. He timed his bounce and leapt, extending his glove a foot and a half above the wall. He got here down with the ball in his glove and fired it again into the infield. Fielder stood close to first base, dumbfounded. That well-struck ball with a lot promise ended up an odd sacrifice fly within the field rating. The Cubs held on for an 8-5 victory in entrance of 40,000-plus at Miller Park.
This play is Reed Johnson’s favourite profession spotlight.
Finally, Johnson’s enjoying time was restricted for the Cubs in 2009, as he appeared in simply 65 video games. After a disappointing season in Los Angeles in 2010, Johnson returned to the Cubs in 2011 as a free agent.
Johnson appeared within the 2011 Topps Replace set as a member of the Cubs. The picture exhibits him in what seems to be a (walk-off?) dwelling run trot. He’s screaming together with his arms are balled up in fists. This was most likely an thrilling second in his profession, so when did it occur?
Some clues from the picture embrace a house uniform and the distinctive wall alongside Wrigley Discipline’s first bottom line. Johnson is carrying lengthy sleeves, so it was most likely an early-season recreation. The stands look empty, so it might be chilly and/or an additional innings affair. The patches on the uniform had been no assist, and neither was the identification of Majestic as producer.
Contemplating that Johnson had performed two earlier seasons with Chicago, the search started with Johnson’s dwelling run log. He hit 65 dwelling runs in his profession however there have been no April dwelling runs at Wrigley Discipline and no walk-offs throughout his prior stint with the crew. Accordingly, it appeared possible that the picture used within the 2011 Topps Replace set had truly been taken earlier that very same season.
I had a possibility to talk with Johnson on the 2026 Cubs Conference. I first advised him I used to be personally at that 2009 recreation in Milwaukee when he robbed Prince Fielder. [I also let him know that we were not paying attention very well and when the right fielder went up to grab that ball, we all thought Milton Bradley was still in the game. Doh.] That is once I discovered that was Johnson’s favourite catch of all time. There isn’t a doubt as to why.
I additionally needed to see if we may pinpoint the date the picture was taken on his 2011 Topps Replace card. As Johnson signed the cardboard, he knew instantly it was an extra-inning walk-off dwelling run towards the Padres—his solely stroll off dwelling run as a Cub. Not surprisingly, this was one other one in every of his favourite baseball recollections.
Nevertheless, if I had been paying higher consideration, I may have simply regarded behind the cardboard, which plainly indicated “On April 21, 2011, he rocked Wrigley with an 11th inning homer vs. San Diego.”
Thriller solved?
Effectively, not fairly. The cardboard doesn’t precisely say the picture was from that explicit dwelling run. And much more troubling was that the Cubs did not play a recreation towards anybody on April 21, 2011.
Nevertheless, Reed Johnson did hit an 11th inning walk-off dwelling run off Padres twirler Luke Gregerson on April 20, sending the Cubs to a 2-1 victory within the first recreation of a weather-related Wednesday doubleheader.
Thriller solved and uncorrected errors confirmed! (Topps included that incorrect walk-off dwelling run date on Johnson’s 2012 card, as nicely.)
Sources:
Baseball-Reference.com
Retrosheet.org
TCDB.com
Writer dialog with Reed Johnson, January 17, 2026
Robert MacLeod, “Toronto’s Offence Hurting,” The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), April 13, 2007, 111.
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