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Alexander Johnson
Philadelphia Phillies
Outfield
Born: December 7, 1942, Helena, AR
Signed: Signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent, July 11, 1961
Major League Teams: Philadelphia Phillies 1964-1965; St. Louis Cardinals 1966-1967; Cincinnati Reds 1968-1969; California Angels 1970-1971; Cleveland Indians 1972; Texas Rangers 1973-1974; New York Yankees 1974-1975; Detroit Tigers 1976
Died: February 28, 2015, Detroit, MI (age 72)
Alex Johnson put together a 13-year big league career, finding his most success in 1970 as a member of the Angels when he was an A.L. All-Star and led the league in hitting with a .329 average. He won the title on the final day of the season, getting two hits, and passing Carl Yastrzemski (#385), .3289 to .3286. He was also the N.L. Comeback Player of the Year in 1968 after hitting .312 for the Reds.
His mercurial demeanor saw him move frequently from team to team, and he ultimately made eight different stops beginning with the Phillies in 1964 and ending with the Tigers in 1976. Johnson battled with media members, managers, coaches and teammates throughout his career and was often criticized for failing to hustle or for his surliness. At some point, MLB Players Association leader Marvin Miller intervened and it was determined Johnson did in fact suffer from a form of mental illness.
He played in 1977 with the Mexico City Reds before retiring from baseball and settling in his hometown of Detroit. There, he ran his father's truck repair and leasing company until succumbing to prostate cancer in 2015.
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| From the 1965 Phillies Yearbook |
May 11, 2020 from Bowling Green, KY - Card #100
This is milestone card #100 for our set, and we have just 498 more cards to go!
Having added the Al Downing (#598) card and a few others through eBay auctions, I continued working my way backwards looking for card #597, a Twins Rookie Stars card and the second to last card in the set. I found a copy in great shape and at a reasonable buy it now price from Blue Grass Treasures in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The seller had a few other cards available from the set and I pushed the buy it now button on those too, adding four total cards to our set from Kentucky. After applying a discount, this Johnson card cost me $5.39.
The Card
This is Johnson's rookie card and the slight smile on his face contains no clues to the future troubles he'd find. The back of the card refers to Johnson as "a manager's dream" and notes his speed on the base paths. This was one of the other frustrating aspects of Johnson's career as it always seemed as if he should be faster than he actually ended up being in game situations. Dick Sisler (#158), the former Phillies player and a Cardinals coach during Johnson's time with the club noted, "He has tremendous speed, but he is not a good baserunner."
The blurb on the top of the back of the card highlights his three-hit performance during his major league debut on July 25, 1964. Johnson started in left field in that game for the Phillies, collecting his first big league hit off the Cardinals' Curt Simmons (#373).
Phillies Team Set
Phillies Career/1965 Season
Alex Johnson made his debut with the Phillies at the age of 21. He was viewed as the left fielder of the future when he arrived, but his time with the club lasted just two seasons. Johnson appeared in 43 games for the doomed 1964 Phillies, hitting .303 with four home runs and 18 RBIs. He platooned with Wes Covington (#583) in left field, seeing action against left-handed starting pitchers. Johnson and Covington shared the same platoon in 1965 with Johnson appearing in 97 games and hitting over .300 throughout most of the season. His average dropped below .300 to .294 over the final weekend of play.
In 140 total games with the Phillies, Johnson hit .296 with 12 home runs and 46 RBIs. Following the 1965 season, Johnson was part of a six-player trade with the Cardinals that saw the Phils ship Johnson, Pat Corrales (#107) and Art Mahaffey (#446) to St. Louis in exchange for Dick Groat (#275), Bob Uecker (#519) and Bill White (#190). For the Cardinals, Johnson was the key to the deal.
Along with Phillies cards in the 1965 and 1966 Topps sets, Johnson was also included in the regional 1964 Philadelphia Bulletin Phillies Album set. His 1966 Topps card is available both with and without a statement indicating he had been traded to the Cardinals.
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First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #352
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (12): 1965-1975, 1977
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1977 Topps #637
68 - Johnson non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 5/23/20.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database
In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year. Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.
Previous Card: #351 Jim Perry - Minnesota Twins
Next Card: #353 Jerry Lumpe - Detroit Tigers
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