Thursday, November 26, 2020

#359 Ken Johnson - Houston Astros


Kenneth Travis Johnson
Houston Astros
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  210
Born:  June 16, 1933, West Palm Beach, FL
Signed:  Signed by the Philadelphia Athletics as an amateur free agent before 1952 season
Major League Teams:  Kansas City Athletics 1958-1961; Cincinnati Reds 1961; Houston Colt .45s 1962-1964; Houston Astros 1965; Milwaukee Braves 1965; Atlanta Braves 1966-1969; New York Yankees 1969; Chicago Cubs 1969; Montreal Expos 1970
Died:  November 21, 2015, Pineville, LA (age 82)

He appeared in 334 games over a 13-year Major League career with seven different clubs, but Ken Johnson is perhaps best remembered for being the losing pitcher while throwing a complete-game no-hitter.  On April 23, 1964, in Houston and pitching against the Reds, Johnson and Joe Nuxhall (#312) were locked in a scoreless pitching duel.  In the top of the ninth, Pete Rose (#207) reached second on an error committed by Johnson, advanced to third on a ground out and scored on another error committed by second baseman Nellie Fox (#485).  Nuxhall retired the Colts in the bottom of the ninth to win the game for the Reds and hand Johnson the loss, despite his no-hitter.

Johnson appeared in one game in the 1961 World Series for the Reds, pitching 2/3 of an inning against the Yankees and retiring both Elston Howard (#450) and Bill Skowron (#70).  Johnson's best seasons came with the Colt .45s/Astros and the Braves.  He won at least 10 games five seasons in a row between 1963 and 1967, hitting his career high in 1965 with 16 wins.  With the Braves, and relying on his knuckle ball, he paired with fellow knuckleballer Phil Niekro (#461) to stymie National League hitters in the late 1960s.  He retired in 1970 having spent 18 seasons pitching in professional baseball.  Johnson had a career record of 91-106 with a 3.46 ERA, 1,042 strikeouts and one famous no-hitter.

Building the Set
August 21, 2020 from Charleston, SC - Card #161
In my largest (by volume) purchase to date, I spent an enjoyable hour or so in mid-August browsing the eBay store of seller mantlerulz and clicking Add to Cart on 30 different cards.  We had previously added 29 cards to our set back in February from the Philly Show.  The 30 cards, all commons, cost me $52 total (before shipping and taxes) with the cards ranging in prices from $1 to $6.  I love this haul and I found the seller's store by accident when I was browsing eBay in an attempt to add a few more cheap cards from the set's first series.  With this purchase, we've now passed the quarter mark for completion of the set.  We still have a long way to go, and quite a few pricey cards to add, but any day I can add 30 commons in excellent shape and at very low prices is a great day.  This Johnson card was only $1.50.

The Card / Astros Team Set
It's strange to see a baseball card featuring a full profile photo, but I'm assuming this photo was selected to hide the ".45s" logo that would have been on Johnson's hat.  I'm also guessing this photo was taken at the same time as the one used for Johnson's 1964 Topps card.  The back of the card references the losing no-hitter effort and his "tricky" knuckleball.

Johnson grew up in West Palm Beach, Florida, which is where he presumably served as a ballpark usher, but I couldn't find anything more about when and where that had happened.

1965 Season
Johnson began the season as the Astros' number three starter behind Bob Bruce (#240) and Turk Farrell (#80).  He made eight starts, going 3-2 with a 4.18 ERA before being traded to the Braves on May 23rd with Jim Beauchamp (#409) for Lee Maye (#407).  With the Braves, in their last season in Milwaukee, Johnson appeared in 29 games, making 26 starts and going 13-8 with a 3.21 ERA.  He complemented a pitching rotation that had Tony Cloninger (#520) and his 24 wins along with Wade Blasingame (#44) at the top.

1960 Topps #135
1961 Topps #24
1964 Topps #158
1966 Topps #466
1969 Topps #238
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1960 Topps #135
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10):  1960-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1978 TCMA The 1960s I #232

45 - Johnson non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/16/20.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Previous Card:  #358 Albie Pearson - Los Angeles Angels

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