Doug Johns

Douglas Alan Johns

• Bats Right, Throws Left
• Height 6' 2", Weight 185 lb.
• School University of Virginia
• High School Nova High School
• Debut July 8, 1995
• Final Game October 2, 1999
• Born December 19, 1967 in South Bend, IN USA

BR page

Biographical Information

While Doug Johns has a Jewish mother and is profiled in The Big Book of Jewish Baseball, he follows his father's Catholic traditions. Doug was undrafted out of high school. Not known as an overpowering pitcher, he relied on control and a multitude of pitches and pitch styles reminiscent of Murry Dickson.

After college, he was picked in the 16th round of the 1990 amateur draft by the Oakland Athletics. He went 0-2, 5.73 for the South Oregon A's and 3-1, 1.84 for the AZL Athletics that year. Moving up to the Madison Muskies in 1991, he won 12 of 18 decisions with a 3.23 ERA. Johns was with the 1992 Huntsville Stars and had a 3.94 ERA in three games before being demoted to the Reno Silver Sox, where he had a 13-10, 3.26 record. He was fifth in the California League in ERA, one spot behind Mike Hampton and led the league with 179 innings pitched.

In 1993, the 25-year-old returned to Huntsville and posted a 7-5, 2.97 record, primarily being used out of the bullpen (34 relief appearances, six starts). 1994 was a great year for Johns - after a 3-0, 1.20 start with Huntsville, he moved up to the Tacoma Tigers, where he went 9-8 and led the Pacific Coast League both in ERA (2.89) and lowest opponent average (.234).

In 1995, after a 5-5 start for the Edmonton Trappers, Johns made his big-league debut for the Athletics on July 8th but was ejected from the game for throwing behind John Olerud after teammate Mark McGwire had been plunked earlier in the contest. Johns finished at 9-5, 3.41 for Edmonton and 5-3, 4.61 for Oakland. For the second straight year, he was one of the PCL's top hurlers, finishing behind Donne Wall and Shad Williams in the ERA race.

In 1996, Doug missed some of spring training with a rib injury. It was the only year he spent exclusively in the major leagues, going 6-12 with a 5.98 ERA (80 ERA+) for the A's. He was placed on waivers the next year and was claimed by the Kansas City Royals. He only went 1-5 with a 7.56 ERA for the Omaha Royals and was released on May 29th. Just over a month later, the Baltimore Orioles signed him and he was 3-1 with a 3.74 ERA the rest of the year with the Rochester Red Wings. He did not pitch at all in the majors that year.

In 1998, Johns was 0-1 with a 1.69 ERA in two starts for Rochester while going 3-3, 4.57 in 31 outings for the Orioles. With a 99 ERA+, he was almost exactly league-average. He went 1-1, 4.85 for Rochester and 6-4, 4.47 for the Orioles in 1999, for a career-best 108 ERA+ in his final season. Overall, he was 20-22, 5.13 in the majors (91 ERA+) and 61-46 in the minors.

Sources: 1991-2000 Baseball Almanacs, 1995 Baseball Guide, The Big Book of Jewish Baseball by Peter Horvitz and Joachim Horvitz