Jimmy Johnston

James Harle Johnston

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 160 lb.

• Debut May 3, 1911
• Final Game September 11, 1926
• Born December 10, 1889 in Cleveland, TN USA
• Died February 14, 1967 in Chattanooga, TN USA

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Biographical Information

Flexibility was the reason for Jimmy Johnston's long career. He played 13 seasons, of which 10 were with the Brooklyn Robins. He played 448 games at third base, 354 in the outfield, 243 at second, 178 at shortstop, and 49 at first base.

He had a decent .294 lifetime batting average, hitting in the .270-.280 near the end of the dead-ball era and going over .300 once the lively ball era started. He stole 169 bases in his career, mostly from 1916 to 1923. He had little power, except in 1921 when he had 41 doubles and 14 triples. Retrosheet researchers discovered that he had 3 or more hits in each of 6 consecutive games in 1923, thus having him share the major league record with Sam Thompson (1895) and George Brett (1976).[1] On May 25, 1922, he became the first player in the illustrious history of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League to hit for the cycle, doing so in the first game of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Phillies.

He appeared in the 1916 and 1920 World Series. He was used selectively. In the 1916 World Series he started two of the games, batting in the lead-off position. In the 1920 World Series, he appeared in four of the games, batting second mostly but also batting sixth in one of the games.

All of his managers were Hall of Famers. Hugh Duffy managed him in 1911, Wilbert Robinson in his Brooklyn days, Dave Bancroft in Boston, John McGraw, and Hank O'Day with Chicago in 1914. Of these, O'Day had to wait the longest, until 2013, to be enshrined, and it was for his work as an umpire, and not for his brief stints as a manager in the middle of his career as an official.

After his playing career ended, he was a Brooklyn Robins coach in 1931.

He played for the Birmingham Barons in the Southern Association in 1911 and 1912. In 1912 batted .296 in 135 games for the pennant-winning Barons. (Reach Guide, 1913.)

He is the brother of Doc Johnston

Related Sites

• Jimmy Johnston at the SABR Bio Project