John Doherty (doherjo01)

John Michael Doherty

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 11", Weight 185 lb.
• High School Reading High School
• Debut June 1, 1974
• Final Game July 30, 1975
• Born August 22, 1951 in Woburn, MA USA

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Biographical Information

John Doherty played for the California Angels in 1974 and 1975. As a rookie in 1974, he was the team's regular first baseman.

Doherty was born in Woburn, MA, one of five major leaguers to be born there through 2010. He attended Reading High School and was drafted in January, 1970 by the Angels.

John moved his way steadily up through the minors, usually showing moderate power and a decent batting average. He spent 1971 and 1972 at Shreveport and parts of 1973 to 1976 at Salt Lake City. In 1974, he hit .345 in 42 games at Salt Lake City.

Doherty made his major league debut on June 1, 1974 and got into 74 games with the Angels that year. Although it was a team which lost 94 games, it had some big names: Frank Robinson, Mickey Rivers, Nolan Ryan, Frank Tanana and Bill Singer. The manager for the second half of the season was Dick Williams. John hit .256 on a team which hit 254, and he slugged .368 on a team which slugged .356. Given that he was the youngest regular (Dave Chalk was a year older), it was a pretty good performance. Doherty lost his job the following year to Bruce Bochte, who hit .285 while Doherty hit .202.

He continued to play in the minors through 1978. After his playing days he was a batting instructor in the Boston Red Sox organization.

He is not to be confused with pitcher John Doherty or with Jack Daugherty.