Johnson Bio

He (???? Johnson) graduated from Blaine High School, Blaine, Minnesota in 1997 and attended Butler University for his Freshman year where he was named All-Conference in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, before transferring to a Junior college, and finally ending up at the University of Nebraska where he was instrumental in a College World Series appearance, and earned All-American honors.

Johnson had an excellent rookie season with the A's in 2005, batting .275 with 15 home runs and 58 RBI. He struggled early in 2006 and was demoted to the A's Triple-A Pacific Coast League affiliate Sacramento River Cats in July. He returned to the A's as a September call-up and finished the season with a .234 batting average, 9 home runs and 37 RBI. This season brought great criticism for the young prospect. It was later found that he suffered from double vision due to getting suntan lotion in his eyes, and was able to clear up the problem for the 2007 season.

Johnson was expected to be the A's starting first baseman in 2007, but suffered a torn labrum in his hip late in spring training and missed the first three weeks of the season. He returned April 25 and proceeded to get a hit in 16 of his first 18 games. He was named American League co-Player of the Week with teammate Jack Cust for the week of May 7-13. After the hot start, Johnson fell into a slump that lasted the rest of the season and plummeted his batting average to .236. His worst month was July, in which he batted just .156 (10 for 64 in 19 games) with two home runs and eight runs batted in.

On April 9, 2008, Johnson was designated for assignment. On April 18, he was claimed off waivers by the Tampa Bay Rays. However, on April 23, he was designated for assignment yet again, and did not appear in a game for the Rays. He was subsequently out-righted to Triple-A Durham three days later.

On September 9, 2008, Johnson was called up by the Rays from Durham. He entered the game as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning and promptly hit a home run to right center off Jonathan Papelbon, tying the game. The Rays would eventually go on to win the game thanks to Johnson's clutch hitting performance.