Davey Johnson, former Orioles star and manager, dies at 82

Davey Johnson, a three-time All-Star second baseman and two-time World Series champion with the Orioles who later served as Baltimore’s manager, has died at the age of 82.

Longtime New York Mets public relations representative Jay Horwitz said that Johnson’s wife informed him of his death after a long illness. Johnson, who managed the Mets to a World Series title in 1986, was at a hospital in Sarasota, Florida, when he died.

Johnson spent seven of his 13 major league seasons as a player with Baltimore, earning three All-Star nominations and three Gold Glove Awards. He was a member of both the 1966 and 1970 World Series champion Orioles teams, helping lead a dynasty alongside future Hall of Famers Jim Palmer, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson and manager Earl Weaver.

Born Jan. 30, 1943, Johnson lived in several military bases as child before his family settled in San Antonio, Texas. He played baseball in college at Texas A&M before signing with the Orioles in 1962 and rising through the minors to make his major league debut in 1965. He became the starting second baseman in 1966 and held that role for seven years before being traded to the Atlanta Braves on Nov. 30, 1972, in a six-player deal.

“It was more of a family,” Johnson said in 2012 of his time with the Orioles. “It was my first big league team and it was [a family]. We tried to live close to each other. We did things off the field. We partied a lot. We won a lot so we had a lot to party for.”

Two of his 17 years as a manager were with the Orioles, guiding the team to the American League Championship Series in both 1996 and 1997. The same day he was named the AL Manager of the Year for the latter season, Johnson resigned as Baltimore’s manager because of a feud with then-majority owner Peter Angelos.

Johnson was National League Manager of the Year with Washington in 2012, making him one of eight to win the award in both leagues. Johnson managed the Mets (1985-1990), Cincinnati Reds (1993-95), Orioles (1996-97), Los Angeles Dodgers (1999-2000) and Nationals (2011-13), leading his teams to a 1,372-1,071 record and six first-place finishes. He also managed the U.S. to a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics and fourth place at the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

In his MLB career that began in 1965 and ended in 2013, Johnson tallied 1,252 hits, 136 home runs and three World Series rings (two as a player, one as a manager). He earned a fourth All-Star appearance with the Braves in 1973, the year he hit 43 home runs, which stood as the single-season record for a second baseman until 2021. After two seasons with Japan’s Yomiuri Giants, Johnson finished his playing career in 1978 with the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs.

Despite his accomplishments, Johnson has not been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, failing to receive enough votes on the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee’s Manager/Executive/Umpires ballot in 2023.

The Associated Press contributed to this article, which will be updated. Have a news tip? Contact sports editor C.J. Doon at cdoon@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/CJDoon.

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