Ernest Thorwald Johnson Sr. (June 16, 1924 – August 12, 2011) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player and television sports

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main ( play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

as a right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

between and . He played the majority of his career with the Boston Braves and remained with the team when they became the Milwaukee Braves in . Johnson was a member of the world champion 1957 Milwaukee Braves. He played his final season with the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

. After his playing career, he became a longtime television color commentator on the TBS television network. In 2001, Johnson was inducted into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame. He is the father of Ernie Johnson Jr.

Baseball career

After serving three years in the U.S. Marine Corps, Johnson made his major league debut in relief on April 28, 1950, against the Philadelphia Phillies at

Shibe Park Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (AL) and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League (NL). When it opened April 12, 1 ...

. His first big league win was also in relief, coming against the New York Giants on June 30, 1950, at the Polo Grounds. Johnson led Western League pitchers with a .750 winning percentage while playing for the

Denver Bears Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

in 1949. He spent part of 1950 in the Eastern League and all of 1951 in the American Association before returning to the major leagues for good in 1952. He started 10 games for Boston in 1952 and then appeared almost exclusively in relief thereafter. He led American Association pitchers with a .789 winning percentage and an ERA of 2.62 while playing for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1951. From 1953 to 1957, the first five years that the Braves were in Milwaukee, Johnson made 175 relief appearances, an average of 35 per season. Playing for the

1957 World Series The 1957 World Series featured the defending champion New York Yankees of the American League playing against the Milwaukee Braves of the National League. After finishing just one game behind the N.L. Champion Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956, the Brave ...

Champion Braves, Johnson had a 7–3 record and four saves in 30 games. In three World Series appearances against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

that October he gave up only one run and two hits and one walk in seven innings, but it happened to be a game-winning

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

Hank Bauer Henry Albert Bauer (July 31, 1922 – February 9, 2007) was an American right fielder and manager in Major League Baseball. He played with the New York Yankees (–) and Kansas City Athletics (–); he batted and threw right-handed. He served as ...

in the seventh inning of Game 6. In nine seasons, Johnson had a losing record only once (1955) and had an overall

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

of .635. Career totals include a record of 40–23 in 273 games, 19

games started In baseball statistics, games started (denoted by GS) indicates the number of games that a pitcher has started for his team. A pitcher is credited with starting the game if he throws the first pitch to the first opposing batter. If a player is li ...

, three

complete games In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

, one

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

, 119

games finished In baseball statistics, a relief pitcher is credited with a game finished (denoted by GF) if he is the last pitcher to pitch for his team in a game. A starting pitcher is not credited with a GF for pitching a complete game. Mariano Rivera is th ...

, 19 saves, and an

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

of 3.77.

Broadcasting career

Following his playing days Johnson was a longtime

and

play-by-play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

broadcaster on Braves radio and television, working from

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

to 1999. He became an icon in Atlanta after the team moved there in 1966, and in the 1980s gained national exposure through his work with

Skip Caray Harry Christopher "Skip" Caray Jr. (August 12, 1939 – August 3, 2008) was an American sportscaster, best known for his long career as a radio and television play-by-play announcer for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball. He was the so ...

and

Pete Van Wieren Peter Dirk Van Wieren (October 7, 1944 – August 2, 2014) was an American sportscaster best known for his long career calling play-by-play for Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves. Early career Van Wieren was born in Rochester, New York and ...

on "Superstation" TBS. He was elected to the Braves' Hall of Fame on August 24, 2001. His son, Ernie Johnson Jr., worked with him on

SportSouth Bally Sports Southeast (BSSE) (originally named SportSouth from its inception until October 4, 2015, and Fox Sports Southeast (FSSE) until March 31, 2021) is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, a joint venture be ...

telecasts from

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

to 1996. The broadcast booth at Atlanta's

Truist Park Truist Park (originally SunTrust Park) is a baseball stadium in the Atlanta metropolitan area, approximately 10 miles (16 km) northwest of downtown Atlanta in the unincorporated community of Cumberland, Georgia, Cumberland, in Cobb County, ...

bears his name. In 2014, Johnson was inducted into the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame.

Death

Johnson died on August 12, 2011, after a long illness.

References

*1955 Baseball Register published by

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Ernie 1924 births 2011 deaths Atlanta Braves announcers Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Vermont Boston Braves players Denver Bears players Hartford Bees players Hartford Chiefs players Major League Baseball broadcasters Major League Baseball pitchers Milwaukee Braves players Pawtucket Slaters players People from Brattleboro, Vermont Wichita Braves players Radio personalities from Atlanta United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II