Benjamin Joseph Johnson (born June 18, 1981) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and former

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

and

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

. He is currently the manager of the

Memphis Redbirds The Memphis Redbirds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in Memphis, Tennessee, and are named for their Major League Baseball affiliate. The Redbird ...

Professional career

He was a 4th-round draft pick in 1999 MLB draft by the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

and was traded the following year to the

, along with Heathcliff Slocumb for Carlos Hernández and minor leaguer Nathan Tebbs. He worked his way up to Triple-A in 2005, where he was an

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

outfielder and the San Diego Padres Minor League Player of the Year, hitting .312 with 25 home runs. He was brought up to the majors that year and received limited playing time with the Padres, hitting .213 in 75 at-bats, and .250 with 4 home runs in 120 at-bats in 2006. He was not selected for San Diego's 2006 playoff roster, and after the season ended he was traded to the New York Mets with

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

Jon Adkins Jonathan Scott Adkins (born August 30, 1977) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played for the Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres, New York Mets, and Cincinnati Reds from 2003 to 2008, and an MLB scout for the Los An ...

in exchange for relievers Heath Bell and Royce Ring. During the beginning of his time with the Mets, Johnson was shuttled up and down between New York and Triple-A

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. During June, he received some playing time when all three Mets regular outfielders (

Shawn Green Shawn David Green (born November 10, 1972) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played for multiple teams in Major League Baseball (MLB). Green was a first-round draft pick and a two-time major league All-Star. He drov ...

Carlos Beltrán Carlos Iván Beltrán (; born April 24, 1977) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder from 1998 to 2017 for the Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, New York Mets, San F ...

, and Moisés Alou) were injured. Johnson was not offered a new contract by the Mets and became a free agent on December 12, 2007. However, the Mets brought Johnson back by signing him to a minor league deal on February 14, 2008, and invited him to

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

. Johnson was released by the Mets in early May 2008. In 2009, Johnson attempted a comeback from multiple injuries with the

Orange County Flyers The Fullerton Flyers were a professional baseball team based in Fullerton, California, in the United States. They were an independent franchise, not affiliated with either Major League Baseball ''or'' Minor League Baseball. The team played from 2 ...

of the

Golden Baseball League The Golden Baseball League was an independent baseball league based in San Ramon, California, with teams located in the Western United States, Western Canada and northwest Mexico. The GBL was not affiliated with Major League Baseball or the org ...

Coaching career

Johnson made his professional managerial debut with the Arizona/Goodyear Centennials of the Freedom Pro Baseball League in 2012. He is formerly a coach with the

Durham Bulls The Durham Bulls are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Durham, North Carolina, and play their home games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which opened ...

, the AAA affiliate of the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

. In 2019, Johnson was named manager of the

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Ben 1981 births Living people African-American baseball coaches African-American baseball players Arizona Diamondbacks scouts Baseball coaches from Tennessee Baseball players from Memphis, Tennessee Erie SeaWolves players Fort Wayne Wizards players Johnson City Cardinals players Lake Elsinore Storm players Major League Baseball outfielders Memphis Redbirds managers Minor league baseball coaches Mobile BayBears players New Orleans Zephyrs players New York Mets players Orange County Flyers players Peoria Chiefs players Peoria Javelinas players Portland Beavers players San Diego Padres players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen