William Russell Johnson (August 30, 1918 – June 20, 2006) was 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 ...

player. He was a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

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 ...

who played in 964

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

for the

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

in the 1940s and later with 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 ...

. Johnson was born in

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a commercial and cultural hub of North Jersey and a diverse ...

, and debuted in . He had an impressive rookie season which earned him 4th place in

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

MVP voting. After missing 1944–1945 for wartime service in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, where he fought in the

European Theater of Operations The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a Theater (warfare), theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It command ...

, he returned to MLB to spend the next five seasons as a regular third baseman. Nicknamed "Bull", and standing tall and weighing , Johnson was named 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 ...

in , and was a part of four championship teams in his six seasons as a regular. He was traded to the

in to allow

Gil McDougald Gilbert James McDougald (May 19, 1928 – November 28, 2010) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) infielder who played for the New York Yankees from 1951 through 1960. McDougald was the 1951 American League (AL) Rookie of the Year. He w ...

, a hot prospect for the Yankees, to play his position full-time. He served as the Cards' third baseman for two years before retiring during the season. In 964 games over nine seasons, Johnson posted a .271

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(882-for-3253) with 419 runs, 61

home runs 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 ...

, 487 RBI and 347

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

. He finished his career with a .960

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

playing at third and first base. In 18

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

games, he batted .237 (14-for-59) with 11 runs, 4 triples, 5 RBI and 3 walks. In later years he worked as a shipping supervisor in Augusta,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. He died there on June 20, 2006. He was the last surviving member of the 1943 World Champion New York Yankees.

References

External links

* * 1918 births 2006 deaths American League All-Stars United States Army personnel of World War II Augusta Tigers players 20th-century American sportsmen Binghamton Triplets players Butler Yankees players Columbus Red Birds players Major League Baseball third basemen Newark Bears (International League) players New York Yankees players Norfolk Tars players Sportspeople from Montclair, New Jersey Baseball players from Essex County, New Jersey St. Louis Cardinals players {{US-baseball-third-baseman-stub