RIP Davey Johnson 1943-2025

[stevejrogers]

Seeing word on socials that Davey has passed

[Edgy MD]

Ah, ****-tattoos.

That's what we get for retiring his number.

[metirish]

Rest in peace, aged 82 , looking forward to the booths remembrances later

[Bob Alpacadaca]

Sad to hear this. Definitely seemed like the right guy for the right time with the Mets.

[MFS62]

From all-star second baseman, to being the first manager we heard about to use a PC , to the World Championship, he made a mark on the game.

RIP

Later

[roger_that]

Sad to hear this. Definitely seemed like the right guy for the right time with the Mets.

 

A righter guy there never was.

Straight shooter, no-liar, his own guy on a squad of lunatics, champion manager and player, fired from more jobs on his own terms than anyone in history.

[kcmets]

RIP, Floppy Disk Davey!

[kcmets]

looking forward to the booths remembrances later

 

Right, glad that both Keef and Ronnie are on tonight.

[Edgy MD]

Batted behind both Hank Aaron and Sadaharu Oh.

And, for good measure, probably batted behind Frank Robinson and Mike Schmidt once or twice too.

[kcmets]

Made the last out in the 1969 World Series unless my

floppy disk is fragmented or corrupt.

[MFS62]

Your floppy is still functioning.

You are correct, sir.

Later

[metirish]

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[G-Fafif]

He was Davey Johnson, manager of your New York Mets. Knowing he was running things in the dugout equaled one less thing to worry about as a Mets fan. Not once, not even when Frank Cashen sent him home from Cincy in the wake of a sluggish start to his eighth season at the helm, did I think Davey wasn’t the right guy for the job he held. When Davey was our manager, we were in good hands, confident hands, informed hands. There were the Mets before Davey Johnson. They hadn’t gotten anywhere near a legitimate pennant race in ages. There were the Mets during Davey Johnson. They were in a pennant race every single year he held the job. The Mets after Davey Johnson sagged in due order. The man was a difference-maker of the highest order. Believed in himself. Believed in his players. We believed along with him.

 

https://www.faithandfearinflushing.com/2025/09/06/the-place-to-be-2/

[MFS62]

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They said he was a Mets manager, but only said he won two world series as a player?

How childish can they be.

Who wrote/said that, Michael Kay?

Later

[Cowtipper]

Should've been elected to the Hall of Fame while he was alive. But now, as often happens (Dick Allen for example) they waited until he croaked to give him the nod.

[smg58]

What made him the right guy in the right place at the right time, I think, was his ability to get the most out of his young players quickly. I remember at the beginning of 1984 season that none of the sportscasters I listened to thought the Mets were even close to contending, but Davey had a different idea.

[roger_that]

What made him the right guy in the right place at the right time, I think, was his ability to get the most out of his young players quickly. I remember at the beginning of 1984 season that none of the sportscasters I listened to thought the Mets were even close to contending, but Davey had a different idea.

 

He'd managed some of them at Tidewater the year before, knew that they could play ball at the MLB level, wouldn't take "They need more time" for an answer. Valentine did this as well, to a lesser degree. Davey was a rare baseball genius, eight steps ahead of the rest of us.

Won 98 games as a manager five different times, with four different clubs. How many others have done that? Joe McCarthy, maybe? I don't know. Not many.

ETA: Looked up McCarthy's record. He won 98 or more nine times but only with two clubs, the Yankees and the Cubs. If you lower the bar to 96 wins, he did that with the Red Sox twice.

[Edgy MD]

Historically, the standard for managers to be admitted to The Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is two championships.

Davey one but the one. (Earl Weaver was finally admitted with one.) His last best shot at a second one seemed to have died at he hands of Jeffrey Maier in 1996, but he actually managed the O's to a better performance in 1997 before losing to the Indians in the ALCS, and the Indians went on to lose in seven to the Marlins in what had to be, if not the worst World Series ever, surely the worst World Series to go to seven games.

On the other hand, that was Jim Leyland's only championship, and if he and Weaver can make it to the World Series with just one championship, then there is hope for Davey yet.

[stevejrogers]

Historically, the standard for managers to be admitted to The Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is two championships.

Davey one but the one. (Earl Weaver was finally admitted with one.) His last best shot at a second one seemed to have died at he hands of Jeffrey Maier in 1996, but he actually managed the O's to a better performance in 1997 before losing to the Indians in the ALCS, and the Indians went on to lose in seven to the Marlins in what had to be, if not the worst World Series ever, surely the worst World Series to go to seven games.

On the other hand, that was Jim Leyland's only championship, and if he and Weaver can make it to the World Series with just one championship, then there is hope for Davey yet.

 

FYI, Wilbert Robinson was inducted in the 1940s as a Manager, with just two pennants, both with Brooklyn in the 1910s and 1920. Same committee process that inducts all skippers to this day. Third manager in the Hall after Mack & McGraw.

Al Lopez was also put in before Weaver, a decade before I want to say, and with no rings, though two big pennants as the only non MFY skipper to win an AL pennant from 1949-1964.

Guy who beat Lopez in 1954, Leo Durocher is next, that was The Lip’s lone title.

Also before the Earl of Baltimore is early Negro League skipper and organizer Rube Foster, with 3 pennants to his B-R ledger, and 1890s Orioles skipper Ned Hanlon though if memory serves, he is in Weaver’s HOF class, with 5 NL pennants.

In between Weaver and Leyland to see if the Rubicon was crossed…

Frank Selee, Boston Braves in the 1890s, 5 pennants

Whitey Herzog and Bobby Cox one championship each

Hmmm, maybe that lone championship is still a hard marker for the ever evolving committee electorate.

FWIW though, B-R counts 26 managers as winning more than one World Series, including Negro League ones. 14 are in the Hall as skippers. Those awaiting the call;

4 Bruce Bochy

2 Bill Carrigan with the 1915-1916 Red Sox

Terry Francona

Cito Gaston

Ralph Houk

Tom Kelly

Dave Malarcher with the Chicago American Giants of 1926-1927

Danny Murtaugh

Jim Mutrie B-R counting the NL-AA World Series here as his Giants won in 1888 and 1889

Dave Roberts

Candy Jim Taylor with the 1943-1944 Homestead Grays

[kcmets]

Good post SJR, lotta info...

[Cowtipper]

Johnson had a winning pedigree. 33rd all-time in wins, a winning record overall, a winning record with every team he managed, the 10th-best winning percentage among managers with 1,000+ wins. Factor in his solid playing career and he becomes a good hybrid case. It seems almost inevitable that Lou Piniella will get in and when he does, it will be hard to deny the likes of a guy like Johnson. He's down the list a little bit, especially considering this era has so many managers that will take precedence (Bochy, Francona, Baker, potential Maddon, Showalter will get attention, potentially Scioscia, Dave Roberts, potentially AJ Hinch), but I think Johnson is an eventual inevitability. People debate the merits of Gene Mauch to this day...if a losing manager with no pennants continues to get that much support, then a guy like Johnson should have more than enough to get him over the bump.

[roger_that]

Did anyone ever turn more losers into winners as quickly as Davey did?

[Edgy MD]

I do not actually believe that two championships is the standard for a Hall of fame manager, so much as it is a standard some admissions people seem to have held. To the extent that it is a standard, I think it is a lousy standard, lacking nuance.

I think we have no question that we can measure the quality of a player's career apart from the quality of his teams — and nobody would seriously suggest Tony Gwynn or Ichiro Suzuki's record is less than Hall-worthy because of a lack of championships — and managers, coaches and executives deserve the same thoughtfulness.

[kcmets]

Did anyone ever turn more losers into winners as quickly as Davey did?

 

What losers did he turn into winners quicker?

[roger_that]

Did anyone ever turn more losers into winners as quickly as Davey did?

 

What losers did he turn into winners quicker?

 

Quicker than whom? Or quicker than what? Maybe you mean "quickest"?

Are u asking which was his quickest turnaround job? They were all pretty fast but I could look it up if you like.

Your 1984 Metsies were pretty durn quick. 68 wins under Hamburger and Boward in 1983, then 90 under Davey in 1984. Is that quick enough for ya?

[kcmets]

Guess I struck a nerve.

[roger_that]

According to Clint Hurdle's capitalization, Davey was not only a great manager and friend, but also the Son of God....

 

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[stevejrogers]

They announced during the introductions of the Alumni Classic that the memorial patch will be worn for the entire 2026 season.

[roger_that]

They announced during the introductions of the Alumni Classic that the memorial patch will be worn for the entire 2026 season.

 

They're gonna have the guts to show their faces in 2026?