Contrary to popular belief, “Oft-injured” is not Nick Johnson‘s first name, it’s just an apt description like PED-User Barry B*nds. The former Yankees/Nats/Orioles first baseman has announced his retirement.
In Nick Johnson’s first season in the majors (2000), Nick didn’t play in the majors because he was injured. Talk about foreshadowing.
Take a look at the number of games played by Johnson each season
| Year | Age | Tm | G ▾ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 27 | WSN | 147 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009 | 30 | TOT | 133 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005 | 26 | WSN | 131 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2002 | 23 | NYY | 129 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003 | 24 | NYY | 96 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004 | 25 | MON | 73 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008 | 29 | WSN | 38 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | 33 | BAL | 38 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | 31 | NYY | 24 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001 | 22 | NYY | 23 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000 | DNP | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 Yrs | 832 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Don’t look for his 2007 or 2011 numbers, he missed those seasons. Just another of his over dozen times on the DL.
As we look back at Johnson’s career the other thing that stands out besides his inability to stay healthy, it was his ability to get on base. He ends his career with a .399 OBP one of the best since 2000.
Here are the players with over a .390 on-base percentage who played at least 800 games
| Rk | Player | G | From | To | HR | RBI | BB | HBP | Tm | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barry B*nds | .517 | 986 | 2000 | 2007 | 317 | 697 | 1128 | 53 | .322 | .724 | 1.241 | SFG |
| 2 | Todd Helton | .425 | 1777 | 2000 | 2012 | 289 | 1124 | 1166 | 45 | .321 | .544 | .969 | COL |
| 3 | Manny Ramirez | .417 | 1453 | 2000 | 2011 | 357 | 1149 | 874 | 75 | .315 | .591 | 1.008 | CLE-BOS-TOT-LAD-TBR |
| 4 | Jason Giambi | .414 | 1516 | 2000 | 2012 | 323 | 987 | 1014 | 149 | .273 | .535 | .949 | OAK-NYY-TOT-COL |
| 5 | Albert Pujols | .414 | 1859 | 2001 | 2012 | 475 | 1434 | 1027 | 82 | .325 | .608 | 1.022 | STL-LAA |
| 6 | Lance Berkman | .410 | 1772 | 2000 | 2012 | 356 | 1185 | 1151 | 66 | .296 | .547 | .956 | HOU-TOT-STL |
| 7 | Joe Mauer | .405 | 1065 | 2004 | 2012 | 94 | 587 | 555 | 17 | .323 | .468 | .873 | MIN |
| 8 | Chipper Jones | .404 | 1720 | 2000 | 2012 | 315 | 1099 | 1053 | 15 | .304 | .529 | .934 | ATL |
| 9 | Brian Giles | .400 | 1407 | 2000 | 2009 | 209 | 806 | 933 | 44 | .289 | .494 | .893 | PIT-TOT-SDP |
| 10 | Nick Johnson | .399 | 832 | 2001 | 2012 | 95 | 398 | 522 | 74 | .268 | .441 | .840 | NYY-MON-WSN-TOT-BAL |
| 11 | Jim Thome | .396 | 1627 | 2000 | 2012 | 416 | 1120 | 1101 | 40 | .270 | .558 | .954 | CLE-PHI-CHW-MIN-TOT |
| 12 | Miguel Cabrera | .395 | 1512 | 2003 | 2012 | 321 | 1123 | 709 | 42 | .318 | .561 | .956 | FLA-DET |
| 13 | Carlos Delgado | .394 | 1368 | 2000 | 2009 | 324 | 1045 | 796 | 126 | .286 | .553 | .947 | TOR-FLA-NYM |
| 14 | Gary Sheffield | .394 | 1268 | 2000 | 2009 | 273 | 869 | 718 | 63 | .294 | .527 | .921 | LAD-ATL-NYY-DET-NYM |
| 15 | Jeff Bagwell | .394 | 833 | 2000 | 2005 | 186 | 568 | 516 | 46 | .285 | .534 | .927 | HOU |
| 16 | Bobby Abreu | .393 | 1970 | 2000 | 2012 | 247 | 1155 | 1240 | 29 | .289 | .473 | .866 | PHI-TOT-NYY-LAA |
| 17 | Prince Fielder | .393 | 1160 | 2005 | 2012 | 260 | 764 | 651 | 95 | .287 | .538 | .931 | MIL-DET |
| 18 | Alex Rodriguez | .392 | 1882 | 2000 | 2012 | 499 | 1487 | 1007 | 143 | .298 | .564 | .956 | SEA-TEX-NYY |
The best of luck to Johnson in his retirement who I hope in the future will be referred to as Nicholas Robert Johnson, not Oft-Injured Nick Johnson.
