Billy Johnson

Third Baseman · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1943-1953)

AVG .271
HR 61
RBI 487
H 882
OPS .737
PIV 2,658
Position
Third Baseman
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
5'10" / 180 lb
Born
8/30/1918 in Montclair, NJ, USA
Died
6/20/2006 in Augusta, GA, USA
MLB Debut
1943-04-22
Last Game
1953-05-10
Awards
All-Star

Full name: William Russell Johnson

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Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
964 3,253 419 882 141 33 61 487 13 347 290 .271 .346 .391 .737 2,658

Career AVG .271 vs. league average .261 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .346 vs. league average .335 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .391 vs. league average .377 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OPS .737 vs. league average .712 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1943 NYA AL 155 592 70 166 24 6 5 94 3 53 30 .280 .255 (+10%) .324 (+6%) .346 (+6%) .671 (+6%) 675.9
1946 NYA AL 85 296 51 77 14 5 4 35 1 31 42 .260 .256 (+1%) .328 (+2%) .358 (+6%) .687 (+4%) 197.0
1947 NYA AL 132 494 67 141 19 8 10 95 1 44 43 .285 .262 (+9%) .336 (+4%) .376 (+11%) .712 (+8%) 714.0
1948 NYA AL 127 446 59 131 20 6 12 64 0 41 30 .294 .263 (+11%) .340 (+5%) .379 (+18%) .719 (+12%) 984.5
1949 NYA AL 113 329 48 82 11 3 8 56 1 48 44 .249 .262 (-5%) .343 (+1%) .384 (-3%) .727 (-1%) 8.5
1950 NYA AL 108 327 44 85 16 2 6 40 1 42 30 .260 .265 (-2%) .346 (avg) .401 (-6%) .747 (-3%) -159.7
1951 NYA AL 15 40 5 12 3 0 0 4 0 7 0 .300 — — — — 0.0
1951 SLN NL 124 442 52 116 23 1 14 64 5 46 49 .262 .260 (+1%) .336 (+1%) .385 (+7%) .721 (+4%) 0.0
1952 SLN NL 94 282 23 71 10 2 2 34 1 34 21 .252 .252 (avg) .326 (+4%) .369 (-13%) .696 (-5%) -149.8
1953 SLN NL 11 5 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 .200 — — — — 0.0
Career · 10 seasons 964 3,253 419 882 141 33 61 487 13 347 290 .271 — — — — 2,270

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
18 59 11 14 1 4 0 5 3 12 .237

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1950 WS NYA 4 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000
1949 WS NYA 2 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .143
1947 WS NYA 7 26 8 7 0 3 0 2 3 4 .269
1943 WS NYA 5 20 3 6 1 1 0 3 0 3 .300

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (964 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home481157820143428218.275
Away483167421844833269.268

Last 10 Games — Batting

DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1953-05-10 STLCINL 000000000
1953-05-09 STLCINW 000000000
1953-05-01 STLNY1W 000000000
1953-04-29 STLPHIW 101100100
1953-04-28 STLPHIW 100000001
1953-04-26 STLCHCL 000000000
1953-04-22 STLCINW 100000000
1953-04-20 STLATLW 100000010
1953-04-19 STLATLW 100000000
1953-04-16 STLCHCW 000000000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 26 0 144 10 3 11
2B 1 0 0 0 0 0
3B 897 0 860 1728 111 163

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1943 NYA 3B 155 0 183 326 18 32
1946 NYA 3B 74 0 71 163 11 15
1947 NYA 3B 132 0 136 204 17 12
1948 NYA 3B 118 0 147 213 20 25
1949 NYA 1B 21 0 130 10 2 10
1949 NYA 2B 1 0 0 0 0 0
1949 NYA 3B 81 0 77 136 11 16
1950 NYA 1B 5 0 14 0 1 1
1950 NYA 3B 100 0 82 169 11 20
1951 NYA 3B 13 0 8 16 1 0
1951 SLN 3B 124 0 99 316 10 32
1952 SLN 3B 89 0 56 177 12 10
1953 SLN 3B 11 0 1 8 0 1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
First Base 26
Second Base 1
Third Base 898

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1943 Baseball Magazine All-Star 3B
1943 TSN All-Star 3B

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1947 Most Valuable Player AL 19th 9.0 336 0
1943 Most Valuable Player AL 4th 135.0 336 3

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Billy Johnson (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Hank Majeski
    .279 avg, 57 HR
  2. 91
    Denny Walling
    .271 avg, 49 HR
  3. 89
    Jack Burns
    .279 avg, 44 HR
  4. 81
    Dick Sisler
    .276 avg, 55 HR
  5. 81
    Aaron Ward
    .268 avg, 50 HR
  6. 80
    Cookie Lavagetto
    .269 avg, 40 HR

Frequently Asked Questions about Billy Johnson

What years did Billy Johnson play?
Billy Johnson played in Major League Baseball from 1943 to 1953.
Was Billy Johnson a pitcher?
No. Billy Johnson was a position player (Third Baseman).
How many home runs did Billy Johnson hit?
Billy Johnson hit 61 career home runs with 882 hits.