Howard Johnson

Third Baseman · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1982-1995)

Howard Johnson was a third baseman who played in Major League Baseball from 1982 to 1995 for 4 teams, including the Detroit Tigers, a span of 14 seasons. In 1,531 career games, he hit .249 with 1,229 hits, 228 home runs, and 760 RBI. Howard Johnson was a 2-time All-Star and a 2-time Silver Slugger. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 10,203.

AVG (Batting Average):
Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):
Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):
Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):
On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated

AVG .249
HR 228
RBI 760
H 1,229
OPS .786
PIV 10,203
Position
Third Baseman
Bats / Throws
B / R
Height / Weight
5'11" / 178 lb
Born
11/29/1960 in Clearwater, FL, USA
MLB Debut
1982-04-14
Last Game
1995-10-01
Awards
2× All-Star · 2× Silver Slugger

Full name: Howard Michael Johnson

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Career Batting Statistics

Howard Johnson — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,531 4,940 760 1,229 247 22 228 760 231 692 1,053 .249 .340 .446 .786 10,203

Career AVG .249 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .340 vs. league average .326 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .446 vs. league average .393 across their career seasons — +13.5% above league average.

Career OPS .786 vs. league average .719 across their career seasons — +9.3% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Howard Johnson Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1982 DET AL 54 155 23 49 5 0 4 14 7 16 30 .316 .261 (+21%) .324 (+18%) .388 (+10%) .712 (+14%) 426.0
1983 DET AL 27 66 11 14 0 0 3 5 0 7 10 .212 .260 (-19%) .324 (-9%) .389 (-10%) .714 (-10%) -84.8
1984 DET AL 116 355 43 88 14 1 12 50 10 40 67 .248 .259 (-5%) .322 (avg) .384 (+2%) .707 (+2%) 142.6
1985 NYN NL 126 389 38 94 18 4 11 46 6 34 78 .242 .257 (-6%) .323 (-7%) .390 (+1%) .714 (-3%) -255.8
1986 NYN NL 88 220 30 54 14 0 10 39 8 31 64 .245 .257 (-5%) .325 (+5%) .395 (+13%) .720 (+9%) 408.2
1987 NYN NL 157 554 93 147 22 1 36 99 32 83 113 .265 .262 (+1%) .331 (+10%) .415 (+21%) .746 (+16%) 2053.7
1988 NYN NL 148 495 85 114 21 1 24 68 23 86 104 .230 .254 (-9%) .317 (+8%) .377 (+12%) .695 (+10%) 1143.9
1989 NYN NL 153 571 104 164 41 3 36 101 41 77 126 .287 .254 (+13%) .319 (+16%) .375 (+49%) .694 (+34%) 3720.4
1990 NYN NL 154 590 89 144 37 3 23 90 34 69 100 .244 .257 (-5%) .324 (-2%) .385 (+13%) .710 (+6%) 579.1
1991 NYN NL 156 564 108 146 34 4 38 117 30 78 120 .259 .255 (+1%) .323 (+6%) .384 (+39%) .708 (+24%) 2510.4
1992 NYN NL 100 350 48 78 19 0 7 43 22 55 79 .223 .255 (-13%) .322 (+2%) .377 (-11%) .699 (-5%) -145.6
1993 NYN NL 72 235 32 56 8 2 7 26 6 43 43 .238 .265 (-10%) .332 (+6%) .403 (-6%) .735 (avg) 82.5
1994 COL NL 93 227 30 48 10 2 10 40 11 39 73 .211 .269 (-22%) .338 (-5%) .424 (-4%) .763 (-4%) -167.1
1995 CHN NL 87 169 26 33 4 1 7 22 1 34 46 .195 .266 (-27%) .337 (-2%) .417 (-15%) .755 (-9%) -211.1
Career · 14 seasons 1,531 4,940 760 1,229 247 22 228 760 231 692 1,053 .249 — — — — 10,203

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

Howard Johnson — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
11 26 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 8 .038

Playoff Batting by Year

Howard Johnson — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1988 NLCS NYN 6 18 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 6 .056
1986 NLCS NYN 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1986 WS NYN 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000
1984 WS DET 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1531 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Howard Johnson — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home7722390374587106368.246
Away7592550386642122392.252

Last 10 Games — Batting

Howard Johnson — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1995-10-01 CHCHOUL 413000210
1995-09-30 CHCHOUL 511100002
1995-09-29 CHCHOUW 100000030
1995-09-28 CHCHOUW 622010101
1995-09-27 CHCSTLW 201000010
1995-09-26 CHCSTLW 210000021
1995-09-25 CHCSTLW 412000111
1995-09-24 CHCPITW 401100000
1995-09-23 CHCPITW 231000030
1995-09-22 CHCPITW 311000021

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Howard Johnson — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 5 2 24 2 0 4
2B 8 2 7 9 2 2
3B 1031 914 561 1576 163 138
OF 217 191 383 9 8 0
SS 273 198 301 551 44 108

Season-by-Season Fielding

Howard Johnson — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1982 DET 3B 33 27 25 39 7 6
1982 DET OF 9 6 11 1 0 0
1983 DET 3B 21 18 10 30 7 2
1984 DET 1B 1 0 1 0 0 1
1984 DET 3B 108 98 58 143 12 16
1984 DET OF 1 0 1 0 0 0
1984 DET SS 9 1 3 7 2 4
1985 NYN 3B 113 93 67 171 15 21
1985 NYN OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
1985 NYN SS 7 5 11 19 3 6
1986 NYN 3B 45 29 22 71 10 10
1986 NYN OF 1 1 2 0 0 0
1986 NYN SS 34 22 28 65 10 14
1987 NYN 3B 140 127 82 235 21 15
1987 NYN OF 2 0 0 0 0 0
1987 NYN SS 38 26 36 70 5 12
1988 NYN 3B 131 109 65 187 13 16
1988 NYN SS 52 34 45 87 5 21
1989 NYN 3B 143 129 63 180 24 15
1989 NYN SS 31 22 34 37 0 7
1990 NYN 3B 92 89 52 159 20 11
1990 NYN SS 73 63 98 176 8 28
1991 NYN 3B 104 99 55 173 18 11
1991 NYN OF 30 30 61 3 2 0
1991 NYN SS 28 25 45 88 11 15
1992 NYN OF 98 96 206 3 4 0
1993 NYN 3B 67 67 52 135 11 11
1994 COL 1B 1 1 8 1 0 0
1994 COL OF 62 51 90 2 2 0
1995 CHN 1B 3 1 15 1 0 3
1995 CHN 2B 8 2 7 9 2 2
1995 CHN 3B 34 29 10 53 5 4
1995 CHN OF 13 7 12 0 0 0
1995 CHN SS 1 0 1 2 0 1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Howard Johnson Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
First Base 5
Second Base 8
Third Base 1032
Shortstop 273
Left Field 99
Center Field 86
Right Field 36
Designated Hitter 16

Awards & Honors

Howard Johnson — Awards & Honors
Year Award Notes
1991 Player of the Month September
1991 Silver Slugger 3B
1989 Player of the Month June
1989 Player of the Week Week of 1989-06-24
1989 Silver Slugger 3B
1989 TSN All-Star 3B

Salary History

Howard Johnson — Salary History
Year Team League Salary
1995 CHN NL $325,000
1995 COL NL $400,000
1994 COL NL $1,700,000
1993 NYN NL $2,100,000
1992 NYN NL $2,266,667
1991 NYN NL $2,166,667
1990 NYN NL $1,666,666
1989 NYN NL $772,500
1988 NYN NL $695,000
1987 NYN NL $297,500
1986 NYN NL $227,500
1985 NYN NL $115,000
Total Career Earnings $12,732,500

Award Voting History

Howard Johnson — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1991 Most Valuable Player NL 5th 112.0 336 0
1989 Most Valuable Player NL 5th 153.0 336 0
1987 Most Valuable Player NL 10th 42.0 336 0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

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

  1. 98
    Jose Valentin
    .243 avg, 249 HR
  2. 92
    Marcus Semien
    .251 avg, 268 HR
  3. 91
    Brian Dozier
    .244 avg, 192 HR
  4. 89
    Rickie Weeks
    .246 avg, 161 HR
  5. 88
    Doug DeCinces
    .259 avg, 237 HR
  6. 88
    Kyle Seager
    .251 avg, 242 HR

Howard Johnson: the record in brief

According to the bio, Howard Johnson debuted on April 14, 1982 and played a final game on October 1, 1995. By club, Johnson's seasons break down as the Detroit Tigers (1982 through 1984), the New York Mets (1985 through 1993), the Colorado Rockies (1994), and the Chicago Cubs (1995). Born on November 29, 1960, in Clearwater, FL, USA, Johnson is listed as a third baseman and batted from both sides and threw right-handed. The bio gives 5 feet, 11 inches and 178 pounds. Johnson's full given name, per the bio, is Howard Michael Johnson.

Johnson finished with 1,229 hits from 4,940 at bats in 1,531 games, which works out to .249; the totals also include 228 homers, 760 runs batted in, and 231 stolen bases. Johnson got on base at a .340 rate and slugged .446 (.786 OPS). Against a .260 league average for those years, Johnson's .249 average was near the norm. By OPS the gap is 9.3% above league average (.786 against .719).

Frequently Asked Questions about Howard Johnson

What years did Howard Johnson play?
Howard Johnson played in Major League Baseball from 1982 to 1995.
Was Howard Johnson a pitcher?
No. Howard Johnson was a position player (Third Baseman).
How many home runs did Howard Johnson hit?
Howard Johnson hit 228 career home runs with 1229 hits.
What was Howard Johnson's career batting average?
Howard Johnson batted .249 over his career, with 1,229 hits in 4,940 at bats.
How many RBI did Howard Johnson have?
Howard Johnson drove in 760 runs in his career.
Is Howard Johnson in the Hall of Fame?
No. Howard Johnson has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.