Ken Johnson
Born: 6/16/1933 in West Palm Beach, FL, USA
Died: 11/21/2015 in Pineville, LA, USA
MLB Debut: 1958-09-13 | Final Game: 1970-04-18
Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'4" | Weight: 210 lbs
Full name: Kenneth Travis Johnson
Biography
Ken Johnson was a professional baseball pitcher whose career spanned from 1958 to 1970. Born in 1933, Johnson made his mark in Major League Baseball as a reliable starting pitcher, known for his durability and competitive spirit on the mound. Over the course of his career, he compiled a record of 91 wins and 106 losses, with a respectable earned run average (ERA) of 3.46. Johnson was also a strikeout artist, finishing his career with 1,042 strikeouts, alongside 9 saves, showcasing his ability to close out games effectively when called upon.
Johnson played during a transformative era in baseball, marked by the transition from the deadball period to a more offensive-minded approach in the game. His contributions were particularly significant in an era that saw the emergence of new pitching techniques and strategies. While he may not have achieved superstar status, Johnson's consistent performance and skill set made him a valuable asset to the teams he played for, leaving a lasting impact on the franchises he represented. He remains a notable figure in baseball history, remembered for his contributions on the mound and the competitive spirit he brought to the game.
Career Pitching Statistics
| W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 91 | 106 | 334 | 231 | 50 | 7 | 9 | 1737.3 | 1670 | 668 | 157 | 413 | 1042 | 3.46 | 0 |
Season-by-Season Pitching
| Year | Team | Lg | W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | KC1 | AL | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.3 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 27.00 | 0.0 |
| 1959 | KC1 | AL | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.0 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 4.09 | -251.3 |
| 1960 | KC1 | AL | 5 | 10 | 42 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 120.3 | 120 | 57 | 45 | 83 | 4.26 | -1096.6 |
| 1961 | CIN | NL | 6 | 2 | 15 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 83.0 | 71 | 30 | 22 | 42 | 3.25 | -265.8 |
| 1961 | KC1 | AL | 0 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.3 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 10.61 | 0.0 |
| 1962 | HOU | NL | 7 | 16 | 33 | 31 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 197.0 | 195 | 84 | 46 | 178 | 3.84 | 5894.7 |
| 1963 | HOU | NL | 11 | 17 | 37 | 32 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 224.0 | 204 | 66 | 50 | 148 | 2.65 | 4851.3 |
| 1964 | HOU | NL | 11 | 16 | 35 | 35 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 218.0 | 209 | 88 | 44 | 117 | 3.63 | 2577.6 |
| 1965 | HOU | NL | 3 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 51.7 | 52 | 24 | 11 | 28 | 4.18 | 245.5 |
| 1965 | ATL | NL | 13 | 8 | 29 | 26 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 179.7 | 165 | 64 | 37 | 123 | 3.21 | - |
| 1966 | ATL | NL | 14 | 8 | 32 | 31 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 215.7 | 213 | 79 | 46 | 105 | 3.30 | -826.9 |
| 1967 | ATL | NL | 13 | 9 | 29 | 29 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 210.3 | 191 | 64 | 38 | 85 | 2.74 | -1335.9 |
| 1968 | ATL | NL | 5 | 8 | 31 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 135.0 | 145 | 52 | 25 | 57 | 3.47 | -961.3 |
| 1969 | ATL | NL | 0 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 29.0 | 32 | 16 | 9 | 20 | 4.97 | -175.5 |
| 1969 | CHC | NL | 1 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19.0 | 17 | 6 | 13 | 18 | 2.84 | - |
| 1969 | NYY | AL | 1 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26.0 | 19 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 3.46 | - |
| 1970 | WSN | NL | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 7.50 | - |
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 335 | 534 | 24 | 61 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 0 | 12 | 250 | 0.114 | 0.137 | 0.146 | 0.283 | -4020.9 |
Season-by-Season Batting
| Year | Team | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | KC1 | AL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1959 | KC1 | AL | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1960 | KC1 | AL | 42 | 30 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0.167 | 0.0 |
| 1961 | CIN | NL | 15 | 25 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0.240 | 0.0 |
| 1961 | KC1 | AL | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1962 | HOU | NL | 33 | 52 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 0.077 | -645.3 |
| 1963 | HOU | NL | 38 | 74 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 34 | 0.068 | -906.6 |
| 1964 | HOU | NL | 35 | 76 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 49 | 0.079 | -799.7 |
| 1965 | HOU | NL | 8 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0.111 | 0.0 |
| 1965 | ATL | NL | 29 | 61 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0.115 | 0.0 |
| 1966 | ATL | NL | 32 | 70 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 28 | 0.143 | -492.1 |
| 1967 | ATL | NL | 29 | 71 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 27 | 0.127 | -555.2 |
| 1968 | ATL | NL | 31 | 40 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0.175 | 0.0 |
| 1969 | ATL | NL | 9 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1969 | CHC | NL | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1969 | NYY | AL | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1970 | WSN | NL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
Postseason Statistics
Playoff Career Batting
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Playoff Batting by Year
| Year | Round | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | WS | CIN | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Playoff Career Pitching
| W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Playoff Pitching by Year
| Year | Round | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | WS | CIN | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | 334 | 231 | 93 | 322 | 16 | 19 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | KC1 | P | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1959 | KC1 | P | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 1960 | KC1 | P | 42 | 6 | 6 | 27 | 0 | 0 |
| 1961 | CIN | P | 15 | 11 | 9 | 19 | 0 | 1 |
| 1961 | KC1 | P | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 1962 | HOU | P | 33 | 31 | 9 | 37 | 4 | 1 |
| 1963 | HOU | P | 37 | 32 | 8 | 51 | 1 | 4 |
| 1964 | HOU | P | 35 | 35 | 9 | 50 | 6 | 4 |
| 1965 | HOU | P | 8 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 0 | 1 |
| 1965 | ML1 | P | 29 | 26 | 10 | 17 | 2 | 0 |
| 1966 | ATL | P | 32 | 31 | 14 | 35 | 1 | 4 |
| 1967 | ATL | P | 29 | 29 | 9 | 33 | 1 | 0 |
| 1968 | ATL | P | 31 | 16 | 7 | 18 | 1 | 3 |
| 1969 | ATL | P | 9 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| 1969 | CHN | P | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1969 | NYA | P | 12 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 1970 | MON | P | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Career Games by Position
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | 334 |