Howard Johnson "Hojo": (Part 2- The Nineties & Beyond) Former NL HR / RBI Champion & Coach

The Nineties- 1990: Howard Johnson doubled his salary, earning one point six million dollars & with that, the expectations for him were very high. But as was his history he would have better odd number years than even number years.

His numbers did not compare to his big season the previous year but he still put-up good numbers. 

He hit a HR in the Opening Day Mets 12-3 loss to the Pirates. They would lose two of three in that series & be haunted by these Pirates all season long.

On April 16th & 17th he drove in three runs for both games, then drove in two more two days later. He finished up April at .252 with just four HRs.

He began May with HRs in back-to-back games, on Atlanta, then at home in a 5-0 Frank Viola shut out win over the Reds. 

Grand Slam: On June 13th, at Wrigley Field, Hojo began his game with a sac fly in the 1st inning. In the 9th inning of a wild game the score was tied at 10-10. Les Lancaster walked Gregg Jeffries & gave up a double to Daryl Boston & a single to Kevin Elster. With two outs, Howard Hohnson broke the game open with a grand slam HR over the ivy. 

On June 26th in St. Louis, his double in the top of the 10th inning, off reliever Ken Dayley broke the tie & turned out to be the Mets game winning runs.

When Kevin Elster went down at short stop with injury, Hojo moved into the position for the last two months of the season. 

On August 31st he drove in the winning run off Steve Bedrosian to beat the San Francisco Giants. In September he hit three HRs & drove in 14 runs as the Mets finished the season in second place, four games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In 1990 he played 154 games, stealing 34 bases with 37 doubles (fourth in the NL) & 90 RBIs, but his HR production fell to 23 HRs and he hit just.244 with a .319 on base %. His 63 extra base hits were sixth in the league & his nine sac flies were 8th most.

On the field he made 20 errors in 92 games at third base & 8 more at short in 73 games at that position. Overall, his 28 errors were the most in the league. It was the first of two straight seasons he led in that category. For the fourth straight season he struck out over 100 times.

The Mets won four more games in 1990 but finished second, always chasing the Pittsburgh Pirates, getting close a few times but never catching them.

Trivia: Between 1987 and 1991, Howard Johnson hit 157 HRs. Only his Mets teammate Darryl Strawberry, Mark McGwire & Jose Canseco hit more HRs during that period.

1991: It all went bad for the Mets this year, as they faded off to a fifth-place finish & there wasn't too much left over from the '86 Championship team. Just six other players, besides Johnson were still on the team. The look of the organization was certainly different. Bud Harrelson started the year as manager & was let go with seven games left to play.

Hojo returned starting out a bit slow in April, batting just .211 although he did hit fur HRs. 

Walk Off HR: On May 4th, the reigning NL Champion San Francisco Giants were at Shea. The game went to the bottom of the 9th inning with the Mets down 4-2. Pinch hitters Mackey Sasser & Mark Carreon homered to tie the game.

The game went to extra innings & Hojo hit a walk off HR off Mike Lacoss to beat the San Francisco Giants 4-3 in one of the most exciting Mets win at Shea Stadium in 1991. 

Two days later, Darryl Strawberry made his debut at Shea Stadium as a Dodger. Hojo homered again helping the Mets in a close 6-5 win. Strawberry also homered in his Shea return to a mix of cheers & jeers. 

A week later Hojo hit another HR off Mike Lacoss in a 4-2 Mets win at San Francisco. Hojo homered in back-to-back games in San Francisco as he totaled four HRs with 10 RBIs in the first two weeks of May. 

He would belt three more HRs that month, including a May 27th, 8th inning HR at Wrigley Field which was the game winner in a 2-1 contest.

On June 8th, he hit another game winner, this one in the top of the 11th inning off Mike Capel in Houston beating the Astros 4-3. Hojo would hit HRs in back-to-back games on a road trip to Cincinnati, he would hit six HRs in June.

Mets Trivia: That month he passed Dave Kingman going into second place on the Mets all time HR list.

Grand Slam: On June 18th at Shea Stadium in a game against the Reds, Hojo hit a 3rd inning grand slam HR off Tom Browning. 

Trivia: Hojo would hit seven grand slams in his career.

As July began, he started out the month with back-to-back HR games in Montreal, both Mets wins. On July 3rd he helped lead the Mets to a 4-0 shut out win, it was the last win Ron Darling would record as a Mets pitcher. He would soon get traded to the Montreal Expos.

1991 All Star:  Hojo would enter the All-Star break with 19 HRs & 63 RBIs, making his second career All Star team. He went 0-2 in the game at Sky dome, Toronto. He played from the 6th inning on in the 4-2 A.L. win.

As the season rolled on, the Mets losses mounted & most of Johnson's HRs in August came during Mets losses. On August 31st he had a big day in Cincinnati, where he hit two HRs driving in three runs in the Mets 8-7 win. Overall, in August he hit six HRs.

He closed out that Cincinnati Road trip with another HR & three RBIs on September 1st. On September 4th, he had just his second multi-HR game of the year, getting him to pass the 30 HR mark on the season as well. It was his third 30 plus HR season of his career.

Hojo hit another the next day & another the next week. On September 12th he drove in three runs with a two-hit day in a 6-3 win at Wrigley Field. The next day he homered, driving in two runs leading the Mets to a 4-2 win. He would also lead the Mets to a 3-2 win, in the second game of a double header against Montreal four days later hitting a two run HR.

On September 21st, he hit his 36th HR of the season, leading the Mets to a 5-3 win in St. Louis. He would hit two more HRs before the season ended, both in Mets losses.

He finished out the year with a fantastic September, hitting 10 HRs with 28 RBIs, earning him his second National League Player of the Month award. He was one of the very few bright spots for a lowly Mets team.

On October 1st, he stole his 30th base of the season, joining the 30 30 club for the third time in his career. He is just one of five players ever to accomplish that feat.

It was arguably his best season of all, as for the first time in history a Mets player led the league in both HRs (38) & RBIs (117). 

Not only that but he is also the only Met to have ever led the league in the RBI category. He also became the only player besides Barry Bonds to join the 30-30 club in three different seasons.

Hojo scored 108 runs, which tied a Mets club record, hitting 34 doubles while stealing 34 bases. He posted a .342 on base % & hit .259, while finishing fifth in the league's MVP voting. He was so bad in the infield that, that season he began to play some outfield (30 games).

1992: In the off season, the Mets went out & bought a bunch of high-priced free agents that would all pretty much all fail. Especially as a team together. They were labeled The Worst Team that Money can buy. As the team went down strangely so did Johnson. 

In 100 games he hit only seven HRs with 43 RBIs batting a lowly .223 his worst average of his Mets career. Johnson's only bright spot was when he passed Ted Simmons for the N.L record with most HRs by a switch hitter (183).

1993: The next year was even worse for him, as injuries limited him to 72 games and at age 32 he seemed washed up. The Mets let him go to free agency & he moved on, signing a one-year deal in Colorado with the Rockies.

All Time Mets Leader Board: In his nine-year Mets career, Howard Johnson ranks high in many offensive categories. 

Hojo is fourth all time on the Mets list in HRs (192) RBIs (629) runs scored (627) & walks (556).
Hojo is third in stolen bases (202) sac flies (50) & strike outs (827). 

He is fifth in doubles (214). 

Hojo is seventh in Mets games played (1154) tenth in hits (997) & has posted a .251 batting average.

Post Mets Career: In 1994, Johnson signed with the Colorado Rockies & in the strike shortened year he batted a career low .211. He signed with the Chicago Cubs in 1995 hit only .195 and retired at age 35.

After a 14-year career he had batted .249 with 1229 hits 228 HRs 247 doubles 231 stolen bases 692 walks & a .340 on base % in 1531 games played.

With his glove he made 163 errors on the field. He played 1031 games at third base (98th all time) posting a .929 fielding %. Johnson played 273 games at short, 217 games in the outfield eight games at second & five games at first base.

Retirement & Coaching Career: In 2001 Johnson was named the batting coach of the Mets' new minor league A ball team, the Brooklyn Cyclones. He became their manager the following season. 

He was then the hitting coach for the St. Lucie Mets, winning the Florida State championship in 2003. The next year he moved up to the AA Binghamton Mets. 

In 2005 he was the Norfolk Tides batting instructor & had the team hitting their best in six years. 

In 2007, he returned to New York as the Mets first base coach and eventually became their hitting coach in 2008. He served two years in that capacity but was not asked back in 2010 although he still was working in the organization.

Hojo joined the Seattle Mariners organization in 2013, starting out as coach for AAA Tacoma. In 2014, he became the Seattle Mariners hitting coach under Manager Lloyd McClendon. In 2015 he was replaced by Edgar Martinez

From there he was A ball coach for the Eastwood Ducks (2017) then the AAA Round Rock Express (2018) & the AAA Nashville Sounds (2019). 

Family: Johnson & his wife have three children. His daughter Shannon is a figure skating coach in Florida. Howard's son Glen played pro baseball. 

He was offered a contract by the Mets in 2007 being drafted in the 37th round but did not sign. 

Honors: He remains a popular Mets figure & was on hand for many of the team's celebrations. 

He was on hand at the 20th & 30th Anniversaries of the 1986 team in 2006 & 2016. He was also at the closing ceremonies of Shea Stadium in 2008.

In 2022 he attended the Mets Old Timers Day extravaganza as well.

In 2011 at age 50 HoJo returned to pro ball, playing two minor league games with his son for the Independant League's Rockland Boulders.