Footer Johnson
From BR Bullpen
Richard Allan Johnson (Treads)
- Bats Left, Throws Left
- Height 5' 11", Weight 175 lb.
- School Duke University, University of Arizona
- Debut June 22, 1958
- Final Game July 30, 1958
- Born February 15, 1932 in Dayton, OH USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Footer Johnson had been at Duke University in the same years as Dick Groat, and signed with the Chicago Cubs in 1952 as an amateur free agent. Johnson would spend his first season in pro ball hitting .250 with the Des Moines Bruins of the class A Western League. He spent 1953 with the Cedar Rapids Indians of the class B Three-I League, appearing in just 42 games before being called for Military duty during the Korean War.
Footer was back in time for the 1956 season, hitting .278 in 121 games for the Burlington Bees of the Three-I League. Johnson then would hit a career high .298 in a split season for the class A Des Moines Bruins and the AA Memphis Chickasaws in 1957. Hitting .297 with the Fort Worth Cats of the Texas League after 48 games would get him called up to Wrigley Field. The Dayton native would make his major league debut with the Cubs on June 15, 1958.
He appeared in eight games for the 1958 Chicago Cubs. He appeared five times as a pinch-hitter and three times as a pinch-runner. He never recorded a hit. He did score a run on June 22 in the second game of a doubleheader. He pinch-ran for Sammy Taylor in the top of the 9th with the score tied 5-5. After Taylor had doubled off Hal Jeffcoat, Johnson scored on a Chuck Tanner single off of Jeffcoat. The Cubs won the game 8-5. Johnson's run was the go-ahead run.
Footer would spend 45 days in the big leagues in 1958 and would finish out the '58 year with the Pueblo Dodgers of the class A Western League, hitting .245 in 30 games. Footer would spend the next two seasons (1959-1960) with the San Antonio and Lancaster clubs, giving him a seven year minor league average of .274 in 662 games. Johnson would make a career change in 1960, deciding to give up baseball and entering law school at the University of Arizona.
Johnson has had a law practice in the Phoenix area, and as of last notice (2010), was residing in the Payson, AZ area.
