BASEBALL: GOODBYE TO A HALL OF FAME HORNET
On January 26, 2021 the world lost MLB player, coach, and Hornet Hall of Famer Ron Johnson.
Johnson passed on at St. Thomas Rutherford Hospital in Murfreesboro, Tennessee at 64 years of age due to complications from COVID-19.
Ron Johnson came out of Garden Grove High where he starred on the football and baseball teams. He turned down football scholarships to UCLA and Fresno State to focus on his baseball career.
FC Hall of Fame Coach Mike Sgobba recruited Johnson to play on the Hornet baseball team where he was a featured player for two seasons. Another FC Hall of Fame Coach, Hal Sherbeck, also convinced Johnson to play two seasons of football as a defensive tackle, but Ron was destined to be a baseball player. During the 1976 season, Johnson led the baseball team in batting with an average of .393. He also knocked in 8 runners in one game against LA City College.
After his days at Fullerton, Johnson ended up becoming a Bulldog after all- this time on the Fresno State baseball squad, where he became a first-team All-American.
In 1978, Ron was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 24th round. He made his major league debut for KC on September 12, 1982.
With his playing days behind him, Johnson soon began coaching in the minors for the Royals. Throughout the years, he coached with many professional teams, including a two-year stint with the Boston Red Sox serving as Terry Francona's first base coach.
After Francona's departure from Boston, Johnson found himself a new coaching gig serving as the manager of the Norfolk Tides, the AAA affiliate for the Baltimore Orioles. Ron held the position from 2012 until 2018 and became the winningest manager in Tides' history. He won the Cal Ripken Sr. Player Development Award in 2015 and 2018, and was named the International League Manager of the Year in 2015.
Ron Johnson retired from coaching in 2018, as the Oriole's parted ways with much of the staff in organizational shake-up. He settled down in Tennessee with an incredible 1,752 wins as a minor-league manager.
Once a Hornet, Always A Hornet!
Click here to read Johnson's Obituary- it is an excellent read.
