100 Greatest Phillies: 62 – Deron Johnson

Deron Johnson
First Baseman
1969-1973

Career w/Phillies: .251 AVG / 88 HR / 304 RBI / 4 SB

Like Ryan Howard after him, Deron Johnson could really wallop the ball. But unlike Howard, Johnson wasn’t as devastatingly terrorizing. Still, Johnson could hit the ball. He was fourth in the National League in home runs in 1971, hitting 34 for the Phillies. He also struck out a lot, finishing in the top 10 three times during his Phillies career. He finished 25th in MVP voting in 1970, another solid season for Johnson. In 1973, the Phillies traded Johnson to Oakland after injuries seemed to slow him down. He would post two more double-digit homer seasons before retiring in 1976.

Comment: A hulking brute, Johnson was the force in the middle of the Phils order when they moved to Veterans Stadium. He was a clear profile of the Phillies before Mike Schmidt and Greg Luzinski, much like Jim Thome was to today’s Phils.

Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.