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January 31, 2013

Skewed Left

Farewell to Nick Johnson

by Zachary Levine

“I see him more as Jim Thome without the fashion statement.” – BP Annual, 1999

“Johnson is the best prospect in baseball, a ranking very difficult for a first baseman to achieve.” – BP Annual, 2000

“He'll likely end up as a cross between John Olerud and Barry Bonds. I think most Yankees fans can live with that, even if it takes him a few years to get there.” – BP Annual, 2002

“The ball jumps off his bat. He has amazing control of the strike zone. He's still potentially one of the best hitters in all of baseball.” – BP Annual, 2004

“After years of speculation and anticipation, at long last we now know what a full season from Nick Johnson looks like, and it was everything we thought it could be, and more.” – BP Annual, 2006

Nick Johnson announced his retirement this week and somewhat surprisingly so, though it was clear the Yankees wanted to move on after Johnson finally showed signs of aging in 2012. Johnson, just 34, had played his entire 12-year career with the Yankees, winning World Series championships in 2006 and 2009. He retires a few accolades short of a chance at the Hall of Fame, though not as far as some more traditional statistics might show. His patience at the plate was an enormous asset, as he five times topped 100 walks and highlighted battles of attrition against Mark Teixeira’s uber-patient Red Sox. Most of all, he was known for being a portrait of good health, his streak of 987 consecutive games played being terminated only by his 2007 suspension for the famous incident involving umpire Tim McClelland, a chewed piece of bubble gum, and some misplaced groundskeeping equipment. He played regularly until 2012, when his performance started to suffer for the first time, and he hung up his spikes and his impeccable eye. Johnson will likely retire to several offers to continue his baseball life as an instructor.