Davey Johnson Stands on Strong Record

Davey Johnson could see it coming, but there wasn’t much he could do. It was like being tied to the tracks with a runaway train headed in your direction.

“I don’t know how many teams go through a transition period and stay in it (the pennant race) all year,” said the former Baltimore Oriole second baseman, who came close to becoming the ex-manager of the New York Mets last year. “That kind of situation has gotten a lot of managers fired.”

It appeared that Johnson came close to joining the ranks. The key word is appeared, because Mets chief executive officer Frank Cashen said his confidence in his manager never wavered and the decision was his alone.

“You always have some doubts,” Cashen said. “You have to make decisions on managers every year. I had some doubts whether Davey wanted to come back. He had a three-year contract, which only protects the holder of the contract. If he wants to walk away it’s very difficult not to let him.

“Once I was sure Davey wanted to return, there wasn’t any doubt. It was my decision to hire him and it was my decision to retain him,” said Cashen, who held a similar position with the Orioles when Johnson played in Baltimore. “It’s been said that others in the organization didn’t want him back, but it didn’t matter. I make that decision.

“We have guys working for us (principally Al Harazin and Joe McIlvaine, both of whom formerly worked for the Orioles) who have wide latitude in what they do,” said Cashen. “But when it comes to something like this it is not a consensus opinion. I hired him and I kept him and I’ll take either the credit or the blame.”

What happened to Johnson last year was that two of his leaders, catcher Gary Carter and first baseman Keith Hernandez, reached the end of their contracts and the end of their productive years at the same time. In addition, the Mets were rearranging the middle of their defense.

“If they (Carter and Hernandez) are healthy, you want them in there for their experience,” said Johnson. “Then you have other guys who feel they should be playing.”

Johnson had seen the situation before. “I think (Earl) Weaver had a hard time believing that (Don) Buford was through,” said Johnson, referring to the Orioles’ spin in 1972 that interrupted what might have been a string of six straight divisional titles.

Johnson is the same as a manager as he was as a player--he always says what he thinks. Ask him what kind of a job he felt he did last year and he doesn’t hesitate. “I think I had a helluva year,” he said.

“We were in a transitional period, and I told them that at the start of the season. We were changing everything up the middle - catching, shortstop, second base and center field -- and it’s hard to do that and stay in contention.”

But this is the Mets and the Big Apple we’re talking about. Johnson has been their manager throughout their renaissance, which began in 1984. “They talk about dynasties, but there are no dynasties anymore, with free agency,” said Johnson. “You want consistency, look at the record.

“Look at other teams that won and were supposed to win again -- the Cardinals, who went under .500 one year, and the Cubs. I guess I’ve been a survivor over the last 30 years.”

Johnson hasn’t been around the big leagues for 30 years, but he knows his history. No New York manager has gone into a seventh season during that period since Casey Stengel guided the Yankees from 1949 until 1961.

When last season concluded, Johnson appeared to be squarely on the spot. “Only because they said the decision wouldn’t be made until after the season,” he answered, when asked if he felt his job was in jeopardy.

Was there ever any question that he wanted to come back? “No,” he said. Could he envision himself hanging around another four or five years? “Yes, I love the game. Some of the things that go along with it are irritating, frustrating at times.”

However, Johnson has this year, next year and an option year remaining on his contract. Not exactly the scenario of a manager who doesn’t plan on hanging around. “I always honor a contract,” he said.

Still, Johnson didn’t survive unscathed after last season. His coaching staff was rearranged, at the insistence of management. The two new additions are Mike Cubbage, a manager in waiting promoted from within the system, and Doc Edwards, a former manager on the rebound.

In some ways it is remindful of what happened with the Orioles after Johnson’s second year as a player. Hank Bauer was stripped of his coaching staff, Weaver came on the scene and became manager less than a year later.

Does that put more pressure on the manager? “I don’t see why it should,” said Cashen. “I don’t think a manager has the right to make all the coaching choices. It’s not like it’s the ‘old buddy’ system and you bring in all your friends.

“I feel like you give the manager one pick, let him get a guy he really wants, and I can live with that. After that we’ll discuss it.”

It may look like Johnson has had his legs cut off at the knees as a manager, but he doesn’t operate with that logic. “We don’t have anything to be embarrassed about,” he said. “I’ll stand on the record. How many guys have I had from the minor leagues that I haven’t established? How many went back (to the minors) to regroup and went on to be good players, with us or other clubs?”

What Johnson is saying is that he’s an organizational person, the reason he got this job in the first place. He will go out of his way to develop youngsters, while at the same time trying to appease his veterans.

Casey Stengel used to say “you could look it up.” Davey Johnson, with the longest managerial tenure in New York since Stengel, merely says look at the record.