Johnson Trying to Do the Right Thing : Two-sport standout: Ventura College baseball and football star is having trouble deciding where to focus his talent.

Many who know John Johnson believe the two-sport standout at Ventura College can become a major college running back or a major league baseball player. What he can’t do--at the moment, at least--is make a major decision: Should he focus his considerable talent on baseball or football?

Johnson, who is completing his freshman year at Ventura, had a chance to play football at the University of Arizona this past season. He also had an opportunity to play minor league baseball in the Seattle Mariner organization. Instead, the 1989 Channel Islands High graduate stayed home and attended Ventura.

“At this time in my life, Ventura is the best place for me,” said Johnson, who in the past year saw his chance to attend a four-year school undermined by his performance on college-entrance tests.

“It’s giving me time to figure out what I want to do, and allowing me to get a better feel for what is expected of me in the classroom. Right now, I’d say people can probably expect me to be back here next year doing the same thing.”

But a few moments later, Johnson admitted he “very well could be in a minor league uniform by this summer.” Then, shortly after that, he spoke glowingly of his longtime dream of becoming a star running back for a major college.

It seems the closer Johnson gets to deciding what to do with his life, the more confused he becomes. Although he considers himself a “kid at heart,” some of the decisions he will have to make in the near future are anything but kids’ stuff.

Ventura baseball Coach Gary Anglin, who played football and baseball at Ventura from 1970-71, understands Johnson’s dilemma.

“It’s definitely a tough spot to be in,” Anglin said. “When you decide to go out for a sport on the college level, the coaches expect you to give it 110 percent. You also have to worry more about academics than you did in high school.

“So when you decide to do two sports, the demands are even greater. It doesn’t leave a young man much free time.”

Anglin has told Johnson that he would help him weigh his options but that he wouldn’t make a decision for him.

Former Ventura football Coach Phil Passno, who resigned at the end of the 1989 season, said: “John goes out for a sport for all of the right reasons. He wants to help his team, he loves sports, and he’s very competitive. Those are the reasons we have athletics, and that’s why John has a hard time giving any of it up. He’s having too much fun. And there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Johnson, 19, is the youngest of four brothers who had outstanding athletic careers at Channel Islands. Bruce (who graduated in 1977), Hilria (‘80) and Steve (‘83) all played football and earned all-league honors. Joel Gershon, who is in his 16th year as Channel Islands’ football coach, said everyone in Johnson’s family kept telling him John would be the best.

“John certainly lived up to everyone’s expectations,” Gershon said. “He made a tremendous impact on our program.”

In three years as a starting running back, Johnson rushed for 3,475 yards and scored 42 touchdowns and 264 points. He was voted to the all-league team three times and the all-Southern Section team twice. With Johnson in the backfield, the Raiders won two Marmonte League titles and a Southern Section championship.

Johnson had his share of injuries, including severe wounds sustained in an unprovoked shooting last November, but he has learned to play with pain. One week after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery midway through his senior season, Johnson rushed for 104 yards in a victory over Huntington Park. He missed only one game that season and finished with 1,185 yards and eight touchdowns.

Prior to the knee surgery, the list of colleges trying to sign him was long. After the setback, only UCLA and Arizona were interested. And when Johnson was having trouble getting 700 points on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, the score necessary to be eligible for athletics as a freshman, only Arizona maintained contact.

Johnson never received the needed SAT score; Arizona officials told him to attend a junior college, and said that if he performed well academically they would give him a scholarship for his final two years of eligibility.

“If we made John Johnson a deal, then it still stands,” said Bill Logan, football recruiting coordinator at Arizona. “In fact, we have two players on our team who play baseball, so the fact that John is a two-sport athlete doesn’t bother us a bit.”

Upset over his dwindling prospects in football, Johnson turned to baseball and excelled in his senior season at Channel Islands. He batted .412 in 24 games with five home runs and 15 runs batted in. Johnson, an infielder, was selected in the 54th round of June’s amateur draft by Seattle and was promised a signing bonus if he had an all-star season in the minors.

“It wasn’t a total surprise to be drafted,” said Johnson, 5-feet-10 1/2, 206 pounds. “But baseball had always been my second sport to football. Now I was in a position of contemplating a career in the sport. I love baseball and considered going right into it. But then I thought I should wait and take more time to decide.”

That decision led him to Ventura, for which his brother Steve was the most valuable player in football in 1984. Initially, Johnson planned to go out only for the baseball team to try to improve his prospects in this year’s amateur draft. But as football season approached he had a change of heart.

“We had already been practicing for 10 days when John came by and said he felt he could make a contribution to the team and wanted to play,” Passno said.

A week later, Johnson was a third-string tailback in a scrimmage against Hancock College. The first time he touched the ball he went 60 yards for a touchdown. He finished with 88 yards on four carries.

Five games into the season, Johnson was starting and rolling up yardage. He helped the Pirates to a 7-0 record and what promised to be their best season in years. Then came a major setback.

On Nov. 9, two days before a showdown against Moorpark College, Johnson was one of five youths injured in a drive-by shooting in the parking lot of a Moorpark shopping center. Johnson had just attended a high school game and was with some friends when the shooting occurred. Johnson was hit by three shotgun pellets in his left leg and took four in his right leg.

He missed the rest of the football season, and Ventura lost its four remaining games. Johnson finished with 553 yards on 98 carries (a 5.6-yard average), scored three touchdowns, and was voted to the Western State Conference first team. He went through rigorous rehabilitation for the next three months to be ready for baseball season, and was able to finish his fall courses and participate in some winter baseball drills.

Johnson said that his right foot and shin have continued to bother him, but that he feels “99 percent back to normal.” He started at second base in 24 of 35 games for Ventura this season, batting .274 with 18 runs scored and 12 RBIs as the Pirates finished 21-14.

Seattle is still interested in him but is evaluating whether it will draft him again.

“We like John and are deciding where he fits and what we want to do with him,” said Ken Compton, the Mariners’ Southern California scout. “He’s got potential with a bat, but he needs to find a position. He’s definitely not an infielder.”

Even if Johnson is drafted again and receives a lucrative contract, he might not play baseball.

“Right now, I have to say I’m leaning toward baseball because there’s less contact, and I envision a longer career in the sport because of that,” Johnson said. “The knee injuries really forced me to re-evaluate things. I look at the future and wonder how long my knees will hold up.

“But it would be hard not to play football again. I’ve been playing the game since I was 6, so it’s difficult to think I’ll never carry the ball again. At this point, I guess you could say I’m still very undecided.”