Random Athlete Of The Day- Lance Johnson

Lance is from Cincinnati Ohio, he attended the University of  South Alabama, and  he was drafted in the 6th round by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1984 Draft.  Lance played a part of a season with the Cards but only had 59 AB’s. For the next 8 seasons he played with the Chicago White Sox. Gradually Lance played more and more each season until he became an everyday starter.

Lance became a straight triple machine…from 1991-1994 he led the AL in triples and became the first player to lead the league in triples for three consecutive years. Later with the Mets he led the league in triples and became the third player to lead the league in triples for both leagues. In every season with the White Sox he had more triples than homeruns. 

In 1996 Lance ditched the Sox and had a career season with the New York Mets. The centerfielder set career highs with 227 hits , 21 triples, 50 stolen bases, 31 doubles, 69 RBI’s, 117 runs with a .333 batting average. And with 682 AB’s he only struck out 40 times…talk about a qaulity leadoff hitter. Lance Johnson earned his first and only All-Star selection.

The next season Lance couldn’t match his All-Star season with the Mets. In 1997 Lance became a Chicago Cub where he still got on base and had a somewhat of a solid batting average. His last season in 2000 he went to the New York Yankees and finished his career with the pinstripes.

Lance in his career had 117 triples, 327 stolen bases, 34 homeruns, with a .291 batting average.

-Schotz