Davey Johnson, who managed the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Washington Nationals — and led Team USA on the international stage — died September 5 at age 82. He passed away in Florida.
Johnson’s managerial career spanned 17 seasons in Major League Baseball and included 1,372 wins, a .562 winning percentage, and Manager of the Year awards in both leagues — with the Orioles in 1997 and the Nationals in 2012.
Beijing Olympics Baseball – USA baseball manager Davey Johnson smiles during the team’s final practice session before Wednesday’s opening game at Wukesong Baseball complex at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Tuesday, Aug.12 2008. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Johnson led the United States to gold at the 2007 Baseball World Cup, bronze at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and a third-place finish at the 2009 World Baseball Classic. He also served as bench coach for the Netherlands at the 2004 Olympics and briefly managed their national team the year prior.
After hitting 40 home runs with the 1973 Atlanta Braves, Johnson signed with the Yomiuri Giants and became their first foreign player in over 15 years.
Tokyo, April 26, 1975 — Yomiuri Giants legend Sadaharu Oh meets newly arrived teammate Davey Johnson, right, the longtime Orioles star and first foreign player in club history. Photo courtesy of Stars and Stripes. Source: Stars and Stripes
He hit 39 homers in two seasons and returned with a deep respect for baseball’s international roots.
Davey Johnson remains one of the most accomplished managers not yet enshrined in Cooperstown. Only he and Billy Martin have taken four different franchises to the postseason. In 2017, Johnson was named to the Today’s Game Era ballot for potential induction, a reflection of how respected and forward-thinking his baseball mind was.
What sets Johnson apart is not just the volume of wins — 1,372 over 17 seasons — but the consistency across eras, leagues, and continents. He won division titles with the Mets, Reds, Orioles, and Nationals. He managed in five MLB cities, coached internationally, and made history as the first American signed by Japan’s Yomiuri Giants.
“I like math because I always liked solving problems… I’m the problem solver in this group. That’s basically what you do in this job. You try to keep the problems to a minimum,” Johnson said in a 2012 interview with the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
In 1969, Johnson took an offseason computer course at Johns Hopkins and recreated the entire 1968 season to run lineup simulations for the Orioles. Even before managing a game, he was using data to build optimized lineups — and by the time he took over the Mets in 1984, he was already ahead of his era in leveraging platoon splits, on-base percentage, and statistical modeling in day-to-day decisions.
We even witnessed one of the legends who carries his torch today. During World Baseball Network’s sponsorship of the Nicaraguan Heritage Celebration at loanDepot Park — our first of three activations this season connected to the World Baseball Classic — Bryce Harper launched a home run early in the game and pointed skyward in tribute to the manager who fast-tracked his MLB debut.
TWO RUN HOMER TO CENTER FOR BRYCE HARPER!!! #24 on the year puts the Phils up early again!!!
— Phils News (@philliessports_) September 7, 2025
Harper, who broke in under Johnson with the Nationals, later credited him for setting the tone on how to lead and carry himself as a professional.
Johnson’s best-known chapter came with the 1986 Mets, who won 108 games and captured the World Series. In seven seasons with New York, he became the winningest manager in franchise history with 595 victories.
World Baseball Network has recently featured that Mets team in our Nick Loeb video series, where Johnson’s influence remains front and center.
Johnson was a four-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove second baseman, and three-time World Series champion — twice as a player with Baltimore, once as manager of the Mets. He managed five MLB clubs and served as Team USA manager in multiple international competitions.
