Major League Baseball

New uniform, role with Nats for ex-manager Johnson

Published Mar. 18, 2010 3:59 p.m. ET

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Still looking out of place with a curly W on his cap, Davey Johnson bounds from the Washington Nationals dugout and seeks out an old friend in opposing colors. Handshakes, hugs and chitchat follow, before Johnson shifts his attention away from his silver-haired contemporary and back to his new team.

In a visible major league role for the first time since being fired as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers after the 2000 season, Johnson has a lot of catching up to do.

He might as well be reintroducing himself to baseball.

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo coaxed the 67-year-old Johnson out of self-imposed exile in November, making him a special adviser. Johnson's arrival was part of an overhaul of Washington's front office that included more than a dozen new hires.

``We need his knowledge,'' Rizzo said, ``and I need his help.''

Johnson compiled a .564 career winning percentage - 1,148 wins, 888 losses - as a manager with the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles and Dodgers, but he hasn't donned a big league uniform in a decade. Still, he's a baseball lifer, from the speck of chewing tobacco a toothy smile reveals, to his leathery, sun-beaten skin, to spot-on assessments of players' strengths and weaknesses.

``You grow up loving the game as a kid, and the love doesn't wane,'' Johnson said.

Since being let go by the Dodgers, Johnson has been living in Winter Park, Fla., and he wasn't exactly a baseball recluse.

``I've been able to get my fix,'' said Johnson, who filled his downtime with what he knew best.

He briefly managed the Dutch national team, served as its bench coach at the 2004 Athens Olympics, then managed the U.S. in the 2005 World Baseball Cup. He was the bench coach for the U.S. in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, then led the U.S. at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

This summer, he'll manage the Sanford (Fla.) River Rats of the Florida Collegiate Summer League. He joined that league last year, running a team in DeLand, Fla.

``I enjoy, for the moment, whatever challenge it is,'' Johnson said.

Then came Rizzo's offer, something meatier than Johnson's brief 2006 stint as a consultant under ex-Nationals GM Jim Bowden.

``I wouldn't describe it as a hard sell. He didn't want it to be a fluff thing,'' Rizzo said.

Johnson's familiarity with the Nationals' top pitching prospect, Stephen Strasburg, didn't hurt. Johnson managed Strasburg in the 2008 Olympics before the right-hander became the top overall pick in June's draft and signed a record $15.1 million contract. And Johnson has known Washington manager Jim Riggleman since the mid-1980s, when their paths crossed in the Double-A Texas League.

``I didn't want to do a whole lot of traveling, but I told (Rizzo) I'd be happy to come to spring training,'' Johnson said.

So when spring drills convened an hour's drive from his home near Orlando, Johnson pulled on a new uniform and went back to work.

He spent mornings sitting next to Rizzo on a golf cart, talking baseball and watching workouts. In meetings with Riggleman and coaches, Johnson weighed in on which a prospects were ready. A three-time Gold Glove winner himself at second base for the Orioles, Johnson worked with outfielder-turned-first baseman Adam Dunn on his footwork.

Johnson, who enjoys the learning that goes on in spring training, doubts he'll manage in the majors again.

``I think I would have to be really comfortable with ownership, which at times has been somewhat difficult,'' Johnson said with wry smile, remembering his days with Orioles owner Peter Angelos and the late Marge Schott in Cincinnati. ``I love making things better, and I never say 'never,' but that's probably a 5 percent chance.''

Besides, Johnson likes Riggleman's old-school impact on the Nationals as much as Riggleman enjoys Johnson's input.

``He loves to talk baseball, you know? He's not coming in the room blasting information, but when you get him going, he's very willing to pass on any knowledge he has,'' Riggleman said.

The public hasn't forgotten Johnson. During a spin in Rizzo's golf cart, Johnson was swamped by autograph seekers while the unassuming GM was reduced to the role of, well, Davey's driver.

``I do a lot of listening when he's around,'' Rizzo said. ``Even when he's not trying to teach me something, he's teaching me something.''

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