Saturday, June 16, 2012

Happy Birthday - 6/16

1B Zach Johnson (24)
A 15th round pick by Houston out of Oklahoma State in 2011, Johnson has really opened some eyes with his production at Lexington in his sophomore season. In 65 games, he has 61 RBI's, currently second in the South Atlantic League. He is hitting .250/.348/.440 with 16 doubles, a triple and ten home runs. A South Atlantic League All-Star, Johnson has been invited to participate in the Home Run Derby on the USS Yorktown in Charleston, South Carolina next week.

One former Astro with a birthday today ~

RHP Ken Johnson (79)
Drafted from the Reds in the 1961 expansion draft, Johnson spent four seasons with the Colt .45s and Astros from 1962 to 1965. In 113 games (106 starts), he was 32-51 with a 3.41 ERA and a 1.174 WHIP. According to Baseball-Reference, he didn't have the best of luck playing for the Colt .45s.
He is the only Major League pitcher to lose a nine-inning complete game no-hitter. On April 23, 1964, while with the Houston Colt .45's he was beaten 1 - 0 by the Cincinnati Reds despite having thrown a no-hitter. After eight innings of no-hit ball, in the top of the ninth, Johnson faced his counterpart, Joe Nuxhall, who grounded out to third. Then Pete Rose reached second after Johnson made an errant throw to first on a bunt. After a sacrifice to the pitcher, Rose was 90 feet from home with two outs. Vada Pinson then sent a grounder to second baseman Nellie Fox who booted it, allowing the run to score. Johnson got the next batter to fly out, but the Colt .45's couldn't score in the last of the ninth, pegging him with the loss.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.