Chris Johnson was back in the lineup Saturday against the Rockies, after his angry outburst in the dugout prompted manager Fredi Gonzalez to remove him from the game in the second inning of Friday’s game.
Johnson had inadvertently hit both Gonzalez and Gerald Laird with pieces of a bat he shattered in anger over a strikeout in the second inning.
Gonzalez and Laird, who had been standing on the steps of the dugout at the time, had both rushed to confront Johnson, with Laird getting to him first. But by Saturday both Gonzalez and Laird had accepted Johnson’s apologies and were prepared to move on.
Johnson had worked significant damage control by apologizing in one-on-one conversations with Laird, then with Gonzalez. He stood and apologized to the rest of the team after the game, and then when the locker room was opened to the media, Johnson was standing at his locker ready to answer questions and take responsibility.
Gonzalez said he met with Johnson Saturday morning and told him he was ready to move forward.
“I think that after what he had to go through yesterday and stand up and talk to you guys and stand up and talk to his teammates, I think that’s good enough,” Gonzalez said. “I think that’s punishment enough. That’s a humbling experience when you’re dealing with major league baseball players and all of a sudden you get taken out of a ballgame and you’ve got to go explain yourself….That’s probably worse than any monetary fine you can give him or any of that kind of stuff. Let’s go on.”
In just his second year with the Braves since arriving in a trade from Arizona, Johnson has built up quite a reputation for emotional dugout episodes. He was benched for two games in April after throwing a dugout tantrum following two four-strikeout games in a three-game span.
He also got into a confrontation with first base coach Terry Pendleton in the dugout after a game late last season when he’d thrown his helmet in anger and it inadvertently hit Pendleton on the ricochet.
Friday was the first time Johnson had ever been pulled in the middle of a game.
Gonzalez’s concern is that Johnson could hurt himself, a teammate or anyone else who happens to be walking by. Members of the grounds crew, cleaning crews, clubhouse staff, media, coaches and patrons of the owner’s box use those hallways.
“You can yell and scream, but when you start punching walls or start throwing bats or throwing helmets, you don’t know who’s going to come around that corner,” Gonzalez said. “If you look down those steps, you can’t really see who’s coming around that corner from the bathroom. All of a sudden you come around and a bat or a helmet is flying.”
Both Gonzalez and Laird said they understand how passionate Johnson is about the game, but they encouraged him to find other ways to channel it.
“Believe me, we’ve all been there,” Gonzalez said. “You want to do something and these guys are so highly competitive. We had a situation last year that (Brian) McCann actually grabbed this one (teammate) and just bear hugged him, just to say ‘Don’t do it.’”
Laird said he accepted Johnson’s apology and believed in his sincerity.
“We talked about it,” Laird said. “He explained himself. We understand, but it’s one of those things where he understands he’s got to stop, just in case someone gets hurts. I understand it’s a frustrating sport. I understand how much passion he plays with but you know what? When it comes to maybe someone else getting hurt, that’s when it goes too far. He understands, and he’s going to address it.”
Amazingly enough, immediately after the confrontation just inside the tunnel leading from the dugout to the Braves clubhouse, Laird took the plate and doubled in a run to tie the game 1-1. (The Braves went on to win 3-2 on Laird’s game-winning single in the eighth.)
Johnson was up in the clubhouse, where he remained in full uniform until after the game was over.
“He was still in full uniform, cleats and everything,” Gonzalez said. “He was on the line waiting, when we won the game, shaking hands with everybody, but he was still in full uniform. And he pulled me aside and he said ‘I need to talk to Laird first and I need to talk to you’ and then he (would) talk to the team. I said OK.”
As much as Johnson’s immediate reaction to the strikeout got him in the doghouse, his reactions from that point on helped smoothed things over.
Gonzalez credits his handling of it to Johnson’s upbringing in a baseball family; his father Ron Johnson is a former major league coach and currently the Triple-A manager in the Orioles organization.
“(Media relations director) Brad (Hainje) told me that he was about as humble as he could be talking to (the media) last night,” Gonzalez said. “And it doesn’t surprise me because we always talk about his dad is a coach.”
For the story on Chris Johnson’s apology, with his full comments after Friday night’s dugout outburst, click here.
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