Infield: Third baseman Judy Johnson was a Negro League star, a line-drive hitter who had average speed but was a smart, instinctive baserunner. He was a key player on some of the best teams in Negro League history, including the Hilldale teams that won three straight Eastern Colored League titles in the mid-1920s, as well as the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords in the 1930s. Joe Judge (1915-34) held down first base for the Washington Senators for the better part of two decades. He was a .300 hitter who was good for 30 doubles and 12-15 triples a year, and he drew a good number of walks. Second baseman Julian Javier (1960-72) was a slap-hitting, sac-bunting, hit-and-running infielder for the great Cardinals teams of the 1960s. (Improbably, he batted .333 in 19 World Series games.) He was a very prominent figure in the development of youth and winter leagues in his native Dominican Republic, and there are baseball stadiums named in his honor there. Shortstop Jimmy Johnston (1911-26) was a utility guy who was a .300 hitter for the Brooklyn Robins. Mostly a singles hitter, but capable of seasons with a good number of doubles and triples.
Outfield: Left fielder Shoeless Joe Jackson (1908-20) is perhaps the most star-crossed figure in baseball history, an illiterate South Carolina boy whose career as one of the great hitters of all time was cut short by his own greed and by the fact that he allowed himself to be influenced by the wrong teammates. He was a sensational hitter, .356 lifetime with tons of doubles and triples, a graceful outfielder. Everything they said about him in “Field of Dreams” was true, except for that whole part about being innocent. Jackson was banned for life because of his role in the fixing of the 1919 World Series. The precise nature of that role is difficult to pin down, but it is clear that he did play a role – maybe he was an active participant in the fix (the Reds hit an awful lot of triples to left field in that small handful of games), or maybe he played his best but positioned himself to get a cut of the gamblers’ money, but the idea that he was an innocent man is romantic revisionism. He remains a tragic figure, a great player brought down by his own weakness. Right fielder Jackie Jensen (1950-61) was some kind of athlete. At Cal, he was an All-American halfback, rushing for 1,000 yards and starring in the Rose Bowl. He also pitched Cal to the championship of the first-ever College World Series, beating a Yale team that featured a first baseman named George Herbert Walker Bush. He played for a couple of championship Yankees teams, had a brief stopover with the Senators, and then settled into the outfield in Boston. From 1954-59 he averaged 111 RBI per year for the Red Sox. Center fielder Jacque Jones (1999-2008) could hit .300 in a good year, and he could be counted on for 30 doubles and 20 home runs.
Catcher: John Jaso (2008- ) has a decent batting eye. He's in mid-career with Tampa and playing fairly regularly. That's as good as it gets here.
Rotation: Just as Jackie Jensen was the first to play in a Rose Bowl and a World Series, Joey Jay (1953-66) was the first to play in a Little League World Series and a big league one. He won 21 games for the pennant-winning Reds in 1961, and then another 21 the following year. He finished with 99 career victories, and he tried mightily for #100, but he was put out to pasture with an 0-4 record in 1966. Jason Jennings (2001-09) won the Rookie of the Year award because he went 16-8 and didn’t get hammered while pitching in Coors Field. He continued to pitch alright, although there were certainly years when the thin air got to him. Injuries hit in his late-20s, and while he has not yet formally retired, he certainly looks to be finished at this point with a career record of 62-74. Josh Johnson (2005- ) is an outstanding pitcher for the Marlins who is right in his prime and who led the NL in ERA in 2010. If he can stay healthier than Jason Jennings, he should have a good career. After injury problems in 2007 and ’08, he bounced back with a very strong 2009. Jimmy Jones (1986-93) was one of those guys who always looked like he should have been better than he was. He finished with a 42-39 career record, but he wasn’t really that good. Jason Johnson (1997-2008) was a 6-foot-6 righty with an especially ugly career record of 56-100. He wasn’t a good pitcher, but he wasn’t terrible either. He was at least as good as Jimmy Jones, and Jimmy Jones had a winning record. Jason Johnson pitched for 11 seasons. He had one winning record (8-7), one .500 record (10-10) and a whole bunch of seasons with records like 1-10, 3-12 and 5-14.
Bullpen: Closer Jose Jimenez (1998-2004) came up as a starter with the Cardinals and was occasionally brilliant. In 1999, he threw a no-hitter against Arizona to beat Randy Johnson 1-0, and then came back 10 days later to throw a 2-hitter against Arizona to beat Randy Johnson 1-0. (These two games were part of an incredible five-game stretch of hard luck in which The Big Unit pitched 40 innings, gave up just 25 hits and six runs, one of them unearned, struck out 62, and went 0-4. You could look it up.) Jorge Julio (2001- ) put in some years as a closer, but for much of that time he was not terribly effective. He piled up some saves but was rarely better than the league average in ERA, and his propensity for giving up home runs was a problem in the late innings of close games. Jim Johnson (2006- ) is in mid-career but seems to be establishing himself as a pretty fair pitcher. Jason Jacome (1994-98) showed some promise, with a 2.67 ERA in eight starts at age 23, but it was all downhill from there. Jesse Jefferson (1973-81) hung around for a long time, pitching for five teams, sometimes as a starter and sometimes as a reliever, but rarely as anything more than an average pitcher. His career record of 39-81 (oof) is largely the product of a few seasons with the expansion Blue Jays. He was 22-56 with Toronton, and 17-25 elsewhere. Jerry Johnson (1968-77) and Jesse Jefferson were teammates on the ’77 Jays. They had fairly similar careers, but Johnson was almost exclusively a reliever. He had one really good year (12-9, 2.97 with 18 saves for the 1971 Giants) but that one rather sticks out in the context of his career. Jing Johnson (1916-28) pitched five seasons for Connie Mack’s Athletics, spread out over more than a decade because of military service in World War I and a protracted (as in, seven years, that’s pretty damn protracted) salary dispute. Not a bad pitcher, and it would be interesting to see what he would have done with an uninterrupted career. He had a degree in chemistry from Ursinus College, and during his salary holdout he made a good living as a research chemist at Bethlehem Steel. After his playing career, he was athletic director and coach at his alma mater.
Outfield: Left fielder Shoeless Joe Jackson (1908-20) is perhaps the most star-crossed figure in baseball history, an illiterate South Carolina boy whose career as one of the great hitters of all time was cut short by his own greed and by the fact that he allowed himself to be influenced by the wrong teammates. He was a sensational hitter, .356 lifetime with tons of doubles and triples, a graceful outfielder. Everything they said about him in “Field of Dreams” was true, except for that whole part about being innocent. Jackson was banned for life because of his role in the fixing of the 1919 World Series. The precise nature of that role is difficult to pin down, but it is clear that he did play a role – maybe he was an active participant in the fix (the Reds hit an awful lot of triples to left field in that small handful of games), or maybe he played his best but positioned himself to get a cut of the gamblers’ money, but the idea that he was an innocent man is romantic revisionism. He remains a tragic figure, a great player brought down by his own weakness. Right fielder Jackie Jensen (1950-61) was some kind of athlete. At Cal, he was an All-American halfback, rushing for 1,000 yards and starring in the Rose Bowl. He also pitched Cal to the championship of the first-ever College World Series, beating a Yale team that featured a first baseman named George Herbert Walker Bush. He played for a couple of championship Yankees teams, had a brief stopover with the Senators, and then settled into the outfield in Boston. From 1954-59 he averaged 111 RBI per year for the Red Sox. Center fielder Jacque Jones (1999-2008) could hit .300 in a good year, and he could be counted on for 30 doubles and 20 home runs.
Catcher: John Jaso (2008- ) has a decent batting eye. He's in mid-career with Tampa and playing fairly regularly. That's as good as it gets here.
Rotation: Just as Jackie Jensen was the first to play in a Rose Bowl and a World Series, Joey Jay (1953-66) was the first to play in a Little League World Series and a big league one. He won 21 games for the pennant-winning Reds in 1961, and then another 21 the following year. He finished with 99 career victories, and he tried mightily for #100, but he was put out to pasture with an 0-4 record in 1966. Jason Jennings (2001-09) won the Rookie of the Year award because he went 16-8 and didn’t get hammered while pitching in Coors Field. He continued to pitch alright, although there were certainly years when the thin air got to him. Injuries hit in his late-20s, and while he has not yet formally retired, he certainly looks to be finished at this point with a career record of 62-74. Josh Johnson (2005- ) is an outstanding pitcher for the Marlins who is right in his prime and who led the NL in ERA in 2010. If he can stay healthier than Jason Jennings, he should have a good career. After injury problems in 2007 and ’08, he bounced back with a very strong 2009. Jimmy Jones (1986-93) was one of those guys who always looked like he should have been better than he was. He finished with a 42-39 career record, but he wasn’t really that good. Jason Johnson (1997-2008) was a 6-foot-6 righty with an especially ugly career record of 56-100. He wasn’t a good pitcher, but he wasn’t terrible either. He was at least as good as Jimmy Jones, and Jimmy Jones had a winning record. Jason Johnson pitched for 11 seasons. He had one winning record (8-7), one .500 record (10-10) and a whole bunch of seasons with records like 1-10, 3-12 and 5-14.
Bullpen: Closer Jose Jimenez (1998-2004) came up as a starter with the Cardinals and was occasionally brilliant. In 1999, he threw a no-hitter against Arizona to beat Randy Johnson 1-0, and then came back 10 days later to throw a 2-hitter against Arizona to beat Randy Johnson 1-0. (These two games were part of an incredible five-game stretch of hard luck in which The Big Unit pitched 40 innings, gave up just 25 hits and six runs, one of them unearned, struck out 62, and went 0-4. You could look it up.) Jorge Julio (2001- ) put in some years as a closer, but for much of that time he was not terribly effective. He piled up some saves but was rarely better than the league average in ERA, and his propensity for giving up home runs was a problem in the late innings of close games. Jim Johnson (2006- ) is in mid-career but seems to be establishing himself as a pretty fair pitcher. Jason Jacome (1994-98) showed some promise, with a 2.67 ERA in eight starts at age 23, but it was all downhill from there. Jesse Jefferson (1973-81) hung around for a long time, pitching for five teams, sometimes as a starter and sometimes as a reliever, but rarely as anything more than an average pitcher. His career record of 39-81 (oof) is largely the product of a few seasons with the expansion Blue Jays. He was 22-56 with Toronton, and 17-25 elsewhere. Jerry Johnson (1968-77) and Jesse Jefferson were teammates on the ’77 Jays. They had fairly similar careers, but Johnson was almost exclusively a reliever. He had one really good year (12-9, 2.97 with 18 saves for the 1971 Giants) but that one rather sticks out in the context of his career. Jing Johnson (1916-28) pitched five seasons for Connie Mack’s Athletics, spread out over more than a decade because of military service in World War I and a protracted (as in, seven years, that’s pretty damn protracted) salary dispute. Not a bad pitcher, and it would be interesting to see what he would have done with an uninterrupted career. He had a degree in chemistry from Ursinus College, and during his salary holdout he made a good living as a research chemist at Bethlehem Steel. After his playing career, he was athletic director and coach at his alma mater.
Bench: Jay Johnstone (1966-85) was an outfielder, pinch-hitter and resident practical jokester for two decades in the majors. He was a good enough ballplayer (.267 career with 102 home runs), and willing to be a role player. His sense of humor (and his insatiable hunger for attention) cast him as a “colorful character,” leading to two books of witticisms and a series of videotapes centering on practical jokes, bloopers and other funny stuff. First baseman John Jaha (1992-2001) was a very good hitter. He mashed minor-league pitching for several years before the Brewers gave him a shot in the bigs, and when he was healthy enough to play, he hit well in the majors as well. His batting average was inconsistent, but he drew walks and hit home runs (141 in 2775 career at-bats) and was a very productive hitter. Outfielder Jim Jackson (1901-06) was your basic .235 hitter. Lord Jimmy Jordan (1933-36) was a light-hitting infielder. Backup catcher Jason Jaramillo (1909- ) is a switch-hitter who doesn't hit much.
Manager: Jing Johnson’s college coaching career would seem to make him a good candidate.
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