There are all time records that come from sublime skills. There are those that come from a combination of ability and luck. And finally, there are those that come from nothing more than weird circumstance. Reed Johnson owns one of those all-time baseball records which is a product of the latter. Johnson carved out a nice 13-year career for a guy who was mostly a below average player on offense and defense. He began his career in Toronto and played fairly well, including a phenomenal 5.1 bWAR season in 2006, but his production dropped off when he turned 30. He spent the rest of his career bouncing around as a fourth outfielder between five different teams before retiring after being released without playing a game in the 2016 season.
Reed Johnson did have one truly unique ability. The guy was a magnet for baseballs when at the plate. When Reed Johnson came up in 2003, he set a Jays rookie record and finished second in the MLB for being hit by a pitch 20 times that season. Over his five-year Jays career, he’d be hit 80 times, leading all of baseball with 21 HBP in 2006. Part of it was his tendency to crowd the plate a bit, taking part of the plate away from the pitcher and letting him cheat to get out in front of some pitches. The other part was his willingness to dummy up and take the pitch, maximizing his ability to get on base. He stopped being a fulltime player in 2007 which ended his consistent ability to finish in the top ten in HBP annually, but he still finished his career with 134 HBP.
Johnson did end his career with one key stat, a record that he still holds. 28 players are tied for the record of the most times HBP in a single game at three times. However, Reed Johnson in the only player in MLB history to be hit by a pitch three times in a game on three separate occasions. Even more remarkable, all three incidents took place almost within the span of a year.
April 16, 2005
Early in the season, the Jays were in Texas, facing the Rangers at Ameriquest Field. Gustavo Chacin was facing off against Kenny Rogers and Johnson was off to a hot start, batting 292/392/500 and batting second in the order. In the first, he quietly flied out to centre. In the third, John MacDonald legged out an infield single to lead off the inning, and following a fly out by Frank Menechino, was plunked by Rogers. However, both were stranded afters a Vernon Wells fly our and a Corey Koskie strikeout.
In the fifth, MacDonald and Johnson singled around a Menechino fly out, but again were stranded by a Wells fly out and a Koskie strike out. In the sixth, Rogers loaded the bases after giving up two runs and Ryan Bukvich came in to face Johnson. Bukvich then hit Johnson to drive in a run. Coming up in the eighth, the Rangers once again loaded up the bases, and facing Carlos Almanzar, Johnson was hit again to drive in the Jays fifth run. The Jays would go on to beat the Rangers 8-0 for the win.
April 7, 2006
A little under a year later at the beginning of the season, the Rays were in Toronto to face the Jays. Scott Downs was set to start against Casey Fossum, which said quite a bit about both teams at the time. Snakeface didn’t do that bad, giving up three runs in five innings, but it was a game that would take a few dramatic turns. Johnson, now the leadoff hitter for the Jays, was hit by Fossum, who then gave up a home run to two-hole hitter Alex Rios to make it 2-0 Jays. In the third, Fossum again hit Johnson as he led off the inning and nearly surrendered another home run to Rios with a deep fly ball to right. Wells singled up the middle and Troy Glaus cleared the bases with a three-run shot.
Johnson came up with two out in the fourth and again was hit by Fossum, making him one of the 3 hit record holders to have all the HBP from the same pitcher. In the sixth, Johnson was replaced by Frank Catalanotto to face Scott Dunn. Despite having staked out an early 6-0 lead, the Jays would lose the game 9-8 to Tampa Bay, with veteran reliever Pete Walker taking the loss.
April 29, 2006
Just 22 days later, the Jays went into New York to face the Yankees. Randy Johnson was in the second of his two years with the Yankees while the Jays were countering with Josh Towers. Yeah, that was early 2006 for this team. Leading off, Johnson hit Johnson with the second pitch of the game. After a Rios strike out, Wells brought in Johnson with a deep double and was later brought home on a sacrifice fly from Glaus. The 2-0 lead would not last as the Yankees put five runs on the board.
In the third, Johnson led off again and again was hit by the Big Unit. Rios lashed a double into left to put Johnson on third. Wells ground out to bring him home and the Jays would score three to tie the game up 5-5. Towers would surrender a couple more runs as Johnson flied out coming up in the fourth. The Yankees added two more in the bottom of the inning off Dustin McGowan. In the sixth, facing Tanyon Sturtze, Johnson was hit by a pitch and stole second, but Wells grounded out to end the inning. Johnson would have one last at-bat in the eighth but flied out to left off Ron Villone to end the inning. The Yankees would continue to pound the Jays bullpen leading to an ugly 17-6 loss to New York.
Johnson would finish his Jays career second on the Jays all time HBP record, behind Carlos Delgado with 122 HBP, although Delgado accounted for those in over three times as many plate appearances for the Jays than Reed Johnson. While it might not be the most glamourous record to hold in baseball, it is one uniquely suited to the way Reed Johnson played in his time as a Jay