As coach Howard Michael Johnson (born November 29, 1960), nicknamed "HoJo", is an American former professional baseball third baseman, shortstop and outfielder.

He played for the Detroit Tigers, New York Mets, Colorado Rockies, and Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1982 to 1995.

[5] The Tigers led the division for the entire season to reach the 1984 MLB postseason, but Johnson did not play in the 1984 American League Championship Series as manager Sparky Anderson preferred to use more experienced players.

Johnson was a capable shortstop defensively and picked up extra playing time moving between short and third but his hitting started declining in May.

Between his mediocre hitting, continued lack of power, and an injury that wiped out three weeks in June, Johnson played in only 88 games in the regular season.

When he returned from the June injury, Johnson went on a home run tear including two in his first game back and, within six weeks, his slugging percentage jumped from .376 to .510.

When one of the pitchers, Jesse Orosco, drew a walk in the 14th inning, Johnson followed with a three-run home run that led to a Mets win.

Another grand slam in September brought Johnson's home run total to 36, just four shy of his entire career before 1987.

[citation needed] His 36 home runs overall were the most in National League history by a switch-hitter, breaking Ripper Collins' 53-year-old record.

One bright spot was September 8, 1988, when he had the only five-hit game of his career, going 5-for-5 with a three-run home run and four RBIs in a Wrigley Field victory.

Johnson was moved from sixth or seventh in the lineup to third, in front of star slugger Darryl Strawberry, who had led the N.L.

Johnson batted .340 with 11 home runs in June, earning him his first National League Player of the Month Award.

[14] On July 9, the Mets announced that they signed Johnson to a three-year contract extension worth $6.1 million, making him their second-highest paid player behind Dwight Gooden.

With his 30th home run on August 20, 1989, Johnson joined Bobby Bonds and Willie Mays as the only multi-year members of the 30–30 club.

The only other infielders in major league history who had had multiple 30–30 seasons as of 2011 were Ian Kinsler, Alfonso Soriano, and Jeff Bagwell.

Only Kevin Mitchell's career year stopped Johnson from winning both the home run and slugging titles in the N.L.

Instead, the Mets' troubled all-time home run and RBIs leader, Darryl Strawberry, left New York when he was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers in December 1990.

He finished out July well and had a slow August before a fantastic September in which he hit ten home runs with 28 RBIs while slugging nearly .700, earning him his second National League Player of the Month award.

[18] Going into the 1992 season, Johnson was surrounded by high-priced veterans like Eddie Murray, Bobby Bonilla, Vince Coleman, and Bret Saberhagen.

In 1993, a year that found the Mets with 103 losses and the worst record in the majors, Johnson's batting average did not reach .200 until almost May and his slugging only rose above .400 for barely a week before diving back down.

Despite the hitter-friendly atmosphere of Mile High Stadium, he wound up hitting more home runs on the road finishing with only ten overall.

In the crowded left field position, he split time with Mike Kingery and Eric Young but was mostly pinch hitting by August when the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike ended the season.

He batted .211 with 10 home runs and the Rockies declined his $2.95 million option for the 1995 season, paying him a $400,000 buyout and making him a free agent.

In mid-1996, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays named Johnson to the coaching staff of their rookie-level minor league team, the Butte Copper Kings.

He was made the manager for 2002 after Brooklyn was named co-champion of the New York–Penn League (the championship was cancelled due to the September 11, 2001 attacks).

In 2003, Johnson was the hitting coach under manager, Ken Oberkfell, when the St. Lucie Mets won the Florida State League championship.

[27] Johnson was named hitting coach for AAA Tacoma Rainiers of the Seattle Mariners organization for the 2013 baseball season.

[29] Johnson managed the single-A Down East Wood Ducks in 2017, and was hitting instructor for the AAA Round Rock Express in 2018.

[32] Within two years of his retirement, Johnson's two major National League switch-hitting home run records were broken.

In 1997, his career record was broken by another former teammate, Bobby Bonilla, who hit his 210th National League home run in the midst of a championship season with the Florida Marlins.