Jay Johnstone

John William Johnstone Jr. (November 20, 1945 – September 26, 2020)[1] was an American professional baseball player and television sports announcer.

[2] As an Angel, Johnstone preserved Clyde Wright's no-hitter against the Athletics in the seventh inning by catching a Reggie Jackson fly ball, 400 feet from home plate, in straightaway center field, just in front of the outfield wall (July 3, 1970).

[5] Johnstone pulled off a number of infamous pranks during his playing days, including placing a soggy brownie inside Steve Garvey's first base mitt, setting teammates' cleats on fire (known as "hot-footing"), cutting out the crotch area of Rick Sutcliffe's underwear, and locking Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda in his office during spring training.

Johnstone also nailed teammates' spikes to the floor, and once replaced the celebrity photos in manager Lasorda's office with pictures of himself, Reuss, and Don Stanhouse.

[5] During the Dodgers' 1982 spring training, Johnstone locked Lasorda inside his motel room by tying his doorknob to a palm tree.

Another time, he bolted from a taxicab on the gridlocked Golden State Freeway during a pregame traffic jam and began running in uniform toward the Stadium Way exit.

As a baseball announcer, Johnstone once covered a microphone with a scent of stale eggs then proceeded to interview Dave "Smoke" Stewart, Mickey Hatcher, and other players.

Johnstone (21) batting for the Cubs in 1983