A shortstop and utility infielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1973 to 1979, he became better known as manager of the Toronto Blue Jays.

After signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1967 as a free agent, Johnson was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for Rick Auerbach just as the 1973 season began while still a minor leaguer.

Johnson played every day for the 1973 Brewers at shortstop, but lost his starting job next season to Robin Yount, thus forcing him to settle in as a utility infielder.

He was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays during the 1978 season where he retired a year later with a lifetime .223 batting average in 516 career games.

After retiring as a player, Johnson spent the next 20 years as a scout, coach or minor league manager for the Dodgers, Montreal Expos, Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs.

Johnson also had rumoured differences with several of his players, including Pat Hentgen, Ed Sprague, and Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens.

Despite this lack of chemistry, Johnson guided the 1998 Blue Jays to a respectable third-place finish in the AL East with an 88–74 record, just four games out of a tie for the wild card.

In truth, Johnson had been in the Marine Corps Reserve throughout the war, and trained mortarmen at Camp Pendleton, California, while playing in the Dodgers' farm system.

[4] Finally, on March 17, less than a month before opening day, Blue Jays general manager Gord Ash fired Johnson and replaced him with Jim Fregosi.