#126 Bart Johnson

Standing 6’5”tall Bart’s pedigree is one of athletic proficiency....Maybe the best athlete on the White Sox roster....Representative of new breed of player....floppy haired, outspoken with the brash declaration to be able to play a position spot when not pitching ...ala Babe Ruth....and/or play professional basketball in the off season....Ala as Dave DeBusschere did a decade earlier on south side of Chicago....had 22 point per game average as a BYU cager, drawing the eye of Seattle Super Sonic coach Bill Russell....Chose baseball where he felt he could excel....Up and down career greatly hampered by injuries....Debut with White Sox at age 19 in 1969....Career went on the upswing with the arrival of pitching Johnny Sain circa 1971....W-L record of 12-10 as both a fifth starter and their top reliever....Considered the hardest Pale Hose thrower at the time, more impressive given his peers were Terry Forrester and “Goose” Gossage....multiple injuries resulted in a disastrous 1972 start going 0-3 with 9.22 ERA... Strangely turned to being a position player after being demoted to the minors....hit very well, a combined BA of .316 for single A Appleton and AA Knoxville (interestingly he did not pitch at AA) which added credence to his personal position player claim ....nevertheless reverted back to the mound in 1973...appeared to have made a partial return to glory with a 10-7 record in 1974....Unfortunately lost out on the entire 1975 season due to a spring training back injury....career lost momentum from there on....went 13-21 with an elevated ERA over the next two year....had brief forays in minors for next three years....went into scouting but also tried a comeback in 1985..passed away in April 2020... It’s not a good thing if your nickname is “Toys in the Attic”....Which aside from being an early Aerosmith album the term is a metaphor for insanity...hmmm....interesting baseball journey.