Best Of The Oakland Athletics: Top 10 Seasons At Designated Hitter

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9. Deron Johnson, 1973

Year	Age	Tm	G	PA	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
1973	34	PHI	12	44	3	6	2	0	1	5	0	0	5	10	.167	.279	.306	.585	61
1973	34	OAK	131	530	61	114	14	2	19	81	0	1	59	116	.246	.330	.407	.737	112

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/7/2014.

The A’s picked up Johnson from Philadelphia on May 2 for minor leaguer Jack Bastable and he went on to become Oakland’s first full-time DH, helping the team to its second straight World Series title. He performed well enough that his name showed up on some MVP ballots.

He was fourth in the American League with 116 strikeouts.

Coming to Oakland revitalized Johnson, who hit .269/.321/.490 with six homers and 19 RBI in 26 games in May immediately after the trade. He did tail off after the All-Star break, hitting just .218/.327/.690 with seven home runs and 27 RBI in 55 games.

He was 1-for-10 with two walks and six strikeouts, playing in four of the five games in the A’s ALCS win over the Orioles. Johnson was 3-for-10 with a double in six games in the World Series as the A’s beat the Mets in seven games.

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