- Ben Johnson (outfielder)
Infobox MLB player
name=Ben Johnson
width=200
position=Left Fielder
team=Free Agent
number=--
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1981|6|18
debutdate=June 26
debutyear=2005
debutteam=San Diego Padres
statyear=2007
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.230
stat2label=Home run s
stat2value=7
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat3value=26
teams=
*San Diego Padres (by|2005-by|2006)
*New York Mets (by|2007)Benjamin Joseph Johnson (born
June 18 ,1981 in Memphis,Tennessee ) is aMajor League Baseball outfielder who is currently afree agent . Johnson was named the Memphis area High School Player of the Year in baseball atGermantown High School in 1999. He was also recruited to play football atMississippi State University , but opted for baseball instead. [cite web |url=http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/team/player_career.jsp?player_id=434584 |title=Ben Johnson player file |publisher=New York Mets |accessdate=2007-06-04 ]He was a 4th round draft pick in 1999 by the
St. Louis Cardinals , and was traded the following year to theSan Diego Padres , along withHeathcliff Slocumb for Carlos Hernández andNathan Tebbs .He worked his way up to AAA in by|2005, where he was an
All-Star outfielder and the San Diego Padres Minor League Player of the Year, hitting .312 with 25 home runs. He was brought up to the majors that year and received limited playing time with the Padres, hitting .213 in 75 at-bats, and .250 with 4 home runs in 120 at-bats in 2006.He was not selected for San Diego's 2006 playoff roster, and after the season ended he was traded to the New York Mets with
relief pitcher Jon Adkins in exchange for relieversHeath Bell andRoyce Ring .Since joining the Mets, Johnson has been shuttled up and down between New York and AAA New Orleans. During June, he received some playing time when all three Mets regular outfielders (
Shawn Green ,Carlos Beltran , andMoisés Alou ) were injured.Johnson was not offered a new contract by the Mets and became a
free agent onDecember 12 , by|2007. However, the Mets brought Johnson back by signing him to a Minor League deal onFebruary 14 , by|2008, and invited him tospring training . Johnson was released by the Mets in early May 2008.External links
*
* [http://www2.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/players/Ben_Johnson/ SportsNet Play info]
* [http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/J/Ben-Johnson.shtml Baseball Cube player info]References
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