Jay Johnstone

John William Johnstone Jr. (November 20, 1945 – September 26, 2020) was an American professional baseball player and television sports announcer. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 1966 to 1985 for the California Angels, Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chicago Cubs.

Johnstone was a member of two World Series teams with the Yankees in 1978 and the Dodgers in 1981. He was known as a versatile outfielder with a good sense of humor, known for keeping clubhouses loose with pranks and gimmicks. He later served as a radio color commentator for the Yankees (1989–1990) and Phillies (1992–1993), and wrote books about his career.

Early life Johnstone was born on November 20, 1945, in Manchester, Connecticut, to John William Sr., an accountant, and Audrey (Whebell) Johnstone, who was born in Australia. The family moved to Southern California when Johnstone was a child. He attended Edgewood High School, where he excelled at baseball, basketball and football.

Baseball career Johnstone was signed as an amateur free agent by the Los Angeles Angels, in 1963.

As a Phillie, Johnstone went 7-for-9 in the 1976 National League Championship Series (NLCS), against the Cincinnati Reds; however, the Reds swept the series. He and Bobby Brown were sent from the Phillies to the Yankees for Rawly Eastwick on the day before the trade deadline on June 14, 1978.

As a Dodger, Johnstone hit a pinch-hit, two-run home run in Game Four of the 1981 World Series, against the New York Yankees (the home run rallying the Dodgers from a 6–3 deficit to win 8–7). The victory also enabled the Dodgers to tie the Series at two games each; Los Angeles won the next two games, to win it all.

Clubhouse prankster 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.

In a 1981 game against Pittsburgh, Johnstone and teammate Jerry Reuss dressed up as groundskeepers to drag the Dodger Stadium infield in the fifth inning of a game. Afterwards, Lasorda yelled at them and sent Johnstone to pinch-hit the next inning as a punishment; however, Johnstone ended up hitting a home run.

Journalism career Johnstone hosted blooper TV show The Lighter Side of Sports in the late 1980s. He worked as radio color commentator for the Yankees games on WABC (1989–1990, with John Sterling) and the Phillies games on WPHT (1992–1993).

He also co-wrote three books with sports columnist Rick Talley—Temporary Insanity, Over the Edge, and Some of My Best Friends Are Crazy—in which he described many of the pranks, along with other aspects of his career. Although he was a left-handed hitter throughout his career, Johnstone bats right-handed in the movie.

After the Dodgers' 1981 World Series victory, Johnstone and Dodger teammates Rick Monday (with whom he shared a birthday, service in the Marines, and stints with the A's, Cubs, and Dodgers), Jerry Reuss, and Steve Yeager appeared on Solid Gold and sang their own rendition of Queen's hit, We Are the Champions.

Death Johnstone died from complications of COVID-19 at a nursing home in Granada Hills, California, on September 26, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic; he was 74 years old. According to his daughter, Mary Jayne Sarah Johnstone, he had suffered from dementia in recent years.

Career statistics

In the postseason, covering 14 games (one NLDS, four NLCS, two World Series) Johnstone batted .476 (10-for-21), with two runs scored, one double, one triple, one home run, and five runs batted in (RBI).

As a pinch hitter, although batting only .228 (92-404) in his MLB career, Johnstone hit 11 home runs along with 66 RBI in that role.

Film appearances Body Slam (1986) - Booth Announcer The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) - Seattle First Up