Remember first baseman Dan Johnson? Across parts of 10 big-league seasons, he hit 57 home runs and put up an OPS+ of 99. He played in 12 games for the Cardinals last season, and it seemed that the 36-year-old's career was over.
Insofar as the Rays are concerned, Johnson has franchise-legend status thanks to this clutch bomb in the final game of the 2011 regular season ...
Regarding Johnson and the Rays, now there's this ...
#Rays have Dan Johnson - yes, that Dan Johnson - in minor league camp, as a knuckleball pitcher
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) March 5, 2016
Knuckleballer! As Topkin writes in the pages of the Tampa Bay Times, Johnson has been throwing the knuckleball since childhood and has even tried out as a pro. This, though, is his first genuine effort to master the elusive pitch. Obviously, the knuckleball is a pitch that doesn't call upon the usual complement of pitching skills, so it's the best option for a longshot like Johnson. No, this probably won't work out, but it makes for a compelling spring sub-sub-plot.
