Jack Johnson was a solid batsman who struggled to really find a consistent role throughout what in the end was a decent career.
He also had great nicknames, known variously as Topeka Jack, Big (Johnson was over 6′ and over 200 lbs. by the end of his career), and Kansas.
His projections are challenging, as he was a full time player for clubs that played very few games. Our usual methodology in these situations is to project quite a bit of playing time, which tends to distort the relationship between their historical performance and these projections. That last sentence boils down to an explanation of why his career slash line in these projections is higher than his historical numbers.
We have Johnson debuting in 1905, ignoring his brief historical appearance in 1903 as a pitcher, and we’ve extended his career until 1914, as it’s hard to envision his career ending after his very impressive 1912 campaign.
He’s a useful player for most of his career, the struggles of 1906 and 1911 notwithstanding, with potentially impactful contributions in 1908, 1910, and 1912. In those years, he showed an excellent eye for the strike zone and, towards the end of his career, a smidgen of power. He was not a threat on the basepaths.
Defensively, Johnson was decent at 2B and below average at SS. He was moved later in his career to RF and 1B and wasn’t very impressive at either, all of which supports his lacking good range.
Topkea Jack could change quite a bit in future projections, with the most likely outcome being reduced playing time and perhaps an overall reduction in offensive efficiency. There’s a lot of challenge in the 1900s, and it would not take much for me to change my view of him from a solid contributor to a fringe player.
| Name | Jack Johnson (Big; Kansas) |
| ID / Status | johnso007jac / Draft |
| Pos | 2B |
| DOB / i9s Career | 04/25/1883 / 1903 - 1914 |
| Birthplace | Topeka, KS (USA) |
| Height / Weight | 6'1" / 196 |
| B / T | R / R |
Batting Projections
| Year | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO | SB | CS | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 1905 | 284 | 68 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 39 | 6 | 5 | 0.239 | 0.321 | 0.289 | 0.609 |
| 1906 | 140 | 25 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 0.179 | 0.233 | 0.243 | 0.476 |
| 1907 | 499 | 122 | 27 | 6 | 0 | 35 | 53 | 8 | 6 | 0.244 | 0.294 | 0.323 | 0.617 |
| 1908 | 575 | 151 | 31 | 7 | 1 | 36 | 64 | 10 | 8 | 0.264 | 0.306 | 0.346 | 0.652 |
| 1909 | 546 | 124 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 66 | 57 | 12 | 10 | 0.227 | 0.310 | 0.299 | 0.609 |
| 1910 | 512 | 138 | 22 | 4 | 2 | 88 | 59 | 15 | 12 | 0.270 | 0.999 | 0.340 | 0.717 |
| 1911 | 398 | 92 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 57 | 42 | 22 | 6 | 0.231 | 0.327 | 0.322 | 0.649 |
| 1912 | 445 | 137 | 36 | 5 | 5 | 70 | 53 | 22 | 10 | 0.308 | 0.402 | 0.445 | 0.847 |
| 1913 | 252 | 63 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 28 | 33 | 10 | 4 | 0.250 | 0.325 | 0.369 | 0.694 |
| 1914 | 73 | 18 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 26 | 2 | 1 | 0.247 | 0.353 | 0.384 | 0.737 |