Ex-Husker slugger finally debuts in majors

 No comments  
 E-mail Story
 Print Story
  Share

 digg it!
 Facebook
 del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit

Text Size: 

Tools Sponsor

By The Associated Press

CLEVELAND — A case of tendinitis in the left elbow of designated Erubiel Durazo was just the break Dan Johnson needed.

When the Oakland Athletics placed Durazo on the 15-day disabled list  Friday, they made the call to Triple-A Sacramento (Calif.) and brought up Johnson, a slugging first baseman and former University of Nebraska star.

That, according to MLB.com, makes Johnson one of four former Huskers currently on major-league rosters, joining Darin Erstad of the Los Angeles Angels, Ken Harvey of the Kansas City Royals and Adam Stern of the Boston Red Sox. Stern is on the 60-day DL with a thumb injury, but is considered a major-league player because he was a Rule 5 draftee in the offseason.

Johnson, 25, made his major-league debut in Oakland's 4-1 loss Friday night in Cleveland. He went 0-for-3 with a walk. The A's recalled Johnson on Sept. 18 of last year, but he saw no action.

The trip to his first big-league at-bat was nearly a four-year journey, which included Johnson's tearing up the Pacific Coast League.

In 2004, he was named the PCL's regular-season MVP after hitting 29 homers and driving in 111 runs. He was chosen the league's postseason MVP after hitting .458 with two homers and six RBIs in seven games for Sacramento.

This year, he had eight homers and a league-leading 41 RBIs in 47 games for the River Cats through Thursday.

The Athletics have been looking for an offensive spark all season and hope Johnson will be that spark. 

Durazo (.237, four homers, 16 RBIs) and Scott Hatteberg  (.273, three homers, 18 RBIs) have been mostly ineffective this year.

Johnson was among the leaders on Nebraska's first College World Series team in 2001. He is the school-record holder for career slugging percentage (.791) and for home runs in a season (25 in 2001).