But What Do I Know? . . . Tyler O’Neill, Jordan Romano, Joey Votto, John Cerutti

Fanning & Romano & Cerutti & Johnson

Thanks a lot for making me cry upon waking up and reading your weekly brilliance! Seriously, it was a good cry, to see the boy-ish, unmitigated joy in the face of Gentleman Jim Fanning! He was such a beautiful man in every way, and remains much missed by so many loved ones!

Secondly, was that Jeff Reardon walking into the dressing room, or Jordan Romano?:)

Thirdly, you captured John Cerutti’s persona perfectly when you used the words “father,” “husband,” and “Good Guy.” He viewed himself as a guy who took pride in having those roles, and just happened to also be a baseball player. He was also an excellent brother, as I attended the funeral and was blown away by his sister’s eulogy! Her words literally inspired me to become a better brother to my siblings, because, as time goes by, we all tend to drift into our own families, and let go of the bond that was ever-present, and a cornerstone of life, with our sibs growing up. Also, there was not one piece of Blue Jay or baseball memorabilia at the funeral home, only photos and momentos related to his most treasured roles in his life. Truly inspiring family, and a man who not only talked the talk, but walked the walk!

Mike Johnson’s range and length of contributions to baseball is a very memorable story to me, and I’m going to cite for you how Pat Gillick decided to draft and sign him, one of countless Gillickisms that earned him enshrinement in Cooperstown as well as the Canadian Ball Hall. I saw Mike play for the first time 1991, and wrote him up as a “Follow” for the MLB Scouting Bureau. He was unique, as I sent in two reports on him, one as a RHP, and a separate one as a RF. He had a lean, live, loose athletic body with all kinds of growth potential, as well as a gifted arm that was quite projectable.

In late May of 1993, Mike’s draft year (he was a high school senior), I conducted an invitational tryout camp at Edmonton’s Ducey Park. It was just a week or two before the MLB Draft. Canadians had only been included in the draft for a couple of years at that point, and the clubs were having a hard time figuring out how to scout Canada. These camps played a significant role in providing ALL 30 clubs at least one peak at the highly-touted prospects. We used to conduct open tryout camps in the summer, but the Spring camps were invitational so that only the cream of the crop were present, keeping the camp as short as possible, so that the attending scouts could get back in the air or on the road. At that time of year, scouts are working 20-hour days.

My bosses, Frank Marcos, and the late Don Pries, called me as the big day approached, reminding me … well, ordering me, not to pull the “Tom Valcke” style camp,” meaning, don’t dare add on other future or fringe prospects to the list. I knew some power players were going to show up that day. I remember the Blue Jays’ (now Cinci) Canadian Supervisor, Bill Byckowski, saying, as we watched the quality and quantity of MLB power players walking in the gate, “Wow, these guys aren’t pistols, they’re cannons!”

I always wanted to give as many Canucks as I could squeeze in the opportunity to be seen. But my highest-OFP (Overall Future Potential) number in Canada to that point, was also going to be on the field with Mike. His name was Joe Young, referred to by many as “Mighty Joe Young”, a RHP from Fort McMurray. The nickname wasn’t exaggerated. This strong, tough hockey-enforcer player was going to grow into a Jack Morris-like body, and I felt he had a potential ceiling of becoming a possible #1 or #2 in anybody’s starting pitching rotation. Our numeric grading scale back then was 20-to-80, and while Mike was graded very respectfully in the mid-40 range, I believe I put a 60 on Joe. That number reflects a player who could be an All-Star down the road. Joe was the only 16-year-old on the Canadian Junior (18U) national team that won the Canada’s first, and still, only, gold medal, in Brandon, at the 1991 World Junior Championship. The genesis of my bosses’ firm instructions was that, due to the number of Scouting Directors and GMs who were expected to show up, and their main purpose (for many of them, their lone purpose) was to evaluate Joe Young. Well, I did limit the number of prospects that day to Joe, Mike, a catcher, and an infielder.
We traditionally began invitational tryouts by introducing the players at home plate, facing the scouts behind the dugout, including their formal birth certificate name, letter-by-letter, which is required for the club to draft a player. They would have had the MLBSB’s report(s) ahead of time, which is what would have drawn them to the camp, including height, weight, bats/throws, uniform number, and all of the demographics.
The players then go to the dugout, grab their equipment, and I take them through the ringers. As I was answering some further questions from the visiting scouts, I got called to the dugout, and all of us could hear a ruckus going on? I shoot down to the 3B dugout to see Joe Young holding up the infielder against the wall. They kid’s feet were literally dangling in the air. He was about to beat him up! As it turned out, the victim heard Joe’s name that I introduced him by, “Reginald Quentin Young,” and chose to poke fun at him. Bad decision. Reginald was Joe’s dad’s name, and Joe was quick to “drop the gloves.”
The scouts were not impressed that I was going to showcase the infielder, the catcher, Mike Johnson in the outfield, and Mike Johnson pitching, before Joe got his turn. But if I led off with Joe, I knew the house would empty before the other four got a look. And yes, I did get called to the carpet by my bosses on that decision!
Cell phones in those days existed, but they looked and felt like bricks with antennae. The vast majority were on the phone planning their next destination, etc., while we worked out the “secondary” players. They started to assemble once Mike toed the rubber, partially because he had the look of a prospective pitcher, and mostly because Joe Young was up next.
Mike showed well, a 6’0” Canadian that registered in the low-80’s on the radar gun, and there was no doubt in my mind that he would be selected in June, in my mind, probably late on Day 2 or early on Day 3. Mike was deserving, but there were a lot of “Mike Johnsons” south of the border, not requiring a visa to play.

Joe also delivered the goods, and even though they had all read the reports, and seen the video. We had full-time camera men who flew around North America like a pinball getting footage of the OFP 50+ prospects and sending the VHS – yes, VHS – tape via Fedex to our office in California, where they would literally duplicate 60 copies, and Fedex them out in twos one for the GM, one for the Scouting Director, simultaneously to all 30 clubs, they still couldn’t afford to use an early pick on a guy they’d never seen in person.
Gillick nabbed Joe Young in the third round, 98th overall, to nobody’s surprise. The Jays first pick was Chris Carpenter).
However, the Blue Jays selection, in the 17th round, 490th overall, wound up being one of only six of the Blue Jays’ 61 total selections to make it to the Major Leagues. That player was Mike Johnson!

You see, while all of the other big shots in Edmonton that afternoon were talking to themselves, or talking into their brick cell phones, Gillick chose to watch the players who worked out leading up to Joe Young’s appearance. He saw Mike Johnson throw from the outfield, where showed a stronger arm from right field than he did from the mound. But because Gillick saw the arm strength, he knew it was there, and knew that it could be brought into his pitching arsenal. Pat Gillick wouldn’t miss assessing any player’s skill set even if there were a fire. His competitiveness as a player carried through to the way he scouted, and the way he was a GM, leading the Jays to a pair or World Series Championships.

Gillick got Mike Johnson right. And Johnson paid him back in spades.