Howard Michael Johnson (born November 29, 1960), nicknamed HoJo, is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He played for the Detroit Tigers, New York Mets, Colorado Rockies, and Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1982 to 1995. He is third on the Mets' all-time lists for home runs, runs batted in, doubles, and stolen bases. He also played for the Rockland Boulders of the Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball. On July 13, 2007, he was promoted from his position as the Mets' first base coach to their hitting coach which he held until the end of the 2010 season. From 2014 to June 2015, he was the hitting coach of the Seattle Mariners after starting 2013 as the batting instructor for the Tacoma Rainiers, the Mariners' Triple-A affiliate. Early life Johnson was born in Clearwater, Florida, and attended Clearwater High School playing baseball as a pitcher. He attended St. Petersburg Junior College and, at age 17 was drafted in the 23rd round of the 1978 MLB draft by the New York Yankees. Johnson did not sign with the Yankees and the following January was drafted in the first round, 12th overall, by the Tigers. Baseball career 1980–1983: Transition from minor leagues to major leagues In the minor leagues, the Tigers soon converted Johnson from a pitcher to an infielder, and in 1981, he hit 22 home runs for the AA Birmingham Barons. He was promoted to Detroit to start 1982, but was hitting only .188 in early May when he was sent back to AAA. He was back in the majors in mid-August and posted fantastic numbers for the rest of the season, including a .405 average in September that raised his final average to .316. He started 1983 with the big club but was sent down again in late May with a .212 average. 1984: Detroit Tigers and a first championship In 1984, Johnson was back with the Tigers and was made the left side of a platoon with Tom Brookens. Johnson started fairly well but had a poor second half. He finished the regular season with a .248 batting average, 50 runs batted in (RBI) and 12 homers in 355 at bats. The Tigers led the division for the entire campaign but Johnson sat the bench for the entire 1984 ALCS while Brookens, Marty Castillo and Darrell Evans split time at third. Johnson wound up