Davey Johnson is fearless. You ask him a question, you’re going to get an answer.
Before his team even took the field Friday for Johnson’s first home game as manager of the Washington Nationals, the skipper revealed his wish list for his boss, general manager Mike Rizzo.
“Number one, there are some issues out of the bullpen,” Johnson said. “I want to establish a setup guy, a long guy. I am a little uncomfortable that we don’t have a sixth starter. If something happens to my starter, I don’t like bringing a guy out of the bullpen that is only capable of giving me a couple of innings. I like to have a long guy. I like to have a little more left-handed presence in the bullpen.
“I am not comfortable, as Frank Howard would say, not having a guy sitting next to me with a big, hairy chest,” Johnson said. “I would like to have a little more offense sitting on the bench. There are a lot of issues in my mind that I would like to improve on.”
Other than that, he likes his team.
“I have all the confidence in the world with who I have in that locker room.” Johnson said.
He had confidence enough in Matt Stairs, a veteran popular in the clubhouse who was batting .132 going into Friday night’s game, to allow him to pinch hit in the ninth inning of a 1-1 game against the Pittsburgh Pirates with Alex Cora at third. And Stairs delivered with the game-winning drive to right field for a 2-1 win and Johnson’s first victory as Nationals manager.
“It was a special night,” Johnson said after the game.
It already was a special night, given Johnson’s performance in the pregame news conference, in which he detailed the weaknesses of his team. If you asked a similar question to every baseball manager in today’s game, you likely would get a similar answer only at gunpoint. But that’s not the way Johnson operates, and it will be interesting to see how his relationship continues with Rizzo, who is far more guarded in his comments.
Johnson believes in Johnson, and his track record — 1148-888 record over 14 seasons before taking the Nationals job — is his bona fides.
This is an important homestand for the Nationals — 11 games in all, including four against the Chicago Cubs starting Monday — a homestand in which Johnson could start to fulfill his true task: making baseball relevant in the District. He has played and managed in cities like Baltimore, Cincinnati and Los Angeles, where ballparks were packed and fans were connected to the game.
“It most definitely can happen in Washington,” Johnson said. “We get in first place, I think we will pack them, and that’s my goal, to get this ballclub to a championship caliber, to win a lot of ballgames.”
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
