It didn’t take long for the Nationals to remember how important Nick Johnson was.
The first basemen drove in the first run in Nationals Park history on Sunday when legging out a double, then scored on a single. A broken leg that forced him to miss last season didn’t slow the Nats slugger 18 months after a scary on-field collision.
“This whole year there were a lot of ups and downs with the surgeries I had,” Johnson said. “A lot of hard work in the offseason and last season, but it all paid off. I feel pretty good.”
Good enough to put last year’s National League Comeback Player of the Year Dmitri Young back on the bench. Good enough to snare a hot grounder to his right and still race to first for the out. One reason why Ryan Zimmerman saw a good pitch to hit on the game-winning homer in the opener was Johnson waiting on deck.
Zimmerman is rightfully the face of the franchise, but Johnson’s a clubhouse leader. When he missed last year, the Nats missed something other than the stats. That’s why they kept hoping Johnson would return last season, delaying the Opening Day expectation to midsummer to late summer rather than simply look to 2008.
Johnson didn’t hide in rehab. He stayed with the team. Went to meetings. Attended games even on the road. Plenty of athletes wouldn’t have sacrificed to stay close. They would have merely worried about themselves. Johnson didn’t lose contact.
“It would have been tougher sitting out,” he said.
Manager Manny Acta admitted not knowing what to expect when spring training came. Would Johnson return like the 2006 starter when batting .290 with 23 homers or still need more time?
“There were times when we were wondering how long he was going to take,” Acta said. “When he went home, the way he was here before he left didn’t give me any indication he would show up at spring training the way he did. It was tough for us to see Nick being as healthy as he is [now], when we last saw him in September.”
Johnson appears more slender than his listed 238 pounds. He looks like someone who has been through a long recovery. Yet, Johnson was batting cleanup and hit the ball hard his first two trips. He slid twice in the first inning Sunday night, surely making some throats tighten. But, Johnson has no fear of further injury.
“I just kept pushing,” he said. “I had a lot of surgeries involved, but once I got all the hardware out of the leg it really freed it up. Staying healthy is the main thing. It’s been a long time since I was able to run out there and play every day.”
Johnson didn’t know whether he could regain his job over Young, who batted .320 last year. Neither did the Nats, but Johnson looked strong all spring.
“You never know. Dmitri had a great year last year and he’s a very good ballplayer,” Johnson said. “I was just trying to get my swing together in spring training and things worked out.”
