Davey Johnson, who led the Mets to their most recent World Series title as the manager of the brash 1986 squad, died on Friday night. He was 82.
Long-time Mets public relations guru and team historian Jay Horwitz confirmed Johnson’s death to the Daily News.
Johnson, a four-time All-Star during a 13-year Major League career with the Baltimore Orioles and three other clubs, took over as skipper of the Mets in 1984. He won 90 games his first season, 98 the next. But it was the ’86 team where everything finally came together as the Amazins’ won 108 games and then battled their way to a World Series title with an epic 7-game win over the Boston Red Sox.
The Texas native, born David Allen Johnson, won 595 games with the Mets.
A two-time manager of the year, Johnson also managed the Reds, Orioles, Dodgers and Nationals during his 17-years as a big league skipper.
Johnson retired in 2013 after guiding the Nationals to a 86-76 mark. Overall, he managed 2,445 games and won 1,372 of them (.562 winning percentage). He ranks 33rd on baseball’s all-time wins list as a manager.
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