Voting Station

Jay Johnstone

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Baseball Player

The Resume

    (November 20, 1945-September 26, 2020)
    Born in Manchester, Connecticut
    Birth name was John William Johnstone, Jr.
    Outfielder for the California Angels (1965-70), Philadelphia Phillies (1974-78), New York Yankees (1978-79), San Diego Padres (1979), Los Angeles Dodgers (1980-82,1985), and Chicago Cubs (1982-84)
    Color commentator for the New York Yankees (1989-90) and Philadelphia Phillies (1992-93)
    Hosted ESPN’s ‘The Lighter Side of Sports’ (1987-88)
    Appeared in the film ‘The Naked Gun’ (1988)
    Wrote the books ‘Temporary Insanity’ (1985), ‘Over the Edge’ (1988), and ‘Some of My Best Friends Are Crazy’ (1990)

Why he might be annoying:

    He played in more than 100 games in only three of his twenty seasons in the majors.
    He was known less for his hitting or fielding than his practical jokes, which ranged from setting players’ shoes on fire to trapping manager Tommy Lasorda in his office.
    When he played for the minor league Toledo Mud Hens, he and manager Jim Bunning almost came to blows over his pranks.
    After their 1981 World Series victory, he and fellow Dodgers Steve Yeager, Rick Monday, and Jerry Reuss appeared on Sold Gold and sang ‘We Are the Champions.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    He lettered in four sports in high school.
    He batted left-handed.
    He was married to Mary Jane Saunders for 52 years.
    He set up a company to provide sports and entertainment collectables for charity auctions.
    He said, ‘I never minded all the talk about being a flake.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 11 Votes: 45.45% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 19 Votes: 78.95% Annoying