Ben Johnson #4

Benjamin Joseph (Ben) Johnson was named the Memphis area High School Player of the Year in baseball at Germantown (Tenn.) High School in 1999...Declined a football scholarship offer from Mississippi State after being drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the fourth round of the 1999 Free Agent Player Draft.

2007

Underwent left ankle fracture dislocation surgery on August 6th...Dr. Jonathan Deland performed the procedure at the Hospital for Special Surgery...Made five starts for New York in leftfield and played in four games (two starts) in right field...Went 2-5 on June 7th vs. Philadelphia...Recalled from New Orleans (AAA) of the Pacific Coast League on May 29th...Optioned back to the Zephyrs on June 11th...Recalled from New Orleans and was placed on the 60-Day Disabled List on September 3rd...Fractured his left ankle on August 2nd with New Orleans vs. Sacramento...Batted .298 (17-57) with two home runs and four RBI in June for New Orleans and hit .295 (18-61) in July.

2006

Was on the Padres' Opening Day roster...Optioned to Portland (AAA) of the Pacific Coast League on May 13...Recalled on June 20 and started in left field that night at Texas...Had a career-best seven-game hitting streak from June 20-June 29...Batted .333 (10-30) with two doubles, two home runs and three RBIs during that span...Was placed on the 15-Day Disabled List with a left shoulder strain on July 5...Sustained the injury in an outfield collision on July 1 vs. San Francisco (Game One)...Was reinstated from the Disabled List on Aug. 1...Collected his first career multiple-home run game with two home runs, Aug. 18 vs. San Francisco...Also tied a career-high with three hits in that game...Optioned back to Triple-A on Aug. 26...Came up to the Majors for a third time on Sept. 5 and stayed with San Diego for the remainder of the season...Started 28 games with the Padres, 18 games in left field and 10 games in center field...In those contests, he hit .267 (28-105) with four home runs and 12 RBIs...Collected a career-high four RBIs, April 19 at Colorado...On the year, he had seven games with two hits and two games with three hits.

2005

Split the season between Triple-A Portland and San Diego...batted .213 (16-for-75) with three home runs, eight doubles and 13 RBI in 31 games...12 of his 16 hits went for extra bases (eight doubles, one triple, and three home runs)...tallied a season-high three hits September 28 vs. San Francisco...hit his first career home run and drove in a season-high three runs August 31 vs. Arizona...knocked his first career triple September 28 vs. San Francisco...drove in the first run of his career with a sacrifice fly July 17 vs. Arizona... started his first game (left field) and went 1-for-4 with a double and RBI July 2 vs. San Francisco...recalled from Triple-A Portland, June 26...Opened the season at Triple-A Portland where he hit .312 (129-for-414) with 25 home runs and 83 RBI over 107 games....was named the Padres' Minor League Player of the Year...was recalled by the Padres on June 26 and saw action in seven games before returning to Portland...had three hitting streaks of eight or more games, including a season-high 16-game streak from June 18-July 27...during the span, he hit .408 (29-for-71) with four home runs and 20 RBI...in his fi nal three months with Portland, hit .348 (81-for-233) with 17 home runs...his best month came in June when he posted a .366 average with nine long balls, seven doubles and 24 RBI...proved to be a tough out at home as he hit .337 (70-for-208) at PGE Park, including 18 home runs...Johnson made 67 appearances in right fi eld along with 43 in center...had his contract purchased from Portland on August 29 and remained with the big league club...Made his Major League debut as a defensive replacement vs. Seattle on June 26...made his first Major League start on July 2 vs. San Francisco and collected his first hit in the third inning, a two-RBI double off Jeff Fassero...was recalled for the second time on August 28 and made five straight starts from August 29-September 2...Became just the second Padres' rookie, joining Khalil Greene in 2004, to homer in three consecutive games August 31 vs. Arizona and September 1-2 at Milwaukee.

2004

Spent the entire season at Double-A Mobile, batting .251 (119-for-475) with 28 doubles, six triples, 23 home runs and 85 RBI in 136 games... led the Southern League in extra-base hits (57) while ranking second in RBI (85) and tied for fourth in runs scored (80)... finished tied for third in the Padres's chain in homers and RBI... played all three outfield positions with the BayBears... twice posted a season-best seven-game hitting streak, May 10-16 (8-for-24) and July 5-11 (12-for-25)... his best month came in July when he batted .305 (29-for-95) with seven homers and 20 RBI in 27 games... hit safely in nine of his final 10 games August 29-September 6, going 12-for-39 (.308) with three homers and 10 RBI.

2003

Split the season between Double-A Mobile and Single-A Lake Elsinore, batting .232 (72-for-311) with 14 doubles, nine home runs and 36 RBI in 96 games...was on Mobile's disabled list May 19-June 25 with a left hand hairline fracture...was transferred to the Storm July 4...hit .329 (27-for-82) with 18 RBI in his first 30 games with Lake Elsinore July 4-August 1...connected for two home runs and a career-high five RBI in a 14-1 win August 30 at High Desert.

2002

Led Double-A Mobile with 171 total bases while ranking second with 110 hits, 10 home runs, 55 RBI and 65 walks...belted out a season-high four hits May 2 at Chattanooga... homered in back-to-back-to-back games June 25-28...highlighted the tear by driving in a season-best four runs in a 12-4 win June 26 vs. Greenville...batted .583 (14-for-27) with six doubles, one home run and nine RBI over a six-game hitting streak July 22-29, raising his average from .227 to .251.

1999

Spent his first professional season with the Johnson City Cardinals of the Rookie-level Appalachian League...batted .330 with 10 home runs and 51 RBI in 57 games... stole 14 bases in 20 attempts.

2001

Named San Diego's No. 11 prospect following the season by Baseball America...spent his fi rst full season in the Padres' organization at Lake Elsinore, batting .276 with 12 home runs and 63 RBI in 136 games...ranked second on the Storm in hits (139), doubles (35), triples (six), slugging percentage (.441), steals (22), runs scored (79), games and hit by pitch (11)...homered twice to lead the victory April 9 vs. San Bernardino... hit .324 (36-for-111) with 14 RBI during the month of May...knocked in 12 runs over a 15-game span May 25-June 9 to help earn him a spot on the Cal League mid-season All-Star team...hit safely in 18 of his last 20 games, batting .392 (29-for-74) with 11 RBI and 15 runs scored August 12-September 2...closed the season on a 10-game hitting streak August 23-September 2...went 5-for-12 (.417) with one double and three RBI in three postseason games.

2000

Spent most of the season with St. Louis' Single-A Peoria club...was batting .242 with 13 home runs and 46 RBI in 98 games at time of his acquisition by the Padres...was assigned to Fort Wayne, where he hit .193 in 29 games.