Kelly Johnson's six-year-old son told him to sign with the Braves
Veteran utility man Kelly Johnson re-signed with the Braves recently. His six-year-old son told him to return to Atlanta because he wanted him closer to home.
By
Mike Axisa
•
1 min read
The last few seasons have been pretty hectic for Kelly Johnson. The veteran utility man has played for seven teams since 2012, including all five AL East teams. He's played for five teams in the last two seasons alone.
Needless to say, all that moving around can be tough on the family. Baseball already keeps players away from their families for long stretches of time, and all those transactions meant Johnson was moving around even more than most.
Earlier this offseason Johnson signed a one-year deal with the Braves, bringing him closer to his suburban Atlanta home. This will be his third stint with the team. As Johnson tells it, his six-year-old son Cole told him to sign with the Braves so he would be closer to home. From MLB.com's Mark Bowman:
"It was completely unprovoked," Kelly Johnson said. "It wasn't as if I was like, 'Hey do you want me to play for the Braves?' It was more like he was just saying, 'Hey Dad, I want you to play for the Braves again.'"
Bowman says Cole wanted his father to retire last year, but once he got a taste of him playing close to home -- Johnson opened 2014 with the Braves before being traded to the Mets at the deadline -- he was on board with extending his career. That's really sweet.
Johnson, now 33, was originally drafted and developed by the Braves, and he spent the first five years of his career with the team. The teammates have changed but there are still plenty of familiar faces in the front office, like Bobby Cox and John Schuerholz.
Next season Johnson will serve as a valuable bench people for Atlanta. He hit .265/.314/.435 (108 OPS+) with 14 home runs in 111 games in 2015. Hopefully he'll spent the entire season close to Cole and the rest of his family.
