Former Mets PR director Jay Horwitz on Davey Johnson: 'I'm glad I got to say my goodbyes'

Jay Horwitz was a longtime Mets executive and a close personal friend of Davey Johnson.

I’m glad I got to say my goodbyes in person last February. Last night around midnight I got a call that I had been dreading. When I saw Susan Johnson’s name appear, I knew that news would not be good.

Susan, Davey Johnson’s wife, told me that my dear friend and manager of our 1986 World Championship team had passed away at the age of 82. After I hung up, I just thought how lucky I was to spend some quality time with him while I was in Florida for a few days.

We sat on his porch in Sarasota and talked about Straw, Doc, Mex, Kid, Ronnie D, Mookie, and how we took the baseball world by storm in 1986. A smile came to his face when the subject of our Game Six rally in the World Series came up.

Davey was responsible for the most successful run in our history. From 1984–1990, we won over 100 games twice and over 90 contests on two other occasions. His overall record was 595 (most wins by a Mets manager) and 417 losses, a winning percentage of .588.

But wins and losses don’t really tell the story of what made Davey great. He was brash, had swagger and was the perfect guy to lead our team in the 1980s which had so many different personalities. He was never afraid to speak his mind.

When he got the job in October, 1983, Davey asked the media “Why did it take Frank Cashen so long to hire me?” In spring training 1986, Davey addressed the team in this matter. “Not only we will win this year, but we will dominate.” Well, I guess 116 wins proved his point.

After we got off to a 2–3 start in 1986, he told our welcome dinner, “Don’t worry we won’t lose 50 games the rest of the season. Well, we actually lost 51 to wind up 108–54.

Davey was a pilot, a graduate of Texas A&M, and one who practiced analytics long before it became in vogue today. After we dropped the first two games of the 1986 World Series, he made a smart decision to keep the guys away from a mandatory workout session in order to give the players a chance to catch their breath.

Davey was innovate, bold and someone who was never afraid to take a chance. I’m glad I got a chance to give him one last embrace.