Nationals opt to keep Johnson on as manager for 2012
10/31/2011 4:33:23 PM - Reuters News
(Reuters) - Davey Johnson, who led the Washington Nationals to their best Major League Baseball finish since the franchise moved from Montreal in 2004, will return as manager next season, the team said on Monday.
The Nationals, who went 40-43 after the 68-year-old took over as manager in late June following the sudden resignation of Jim Riggleman and finished third in the National League East, picked up Johnson's option for the 2012 season.
"After a series of discussions, it became obvious that the Nationals would be best served if Davey Johnson would continue as manager," Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo said in a statement.
"Davey's remarkable connection to the clubhouse and D.C. community during the season's final three months was well received."
The former American League Manager of the Year has an 1,188-931 record in 15 seasons as a major league manager with the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers and the Nationals.
He won a World Series as manager of the Mets in 1986.
(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina; Editing by Frank Pingue)