The Tampa Tribune du lieu suivant : Tampa, Florida • 41

The Tampa Tribune-Times, Sunday, June 17, 1990 3-D WATTHT A irMW A dad's nurturing helPs to send Ho J. I JLLItjI inLiIL-LL ll j)L JrylLu ill on his way to a major-league career thought he was too good to leave off the team. So they let him bat once in a game and he hit a home run down in Tarpon Springs." 1 Howard was not known as a home-run hitter in those earfy years, although he has since acquired the knack for hitting the long ball. Bill Johnson said his most famous son was never bothered by striking out, either. 4 The work habits that I have now were formed by my dad.

The things you think about when you have decisions to make those are the lasting things parents teach their kids. 99 Howard Johnson "We had a couple of kids on th By LANCE VAN AUKEN Tribune Sports Writer CLEARWATER Like most Little League coaches. Bill Johnson expected more from his own children when it came to baseball. "I was pretty strict, I guess," Johnson said. "Everybody said I was harder on them than anybody else, anyway.

But on the other hand, any time they wanted to play ball, which was all the time, I was willing to pitch to them or hit fly balls or grounders." Johnson and his wife, Sue, have three children: daughter Tracy, 23, and sons George, 26, and Howard, 29. For Howard, playing baseball did not end after Little League and high school ball. The potential nurtured by his father paid huge dividends: The oldest of the Johnson trio is now the slugging third baseman-shortstop for the New York Mets. He signed a three-year, $6 million contract last year. "I think he realized that baseball is what I wanted to do," How- team wno would cry every time they struck out," Bill Johnson said.

"They'd let the umpire know if they thought he made a bad call. But Howard wouldn't put up with it. He was up there to swing away, and he still is. He'd swing at so many bad pitches that he didn't get a chance to get called out on strikes. He still does that, too." The idea that Howard might Tribune photograph by BRUCE HOSKING Three generations of Johnsons: Bill, left, and the Mets' Howard flank 1 -year-old Glen.

a tc ntt- We're EACH TWE ard said by telephone, just before leaving his Chicago hotel room on Monday for batting practice at Wri-gley Field. "I think he realized that George had talent, too. I think for our own good, he was strict in that he didn't let us have the freedom to pick and choose whether we wanted to play or not." The advice Howard received more than a decade ago is still valid today, although he no longer uses it in the same way. "The work habits that I have now were formed by my dad," Howard said. "When you get to a certain level of baseball, things your father teaches you are really no longer of any use.

But it's the attitude, the things you think about when you have decisions to make those are the lasting things parents teach their kids. "It goes beyond sports into life itself. Like, what do you want to do with your life? He made me realize what was really important to me, and that was playing ball." Bill Johnson said his job with the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services never really got in the way of baseball. "In Florida, with Daylight Savings Time, you can play until 8:30 during the summer and never need any lights," Bill Johnson said. "Whenever we needed to take time off (to attend a baseball-related event), we always saved our vacation or would leave time to do things with the family.

And they usually came in the summer and they usually wrapped around baseball." Although Howard admits he was always a better right-handed hitter than left-handed, he can't remember when he started switch-hitting, but he did throughout his Little League career. "I've been a switch-hitter so long that I can't ever remember not being a switch-hitter," he said. "There was never any point where I remember having to learn it." Dad remembers. "He was only 3 or 4 years old when he started switch-hitting with a little tiny bat and ball in the back yard," Bill Johnson said. "Then when he got to breaking our windows we went to Belleair Elementary.

When that got too small we moved down to the Little League 1 tWWjrz. it 1 5 Win I' 612090 sin Wff" snow. P165I80R13 39.99 P17580R1S 42.99 O1B680R" 46.9? 1 I wV uS re- I b215'65TR1 61-15 if 019575R1 B1 .99 522ST and ride I pi05r75Hi B2. I nocQ tne V.51SI75M1" 4. 1 us 1 1 Kns75R B7.99 MINUTE TIRE INSTALLATION i P215rrSR 66.97 If 60 1 until i on iu p35a5Ba have had what it took to make the i big leagues did not occur to his fa- ther until Howard was a junior at Clearwater High, when he hit .375.

i "He really had a great year, but before that I was thinking he might have a chance for University of i Florida baseball," Johnson said. "But then we started of thinking in terms of pro ball." Johnson pitched well in his se- nior year with an 0.91 ERA and 110 strikeouts in 91 innings. But he was I hitting only .275. The New York Yankees drafted him in the 26th round. "He didn't have a great senior year so we were pretty excited when he got drafted," Bill Johnson said.

the Yankees didn't offer him any money so we decided to go the junior college route." Johnson was snatched away, however, from St. Petersburg Ju- I nior College by the Detroit Tigers in the first round of the 1979 winter draft. As the Tigers first-round pick, there was no way Johnson could turn it down. He played with Detroit for three years before being traded to New York. He has been one of the Mets' steadiest players since then and has shown signs of breaking out of a slump this season, a slump aggra- vated by nagging injuries.

During almost every Mets game, you can find Bill and Sue Johnson glued to their wide-screen television in the Florida room at the Johnson household in Clearwater. It's sort of a family ritual. "Family ritual is right," Bill Johnson said. "Howard put in a sat- ellite dish so Sue and I get to see every game. And when we can't be here we've got the VCR going.

That way we can just fast forward past everything until he gets up. But if we know he went 0-for-4 we won't i even do that." Howard and his wife, Kim, and their son Glen, 2, and daughter Shannon, 5, live in New York. "My son has a batting tee and every day when I'm home I set it up for him and he hits it," Howard said. "But I've never done that with my daughter because I don't want her to be like that, like a tomboy. I want her to do the girl things like dancing." Bill and Sue Johnson took a trip to New York last weekend to watch Howard and visit his family.

"I think when my dad sees us i he's pretty impressed at how things turned out in my life," Howard said. "My father's probably the one man I that I can go to with any problem, and I have gone to him at times 1 when I run up against something I can't handle. Things can get pretty out of control, but parents have that calming effect. Sure, he means a great deal to me, and I really think I turned out a lot like him." i urestone RoadHandler Tredloc SuperGuard 50 B.F. Goodrich XLMHT wearout warranty wearout warranty AS LOW AS P15580R13 04" AS LOW AS P17570TR13 Z997 AS LOW AS P15580R13 P16570TR13 $68.79 wearout warranty AS LOW AS ORS3 155SR12 tU fsrrrrra uosr 165TR13 38.99 17570TR13 45.99 18570TR14 49.99 Firestone FR721 AS LOW AS Q9SS P15580R13 Qfc P19570TH13 73.61 Guardsman Radial wearout warranty AS LOW AS P15580R13 P16580R13 $24.99 P17580R13 26.99 P18575R14 29.99 P1955R14 31.99 P20575R14 33.99 P21575R15 34.99 P22575R1S 36.99 78.99 83.72 89.86 91.75 93.85 96.75 96.97 P20570TR13 P19570TR14 P2050TR14 P215ffOTR14 P21570TR15 P22570TR1S P23570TR15 $39.99 43.99 44.99 47.99 49.99 51.99 53.99 55.99 57.99 60.99 P165B0R13 P17580R13 P18580R13 P18575R14 P19575R14 P20S75R14 P20575R15 P2157SR15 P22575R15 P23SV75R15 $41-91 44.89 47.90 49.86 54.73 55.00 55.72 59.63 60.81 61.94 48.86 56.72 P16580R13 P17580R13 P185I80R13 P18575R14 P19575R14 P20575R14 P20575R1S P21575R15 P22575R15 P23575R15 P18570SR14BW P20570SR14BW $45.95 P165 80R13 P1B575R14 P21575R15 67.95 tpeed-rated 60 ami 70 m.9S nr "TlxraofY.

rr GO? vP--f r. (IMS RoadHandler SCB RoadHandler wearout warranty 50.000-mile wearout wirranty a5 34s3 aaaas 3B23 145SR13 $35.90 P165B0R13 $55.73 155SR13 42.97 P17580R13 60.81 17SSR14 54.60 P18580R13 65.77 18SSR14 59.50 P18S7SR14 69.91 16570SR13 56.88 P19S75R14 74.76 P20575R14 77.99 1857olR14 6594 P20575R15 83.79 foils gggjij 52 RoadHandler 50 RoadHandler LT wearout warranty wearout warranty aaaa 36s3 a 7(P P16580R13 $46.86 P17580R13 54.75 LT21575R15 $95.97 P18580R13 59.99 LT23575R15 102.95 P1B575R14 62.77 LT215 85R16BW 106.88 P19575R14 67.79 LT235W5R16BW 148.77 P20575R14 69.99 8.00R16.5BW 112.79 PMS75RS 7184 8.75R16.5BW 129.97 PsSls 7296 9.50R18.5BW 189.99 3ox9.soris 102.95 Ef2f 31X10.50R15 112.92 71i7 II 1 'Wn Radial TA S471 35,000 mile wearout warranty B.F. Goodrich TA AT TrailHandler STR AS LOW AS 4QSS AS LOW AS P175 70SR13 52s3 P17570HR13 AS LOW 24it ggsit P19575R14 $57.99 P21575R15 63.99 P22575R15 64.99 Front end Thrust line Hi $83 LT21575R15C $57.99 69.99 64.99 67.99 P18570HR13 P18570HR14 P19570HR14 P20570HR14 $64.95 67.95 69.95 71.95 73.95 P20570SR14 P21570SRM P21570SR15 P22570SH15 P23570SR15 TrailHandler LT 31II0.50R15 $99.30 LT21575R15 79.33 LT23575R15 867 Potenza HP41 Comn TA IHH1 LT23575R15C $93.00 LT23585R16E 110.00 30X9.S0R15C 92.00 31X10.50R15C 102.00 32X11.S0R15C 111.00 74" AS LOW AS P185 60HR14 TrailHandler AT 86ss AS LOW AS 18560HR14 Total AQSIt 4-wheel tO We setadjust angles to specs. 19560HR14 $91.95 $81.94 86.11 30X9.50R15 $91.88 31X10.50RIS 101.86 LT21S75R15 64.74 LT23575R15 90.86 P19560HR15 P20560HR15 P21560HR15 195 60HR15 205 60HR15 94.95 96.95 99.95 96.79 97.89 Ullh.r Si7M Cprnmrabhi PriMlM 215 60HR15 P215 65HR15 park (Sid Lickton Field). He was only 5 or 6 years old and we needed the fences." In 1970, 10-year-old Johnson helped his team win the Clearwater American Major Division title when he hit a three-run home run.

"It wasn't all because of him, though, because we had a pretty good team," said Bill, who was the coach on that First Federal team. "But we won it the next five years after that three with Howard and two with George." As an 11-year-old, Johnson was chosen to play on the Clearwater American all-star team, then made up mostly of 12-year olds. "At the time, a lot of people said he was too young," Bill Johnson said. "But enough of the coaches Limited waantjjronth tjjeMt; jeiiteionie, ijr jfaejijwailaMgJr; Bytjajororwllt SEARS INSTALL NEW y7 INSPECT BRAKE PADS rS3r CALIPERS l-rTA SV INSTALL NEW Vye -JT r-'oii seals 60-MONTH ROAD TEST VOUR VEHICLE TURN AND TRUE ROTORS REPACK WHEEL BEARINGS traOe-ln Up to 500 cold-cranking amps (cca). Up to 80 minutes reserve capacity.

Auto Battery Prices Include Installation! FRONT DISC BRAKES KfSlt tBecause extra partsservice may uwwaim require a substantial extra charge, we prepare estimates up-front. ami import titu. coupon REQUIRED rr 1 CALL FOR A TEE TIME 1 I surKlance nw 1700 nth a ski All Purpow Bowrldsf New 50hp EL Engln Slarao Top Swim GOLF COUNTRY CLUB '59G8 COMPLETE uiva riauonn 43348 60 FOUR SOME 50 Z'i" hokfc Cart, Orn Fm 17. PFR PERSON. 1 5 CLOSEOUT SAVE 25 FHfc.6 OOiF 5)0 Can Fe Required (18 holasj SAVE J4 DELCO 60 Hjf 1 wlnife-ln Thru 7490 525 cold-crank-ing amps.

80 minutes reserve capacity. Gabriel Red Ryder Gas Shocks localfd Hoy. 301 Bermn ZfphyrNb Oadt City I ONLY A1 74564 (904) 567-7600 This Limited Otter Sundince Management retains the rtght to cancel this otf at any time. DeicaFraadtui REMOTE 5630 CAR ALARM ea. Get the sure-handling, quality ride Gabriel's known for at Sears great low price! SteadyRider Shocks .7.99 aa.

CAR COVER $51 tTTIwa R.S2eM 13 1 SAVE ft S5I llThr. 17390 Reg. $12.99 ee. While Quantitiet Last! Rag. S79.M IIS mm F1 CUP AND SAVE INSTALLED HOURS: MOIM-FRI 8-6 FREE TOWIHO mm II mm MM atrrka FREE ROAD TEST OnTheSpot Financing Available SAT 8-1 1-DAY SER VICE aw POSTED PRICES IMPORT CAR EXPERTS txj Includes Filter TRANSMISSION TUNE Fluid UP SPECIAL INCLUDES: S)1 45 COUPON OIL CHANGE Up to 5 qts.

new oil. Install new oil filter. Lube chassis. DIEHARD More Power When You Need it Most! S0i7 lraa-M Up to 650 cca. Up to 125 minutes reserve capacity.

94400 Q3 Vehicles with screens cleaned or replaced as needed. STEADYRIDER GAS STRUTS Road Test Remove the Pan Visual inspection Clean sump and screen Adjust bands and linkage Replace pan gasket and fluid. Remember this a preventive maintenance service for most domestic and imported cars. If you already have transmission problems ask about our other reliable services. 'where anplicahir.

Many cert SAVE 4 Many cart Thru 120 90 LARGO TAMPA RoadHandler Gas Struts Cartridges AS LOW AS 129.99 pr. INSTALLED fCP Heart lira 43221 ST. PETERSBURG 3128 Ninth St. N. 822-1033 1 1262 E.

Hillsborough 238-0424 9352 N. Florida Ave. 933-2494 3520 Henderson Blvd. 870-3114 1801 Belcher Rd. 530-4116 CLEARWATER 1675 S.

Missouri 585-4150 r.t...M... WINTER HAVEN 13-297-7355 SEAJRS MM NM I $25 OFF I Posted Prices for any internal transmission I repair. rrwf Khtal, ORLANDO SOUTH 407-826-9600 PORT RICHEV 813 846-6255 REGENCY S04-727-325S SARASOTA 013-921-8211 ST. PETERSBURG 13-341-7255 TAMPA BAY 13-878-9255 TAMPA UNIVERSITY 013-978-3255 TITUSVILLE 407-268-9255 VALOOSTA 6A. 12-242-1111 WAYCROSS GA.

112-283-8050 MFRRIT ISLAND 407-455-6255 NORTH CLEARWATER 13-791-5255 OCALA FL. 04-35t-5554 ORANGE PARK 904-269-1255 ORLANDO FASHION SQUARE 407-228-6255 OAlNfSVIlLf FL 04-331-4500 LAKE CITY 04-755-4500 LAKELAND 013 859 B255 LEFSBUHG 04-787-272J MELBOURNE 407-7te-25S AlTAMONTE SPRINGS SRAOCNION 013-745 3313 OnUNSWICK OA. 112 CLEARWATER 013-445-7259 DAVTONA BFACH S44-254-S250 Must be presented al time of salt Limit: On coupon per customer Tltlf OtttK CJOOd (Of MftMIMrtlQ tTajflftfivtestoft ofrty Ask about ear Saittw Ciltna Oltcount utontUc Your money's worth and a whole lot more. Stick Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back Sears. Roebuck and Co.

1990 Since 1962.