The Durham Bulls visited Indianapolis for a three-game International League series with the Indians at Victory Field, June 22-24.  The road trip was a homecoming for Durham’s Micah Johnson. 

A 27-year-old Indianapolis native, Johnson is a Park Tudor School graduate who was drafted out of Indiana University in 2012.  While the rest of his teammates were billeted in a downtown hotel, Micah stayed with his parents, Harold and Tanya Johnson.  “They’re up near Cathedral High School, by 56^th Street,” he said. 

Johnson was looking forward to seeing several other familiar faces.  His Park Tudor baseball coach, Courtney Whitehead, planned to attend the middle game of the series.  

And yet, said Johnson, his pass list for the contests was minimal.  “I’ve still got people coming, but not as many as last time.”  he explained.  “It’s not that big, ‘cause I’m not playing this series.”  

Johnson had been on the 7-day disabled list retroactive to June 17.  “I hurt my hamstring right before I went on the road,” he said.    

Solidly built at 6-foot and 210 pounds, Johnson got off to a slow start this season.  “It was weird,” he said.  “I finally got a chance to turn it around lately, and then I hurt a hamstring.”  

Johnson had been on an 8-for-15 rampage over a five-game stretch from June 5-15.  He’d belted his first home run of the year in a 2-1, 10-inning win over the Gwinnett Stripers at Durham’s Athletic Park.  “That was the game I got hurt,” he said.  “It was on a walk-off bunt single.  With a runner on second base, I bunted to third.  I’m running down the first-base line, the guy threw the ball away, and my hamstring just gave out.” 

The Bulls are the top minor league affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, Johnson’s current organization.  He’s spent time in the majors with the Chicago White Sox (2015), Los Angeles Dodgers (2016) and the Atlanta Braves (2017).  

Last offseason Johnson went on a roller coaster ride, changing organizations four times in less than five weeks.  

After Atlanta placed him on waivers, the Cincinnati Reds claimed Johnson on October 26.  On October 30, the San Francisco Giants obtained him in a waiver deal.  The Rays acquired him on November 27.  Asked about the whirlwind changes, Micah replied:  “I don’t know.  That was their thing.  I didn’t think twice about it.  It had nothing to do with me.  I was golfing every day.”  

Listed as an outfielder on Durham’s roster, the left-handed hitter can play both all three picket posts as well as second and third base.  Johnson said he’s most comfortable at third.  “I played there at IU,” he added.  “Other than that, everything’s good.  As long as I’m in the lineup, I’ve never cared.” 

Although he’s not included on Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster, Johnson hopes to join the Rays before the year is out.  In the meantime, he keeps an eye on a long-term goal:  some day he’d like to work in baseball as a general manager.  “It’s a possibility,” he said.  “I’d like to do something to enhance the game.” 

Johnson figures the Spanish-language immersion studies he took in Lawrence Township schools and at Park Tudor would give him a leg up in dealing with players from the Caribbean and Latin America.  Currently, he’s able to converse in Spanish with Bulls teammates from Venezuela and Puerto Rico.  “I get to refine it,” he said. 

With the recent influx of players from Japan in Major League Baseball, Johnson began to study Japanese.  “That got too hard,” he said.  “You’ve got to immerse yourself in the culture a little bit.”    

Johnson embarked on a new endeavor after saying sayonara to his Japanese studies.  “I picked up painting about two years ago,” said Micah.  “Oil painting.  I’ve had some shows at Dodger Stadium, at a museum in Atlanta, in Miami and again in Atlanta.”

During road trips, Johnson enjoys going to see modern art.  Among the painters he admires is Kehinde Wiley, an American whose work frequently blends traditional and contemporary techniques.  Wiley painted the official presidential likeness of Barack Obama, which is on display at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. 

“I’m not into Van Gogh, I’m not into Jackson Pollock,” said Johnson.  “My favorite is Salvador Dali.  I like Dali best, his technique and stuff.”

Johnson came off the DL on July 21.  Serving as Durham’s designated hitter on July 28, he hit his second homer of the year and batted in four runs in a 6-4 win over the visiting Syracuse Chiefs.  Playing center field at Gwinnett two days later, he tormented the Stripers once again with a pair of doubles and two RBI in a 7-6 loss to the Stripers.

If Tampa Bay summons Micah, he’s in for a treat.  The Rays’ home park, Tropicana Field, is in St. Petersburg.  Not far away is the Salvador Dali Museum, which contains the world’s largest collection of the eccentric artist’s works.