Johnson Named PCL MVP

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.- Sacramento River Cats first baseman Dan Johnson has been named 2004 Pacific Coast League Most Valuable Player by vote of the League's managers and media representatives. Johnson, who is the second consecutive River Cat to win the award and the third in five years, has helped his team to the top spot in the Southern Division by leading it in runs batted in.

The former Nebraska Cornhusker ranks among the Pacific Coast League's top 10 in four different offensive categories including RBIs, where Johnson is second in the League with 108. The native of Coon Rapids, Minn. is also fourth in the PCL with 158 hits, and seventh in runs scored with 93 in addition to a .303 batting average. This season, Johnson got hot with the weather, batting .314 with seven home runs and 31 RBI in June, tied for the most runs driven in by any PCL batter for the month, and adding a July in which he hit .343 with six homers and 25 RBI.

Johnson was drafted by the Oakland A's in 2001 and has enjoyed a meteoric rise through the system, reaching Triple-A for a game last year in just his third season in professional baseball. In 2003, the first baseman led the Double-A Texas League in homers and RBI while a member of the Midland RockHounds. At the end of last season, Johnson was called-up and played one game with Sacramento where his first Triple-A hit was a double.

The River Cats slugger, who now joins legends such as Joe DiMaggio and Willie McCovey as players who have been named the Leagues Most Valuable Player, amassed just enough votes to surpass Colorado Springs' Andy Tracy in the balloting. Johnson also edged Salt Lake's Adam Riggs, Iowa outfielder Trenidad Hubbard, and Omaha slugger Calvin Pickering to claim the prestigious honor.

Johnson played two seasons at Nebraska (2000-01), leading the Huskers to 50 wins and the school's first College World Series appearance in 2001. As a senior, Johnson batted .361 with a school-record 25 homers and 86 RBIs to earn first-team All-America honors.