in a post earlier today, i updated the status of the cards representing the august a. busch memorial armband and patch. i had used a couple of cards as examples in the very first memorial-centered post here on the blog. in
that same post, i showed this 1993 topps scott lewis card
as an example of the memorial that the angels wore following the death of their coach and former major leaguer deron 'dj' johnson in april of 1992.
since then, i've come across this 1993 topps stadium club murphy mark langston card that shows the initials a bit better
johnson ended his big league career in 1976. although he had never played for the angels, he was hired to manage their triple-a club in salt lake city for the 1978 season. he joined the major league coaching staff in 1979, just in time for their first trip to the postseason, and remained with the club through the 1980 season. he then moved around the majors, coaching for the mets, phillies, and padres, and working for the mariners and white sox, too, before returning to california in 1989 as the team's hitting coach - a position he held through the 1991 season. with rod carew joining the staff as the angels' hitting coach, johnson was to become buck rodgers' bench coach in 1992. sadly, he was too ill to attend spring training and passed away on april 23, 1992.
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