Memphis Redbirds' manager Ben Johnson was about 58 seconds into his video conference to discuss his record-setting win leading the Class AAA affiliate, when he started discussing how "to be part of the Cardinals' organization is pretty special ..."
That is when his phone rang.
The phone announced who was calling: "Oli Marmol."
As if on cue.
Johnson apologized to the media and answered the call.
"Skipper!" he said before pressing mute on Zoom.
The Cardinals' manager reached out to congratulate Johnson on his 368th win as manager of the Cardinals' top affiliate. Twenty-six years after the Cardinals drafted him out of Memphis' Germantown (Tenn.) High, Johnson took over the all-time lead for wins by a manager of his hometown professional baseball club. Two players who began the year on the Cardinals' opening day roster - Michael Siani with a leadoff homer and Luken Baker with his homer - powered the Redbirds to a 7-3 victory in Jacksonville for Johnson's milestone win.
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"It's tough to put into words," Johnson said when asked by Memphis-area media about what it meant as a Memphis native to have the most wins as manager of a Memphis team.
"Being a part of the Cardinals organization and being a part of the team and staff is something I really do cherish," he continued after the call from Marmol. "It's a position I'm proud to hold. It's a position I don't take for granted."
It's the position that Johnson, 43, has had with the Cardinals since 2019.
His 368 wins with the Triple-A Redbirds surpassed Chris Maloney's record that he left behind when joining the Cardinals' major-league staff. Johnson also moved ahead of other Memphis managers who made the leap to the majors including current first and third base coaches Stubby Clapp and Ron "Pop" Warner, respectively.
"He's the perfect manager you want in the minor leagues," starting pitcher Michael McGreevy said in a statement provided by the Redbirds. "He keeps things fun and still pushes you."
Johnson's tenure leading the Cardinals' top affiliate has included some of the more challenging stretches in the current era - including the return to play after the minor-league season was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19 and a dry spell of pitching talent that caused the entire organization to plunge into one of the worst minor-league winning percentages in the history of organized minor-league baseball. Through it all, Johnson has been a trusted instructor and teacher within the Cardinals' organization, and the major-league staff has relied on his insight for promotion and acquisitions as well as ongoing instructions.
He's now guiding the Redbirds through the Cardinals' transition toward Chaim Bloom taking over as president of baseball operations a year after Bloom spent time auditing and reviewing the minor-league system and spent time at Class AAA with Johnson.
While talking with Memphis-based media in a press conference late Wednesday night, Johnson described how continuity in his specific role is valuable to overall player development.
"I think it's important to have the same eyes on the players because you can see whether or not they're getting better, whether they're progressing, whether they're regressing," Johnson said. "So to have someone in this seat that can kind of see where you're at with the needle, see how those players are improving, seeing what's working, I think there's benefit to that. I really do. And players respond to someone they're familiar with."
Johnson spent parts of three seasons in the majors but none with the team that selected him out of high school in the fourth round of the 1999 draft.
That's because of a seminal, though subtly so, trade in Cardinals' history.
Taken nine rounds after Johnson was an infielder out of junior college who would later be his teammate in 2000 at Class A Peoria. While Johnson, an outfielder, was batting .242 with 13 homers, a .786 OPS, and a .433 slugging percentage, Albert Pujols hit .324 with 17 homers and 84 RBIS to go with a .953 OPS. At the same time the Cardinals were shopping for a backup catcher at the major-league level and had targeted San Diego's Carlos Hernandez. The Padres sought one of two names on a list from the Cardinals' Class A affiliate, and the scout in the area raved about Pujols. The other name was a "toolsy" outfielder: Johnson.
Some legend has built up around what happened next - that the Cardinals promoted Pujols to keep him "off the radar" from the scout (that didn't happen) and that the Padres would believe they got close to a deal with Pujols but the Cardinals felt it was "never close" (that did). What was clear to the Cardinals' scouts and the Padres' scouts was also clear to Johnson as he hit in the same lineup.
"Albert clearly was a hitter like none of us had ever seen before," Johnson told the Post-Dispatch in 2019 as the paper researched and revisited the trade that wasn't. "Trading away an Albert Pujols for a backup catcher? That could have been the worst miss of all time."
The Cardinals traded Johnson with pitcher Heathcliff Slocumb to the Padres for Hernandez and minor-leaguer Nate Tebbs at the trade deadline in 2000. Johnson debuted with the Padres five seasons later and appeared in 31 games in 2005, 58 in 2006. In 98 big-league games, Johnson hit .230 with seven homers and a .728 OPS.
In 2018, Johnson managed Tampa Bay's Class AAA Durham club and faced the Cardinals' top affiliate in the Triple-A National Championship. The Redbirds won, 14-4, and a few months later lured the Bulls' manager back home to Memphis and back to the organization where his pro career began.
In addition to managing in Tampa Bay's system, Johnson also spent several years as a scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
He was asked late Wednesday about his goal when he became Memphis' manager and if it was to move up into the majors himself as a coach.
"The goal was to be what the players needed," Johnson said. "I wanted to be the manager to the players that I wanted as a manager. To be the manager, I wish I had as a player."
His players greeted him Wednesday with a celebration "I'll never forget."
Not too far from the ringing phone was a bottle of champagne.
"I'm flying high," Johnson said.
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