Johnson's Fenway single a dream come true

BOSTON — Just two seasons ago, Matty Johnson was lost in the baseball obscurity of independent ball.

Just over a year ago, Johnson was sitting at home, strongly considering calling it quits and moving on from professional baseball.

So, the idea of stepping to the plate at Fenway Park was more than a little overwhelming to the young Lowell Spinners outfielder.

And when, in his first at-bat, he beat out an infield single ... well, that was downright unreal.

“It just shows that if you keep pursuing a dream anything is possible,” said Johnson, “if you work hard and give everything you have for that goal.”

Reaching base twice to go with a steal and a run while starting in center field at Fenway Park, during the annual Futures at Fenway game on Saturday, was a long way from two years ago when no major league organization even wanted to give Johnson a shot.

And, in fact, just a week ago it was doubtful that Johnson would be in the Fenway lineup as he battled a dislocated shoulder.

So the always-cheery 5-foot-8, 165-pound speedster reached near-bubbly status as he saw his name flash on the Fenway Park Jumbotron, even if his head shot was replaced by the Star Wars character Yoda.

“It was actually kind of overwhelming,” said the 24-year-old. “Pulling into the stadium gave me chills. I just remembered watching all the big Red Sox and Yankees games on TV, so to be here was wild.”

Johnson certainly took the road less traveled to his Fenway Park appearance.

Undrafted and unsigned by a major league organization out of Bellevue University (Neb.) — where he hit .427 as a senior — Johnson had to play independent baseball in 2010, as a member of the Gateway Grizzlies of the Frontier League. Despite hitting .313 with 43 runs with Gateway, Johnson admits he wondered if he would ever earn a shot with an affiliated team, and considered entering the workforce.

But that opportunity arrived last summer, when the Red Sox signed him and s

ent him to Lowell, where he hit .321 in 32 games for the Spinners. That earned him a shot at high-A Salem to start this season, before a dislocated shoulder suffered sliding into second halted his season in early July.

“It was rough to miss a month of the season,” he said. “It was a long rehab process. But I never could have guessed that my second game back off the injury would be at Fenway Park.”

Having just joined the Spinners on Friday for a rehab stint, notching two hits that night, the team did not have time to send most of his information to the Red Sox — thus the Yoda mugshot (since it was also Star Wars night) — but that didn’t matter to Johnson.

“Playing here, knowing all the people that have stepped on this field, is a dream,” he said. “Ted Williams and the 600-foot home run. I knew it was going to be fun, but I had no idea how special it was really going to be.”

Stepping to the plate in the second inning for his first at-bat, Johnson slapped the ball to third and used his blazing speed to beat out the infield hit.

“There are a lot of people that have had a hit at Fenway Park,” he said. “But there are a

lot

of people that haven’t. I just tried to put the ball in play and run as hard as I could. Luckily, my speed paid off. It was great to get that first hit out of the way. Then my heart rate went down a little and I could relax.”

But Johnson wasn’t done there. In the ninth, he hit a shot that the first baseman couldn’t handle, which was ruled an error. He then stole second and scored on a single by former Lynn English star Roberto Reyes.

Following the game, Johnson was surrounded by young autograph seekers — all of which he happily obliged — treatment befitting of a tailor-made fan favorite.

“Playing at Fenway was really a dream come true,” he said. “I know I’m not in the big leagues and I may never make it there. But I am going to do everything in my power to chase that dream. I’m going to do everything I can, and I want to enjoy the journey.”

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David Willis is a sportswriter/videographer for The Eagle-Tribune. You can see his video profiles at eagletribunetribune.com/sports.