Davey Johnson is no Sparky Anderson when it comes to hyperbole. Whereas Anderson would always talk up some young kid as the next Tony Perez and think that everything that ever happened was the most wonderful thing ever, Johnson tends to tell it like it is.
Which is why what he told CSNWashington.com’s Mark Zuckerman was somewhat eye-opening:
When Johnson says this Nationals squad has a chance to be better than the 1984 Mets franchise he inherited and watched improve from 90 wins to 98 wins to 108 wins and a World Series title in just three seasons … well, who are you to argue with the man?
“This club has more potential than that club,” Johnson insisted yesterday. “It actually has more athletes. It has a lot of gifted athletes.”
That’s no small praise. That 1984 team wasn’t yet hitting on all cylinders, but a young Darryl Strawberry and a young Dwight Gooden are about as good as it gets as far as talent-in-waiting goes. Seems like a lot to put on Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg — I view Jayson Werth as a George Foster figure — but it’s Johnson who has to manage those expectations, not us.
