Dan Johnson

 

Elected : USSSA New York Hall Of Fame in 2010
Inducted : 2011, Syracuser, NY

Dan's involvement in softball spanned  five decades. First as a player, then player-coach, USSSA Umpire, tournament  director, tournament player-coach and President of the Gil PowlessSenior Softball league. His teams played in numerous USSSA Qualifiers, NIT's, Divisionals, State  Championships and National Championships.

They won five New York State Championships. Johnson's teams played in both the City & County A Classic leagues, winning numerous regular season and playoff championships. In addition they won 10 City-County  Championships. Dan organized the first two Syracuse area 50-55 senior traveling tournament teams. Both went on to win national championships.  He was also a member of the board of directors for the Friends of Hopkins Rd.  Dan proudly participated in 20 straight March of Dimes Snowball Softball tournaments and several times his team was the top fund raiser for the event. Dan organized the indoor softball league in Baldwinsville and wrote a column for Inside CNY Softball magazine.

In 1982 Dan's team traveled to Smithtown LI for the New York State Championship as Billy's Tavern. They might not have won the tournament, finishing 5th overall, but they won the hearts of the umpires and tournament director Rick Marz. The team was cited in the USSSA national magazine for having the best fans in the tournament. The followers of the team chanted the names of the umpires and spelled their names with their hands causing one umpire to remark, "That is the first time in my career that anyone has ever cheered my officiating."

In 1992 as Mike's Food Market they won the New York Upstate USSSA C Championship in Cato NY and finished in 4th place in the USSSA C Divisional. In 1994 they won the combined B & C USSSA State Championship in Rochester NY. In 1993 as Mike's Food Market Dan's team won the ASA 35 and over New York State Championship and in 1994 as Johnson's they won the NSA C States.  Other various sponsors over the years were Jreck, Retreat, Grabbers, Champions Pure Fitness and Mike's Food Market.

Dan was always active in the local sporting scene. In the early 80's he won the City of Syracuse tennis championship at Kirk Park.  Johnson developed the over 40 Mid Life Madness basketball league in Dewitt and participated in the Masters basketball tournaments in Buffalo NY. He was the spokesperson for CAPS (Citizens For An All-Purpose Stadium) They were the first group to propose a domed stadium for Central New York and Syracuse University. Dan secured the donation to fund the Ernie Davis statue. He has been a two time club champion in golf and has recorded four career hole in ones. For a number of years he participated in the New York State Senior Olympics, medallingin several sports. He's a big fan of Syracuse basketball, football & lacrosse. He has been a USCF rated chess player, recording two wins over masters. Johnson had a tryout with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1964 at St Lawrence University.

Dan has been married for 40 years. He and his wife Dianne have two children, Brian who is married to Stephanie (Colonna) & Kelly who is married to Jim Fanto. In addition they have four grandchildren Vanessa Fanto, Luke, Isabella and Sophia Johnson.