Another hot start for Nuts closer

Johnston an all-star again, nearly perfect

By BRIAN VanderBEEK
bvanderbeek@modbee.com

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You might look at the start of Andrew Johnston's season and think everything has come easy for the Modesto closer.

He's been darned near perfect this season. He has 14 saves in 14 chances, a 0.39 ERA and didn't allow an earned run until last Monday. Those numbers earned him a spot on the California League All-Star team for the second year in a row.

That's right, through two months, despite playing on a team that has been in the basement of its division, Johnston has been flying high.

2008 Modesto Nuts � Andrew Johnston, Pitcher

On the other hand, look at it this way: Baseball owes Andrew Johnston a good year.

His mother, Linda, was diagnosed with cancer in 2004, shortly after he left Jefferson College (a two-year school near St. Louis) to attend the University of Missouri. He was at Missouri for one year, was drafted by Colorado in the ninth round and reported to short-season Casper (Wyo.). Johnston was in his first spring training in 2006 for one day, just long enough to get a phone call from home telling him the cancer spread.

He flew home, with the blessing of the Colorado organization, and put his season on hold to be with his mother, who passed away on April 15 of that year. Johnston went to extended spring training, then reported to Asheville (N.C.) in mid-May.

Always a closer as a professional, Johnston led the Pioneer League with 18 saves in 2005, then notched 25 more in 2006 with Asheville. He began the 2007 season with Modesto as the league's best closer. He had a 2.38 ERA in April and a 1.93 in May and was named to the mid-season All-Star team just in time to lose his touch. He lost his closer's role to Pedro Strop while watching his ERA balloon to 9.00 in June and 8.44 in July.

Johnston's perfect start this season? He had it coming.

Brian VanderBeek: You no sooner arrive on campus at Missouri and you find out your mom has cancer.

Andrew Johnston: I went there a few weeks early, in August, so I could start working out. I was there about two days when I found out my mom had cancer, so I came back home. I got back in time for school and made it home on weekends, but it was tough not being able to be there all the time.

BVB: During that time, did the prognosis on your mother ever improve?

AJ: In that first winter, when I was at Mizzou and she was getting chemo, she was feeling better. But that was about the only good news we ever received. It kept getting worse after that.

BVB: It was 2006 and you reported to your first spring training with the Rockies. You were there only a day or so.

AJ: She had a doctor's appointment the day I left, and when I got down there I called home. The news was that the doctors couldn't do anything else for her and that she had only a couple weeks left to live. I left the next morning and was back home for a month and a half. I came back and was in extended spring until May 16, then reported to Asheville.

BVB: The Rockies, I assume, were very supportive through all of this?

AJ: They were great. The first thing I did when I got back to extended spring was thank as many of them as I could for the way they handled the situation. I was very pleased with the way they didn't rush me and allowed me to take as much time as I needed.

BVB: You had a good season in 2006, but you were quoted as saying you were having a hard time keeping your mom off your mind, even when you were on the mound.

AJ: You never get over a thing like that, but it becomes easier to deal with as time goes on. Being around friends and family helps you get through it, and your faith is huge. Having all of that allows you to keep your mind on baseball while you're on the field.