A Sox player even Cubs fans can embrace

At 10:35 p.m. on Sept. 28, 2011, Dan Johnson left the Tampa dugout and walked a couple dozen feet into the runway.

He did not know that a few minutes later he would stroll into the history books, in the process changing the course of Red Sox and Cubs history and altering the lives of people like Tom Ricketts, Theo Epstein and Terry Francona.

But at 10:40 p.m. on the East Coast, Johnson was just a guy getting warm.

“Sam (Fuld) was going to bat and I was up in the tunnel getting loose,’’ Johnson said. “I watched him walk to the plate.”

Johnson kept swinging and then heard screaming.

“The way they explained it to me afterward, (Rays manager) Joe Maddon and (bench coach) Dave Martinez weren’t sure when they were going to use me,” said Johnson, now in camp with the White Sox as a nonroster invitee. “The situation changed.”

The Red Sox and Rays were tied for the wild card on the final night of the season. Boston was winning in Baltimore and delayed by rain. The Rays — having rallied from down 7-0 to the Yankees — still trailed by a run.

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Two outs, bottom of the ninth. It is 10:41 p.m.

Maddon realizes there is no reason to save Dan Johnson, who had become part of Rays’ lore on Sept. 9, 2008, the day he came up from Durham and hit a game-tying, pinch-hit homer in Boston off Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, believed to be the key moment in a pennant-winning season for Tampa.

“Joe said, ‘If we’re going to use him, use him now.’ That’s when they made the decision,” Johnson said. “They sent security to get me.”

Fuld hears yelling and turns to look at the dugout.

“Security was screaming, ‘You’re up now! You’re up now!’” Johnson said. “I said, ‘Really? Now?’ I knew Sam was at the plate. It happened that quick.”

Fuld returns to the dugout and Johnson takes a few practice swings in the on-deck circle and walks to the plate.

He works the count to 2-2 against Cory Wade, the 10th Yankees pitcher of the night. Johnson, hitting .108 and without a knock since April 27, fouls off a pitch to stay alive.

And then, down to perhaps their last strike of 2011, Johnson reaches out and pulls a changeup. The line drive to right keeps rising and hooking. The Rays jump out of their first-base dugout to watch it. The ball stays fair and creeps over the wall.

At 10:47 p.m., the stadium explodes. People watching on TV are in shock. Johnson pumps his fist rounding first. The Rays are still alive.

Johnson is mobbed in the dugout as a home run hero.

Again.

“I just seem to find myself in those situations,” Johnson said by phone from White Sox camp. “Early on when you have success with it, you develop a belief and confidence in that role. I’ve learned to be calm and slow the game down.”

At 11:40 p.m., St. Louis, having shut out the Astros, watches Atlanta lose in 13 innings to Philadelphia. The Braves, who also blew a save in the ninth inning, cough up the wild card. The Cardinals, watching on TV, celebrate in Houston.

At 11:59 p.m., Papelbon blows the save in Baltimore and the Red Sox are tied at 3-3.

Two minutes past midnight, a looping flyball drops in front of Carl Crawford, the Orioles score, and the Red Sox have given away another game.

In St. Pete, the score is posted and the crowd erupts.

At 12:05 a.m. on Sept. 29, Evan Longoria rips a 2-2 pitch over the left-field fence. By the time Longoria reaches the first-base coaching box, the Rays are on the field, celebrating and heading for home plate.

Dan Johnson is in the middle of the pile to greet Longoria.

The Red Sox (7-20 in September) and Braves (9-18) are out. The Cards (18-8) and Rays (17-10) are in the playoffs.

Baseball fans around the world can’t believe what they have just witnessed.

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Today, it is no exaggeration to remember Johnson for having delivered one of the biggest pinch-hit home runs in Major League Baseball history, and he did it on Wild Card Wednesday, a night that has since been called by many the greatest in baseball history.

“I hear about it almost every day,” Johnson says. “I really haven’t even had a chance to sit back and reflect because it hasn’t died down at all.”

Not long after, Francona was fired and Ricketts hired Epstein, who admitted in Chicago that had Francona not been launched, he would have never left Boston. So Cubs fans can be thankful that Johnson delivered.

“Oh, man, I really haven’t thought that far through it,” Johnson said. “But if that makes people in Chicago happy, so be it.”

Yet, here is the 32-year-old Johnson trying to make another team, this time with the White Sox.

“The Sox are really known for giving guys a shot,” Johnson said. “I can’t ask for anything more than a chance to show I’m ready to play.”

Depending on how many pitchers the Sox keep, and how much they intend to play Adam Dunn at first, Johnson could make the club as a left-handed pinch hitter/first baseman, who also has played third and left.

Having suffered a hip injury while the starter in Oakland (2007), played in Japan, and been up and down with Tampa, Johnson knows the drill.

“I’m coming off a year when I tried to play one-handed,” said Johnson, who was hit by a pitch two weeks into last season, damaging his wrist and ulnar nerve. “I’m not a guy who can take a season off and let it heal. I had to play through it, and it didn’t go very well.”

Before he got hurt in 2011, he managed to hurt the White Sox. With Tampa sitting at 0-6 on a Friday night on the South Side, Johnson contributed to Matt Thornton’s miserable start.

With the Rays down a run, Johnson blasted Thornton’s first pitch for a 3-run homer in the top of the ninth for the game-winner and Tampa’s only victory in the first nine games of 2011.

“Within five seconds of me walking into the clubhouse (last week), Matt said something like, ‘Thanks a lot. Really appreciate it,’” Johnson chuckled. “We both got a laugh out of it.”

Last year’s heroics are fun to talk about, but this year Johnson is just another guy trying to find his place in the game, a victim of injuries, circumstances and production.

“Last year was tough. The whole season was such a nightmare, but to end the way it did it really kind of salvaged the season for me,’’ Johnson said. “For me, it’s one of those things I’ll never forget.

“It’s the highlight of a career, but that’s for after your career, and hopefully my career is far from over.’’

brozner@dailyherald.com

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