Meet the Blue Jays' most infamous manager

Former Blue Jays manager and "Vietnam veteran" Tim Johnson

Following the firing of 2x World Series champion manager Cito Gaston in 1997, the Blue Jays hired Tim Johnson to be their new skipper. After a few down years following their success in the early half of the decade, it was time for a change in Toronto, and Tim Johnson beat out candidates such as Larry Bowa and (future Blue Jays manager) Buck Martinez for the job.

Johnson played 7 seasons in the big leagues, mainly with the Milwaukee Brewers before finishing his career in Toronto. With a career WAR of -0.6, Johnson was hardly a superstar, and followed his playing days with jobs as a scout, coach, and manager with various organizations. Throughout the 1998 season, his first in Toronto, Johnson had a few difficulties in the clubhouse. He frequently fought with pitching coach Mel Queen (who was the team's interim manager following the firing of Gaston) and Cy Young winning pitcher Pat Hentgen.

Despite these troubles, Johnson aimed to motivate his ballclub by telling stories of his time serving in the Vietnam War. One instance of this was when Johnson attempted to get Pat Hentgen to accept a demotion in the team's rotation, using stories from Vietnam as inspiration. Johnson would tell stories about trekking through the jungles of Vietnam, being in the line of fire, and accidentally killing children in combat. Roger Clemens had the idea of giving Johnson a motorcycle helmet for his birthday featuring a design from his military unit during his time in Vietnam. Clemens approached Johnson's wife to ask which unit he served in, to which she responded with total confusion.

This is when the lie came out. Johnson never actually served in Vietnam. While Johnson was in the Marine Corps reserves during the war, he never once took part in combat. Along with his lies about Vietnam, Johnson falsely claimed to have turned down a basketball scholarship to UCLA for over two decades. Players and coaches on the Blue Jays were rightfully furious, no longer being able to trust their manager and man in charge. After the conclusion of the 1998 season, Johnson confessed that he had been lying. He entered therapy, apologized to the team, and described his feeling as having "a 50,000 pound weight" lifted off his shoulders.

On the field, the Blue Jays had some success with Johnson at the helm. The team finished 1998 with a record of 88-74, their best season during their long postseason drought stretching from 1993 to 2015. Amid the disaster that was Johnson's antics, the Blue Jays decided to give him a second chance, bringing him back in 1999. During spring training, the backlash became too much to handle, with Johnson clearly having no credibility despite himself thinking otherwise. On March 17th, GM Gord Ash fired Johnson, replacing him with Jim Fregosi.

Besides a brief stint as a scout with the Brewers, Johnson has never had a job in Major League Baseball since. Lying about something as honourable as serving in the military is incredibly selfish and disrespectful, and brings on an extraordinary lack of trust from everyone involved with the organization. Although the Blue Jays had a strong season, bringing Johnson back after his lying was exposed was a bizzare decision. Johnson very well could be the only manager to ever be fired in spring training. And with the internet being so prevalent and lies such as Johnson's being more difficult to fabricate in today's day, I cannot imagine it ever happening again.