In Tim Tebow, the Mets now have their Ben Affleck equivalent. The guy whose obvious talents, at multiple positions, are mitigated by a polarizing personality.
Even before Thursday, the Mets had their Matt Damon. That would be Kelly Johnson.
“What does that mean?” Johnson asked The Post, when the comparison was presented to him this past week in Cincinnati.
The comparison first occurred to me when the Mets reacquired Johnson from the Braves in June — just as they acquired him from the Braves last year. I flashed back to a story about Damon in which director Steven Soderbergh said about the actor: “Matt has a lot of repeat business. That’s always a good sign. It’s the real indication of how people feel, if they want to have that experience again.”
Granted, Johnson is not the mega-star in baseball that Damon is in his industry. But that Soderbergh statement applies as well to Johnson as to any other player in baseball.
Johnson, 34, has switched teams 10 times in his 11 major league seasons. If that’s your profile, then either you’re a very talented guy whom teams keep jettisoning because they don’t like having you around or you’re not an elite guy who keeps finding work because teams like having you around. Johnson clearly fits the latter profile, as you can tell when you scrutinize his resume:
- He has played three times for the Braves and twice for the Mets, and as noted earlier, he has been traded from the Braves to the Mets in consecutive seasons. As the Elias Sports Bureau noted in June, only one other player in baseball history has been dealt between the same two clubs in consecutive seasons. The White Sox traded catcher Chad Kreuter from the White Sox to the Angels in 1997 and 1998.
- He has played twice for manager John Farrell, first with the Blue Jays in 2011 and 2012 and then with the Red Sox in 2014.
- He has played for all five teams in the American League East. In addition to the Jays and Sawx, he played for the Rays in 2013 and the Yankees and Orioles in 2014 (yes, he played for three teams in ’14). Given the emphasis on intra-division play in the schedule, those AL East teams saw plenty of Johnson the more time he spent there, and each team wanted to employ him.
This notion struck me again last month, in a smaller sample size: When the Mets played the Tigers in Detroit, I saw Johnson chatting extensively on the field with Tigers broadcaster Kirk Gibson, his manager with the Diamondbacks in 2010 and 2011.
“I would say you fill a need as a player. Left-handed and playing several positions is always something [desired],” Johnson said. “I was raised to work hard and be respectful. It’s just always the way I’ve been personally. I think it’s a good characteristic to have.
“I try to go out of my way to not just show up and keep too quiet. I think it’s fun to come to the ballpark. It’s fun to be in conversations and do some things off the field. … It’s an extremely important part of the game, to have fun, be loose, be able to enjoy each other and have fun being around the people you’re around the most.”
A look at Johnson’s game log with the Mets this season exemplifies that versatility and flexibility. He made a few starts at second base due to Neil Walker’s back issues. Then, while Walker got healthier, Johnson spent some time at third base and in left field. He clocked long stretches of not starting when Jose Reyes arrived to play third base. Then he returned to the hot corner when Reyes went on the disabled list. And now, with Walker down for the year, he’s sharing second base with Wilmer Flores.
Johnson doesn’t credit only his parents. He also credits the organization that drafted and developed him. The Braves selected him 38th overall in 2000, as a compensation pick for Jose Hernandez signing with the Brewers.
“When I was a Brave in the minor leagues, we had coaches, coordinators, all those guys, they raised us all the same,” Johnson said. “They raised us right. I think it speaks more to those people than anything. And there’s a lot of guys I came up with that are still in the game. Guys I was drafted with that still have very good reputations in baseball off the field. That certainly plays a part, the type of people the Braves put around us.”
The guys to which he’s referring? Elvis Andrus. Jeff Francoeur. Brian McCann. Brayan Pena. Adam Wainwright.
Thankfully, for the purposes of this story, Johnson is a Matt Damon fan. His favorite Damon film? “’The Martian’ was really funny. That one stands out,” he said. Runners-up? “Rounders” and “Good Will Hunting.”
That leads us right into this week’s Pop Quiz question, which came from Gary Mintz of South Huntington: Name the former Dodger who appeared in a 1990 episode of “Columbo.”
Friday is “Stand up to Cancer” day. At 8 p.m., this new spot, featuring prominent baseball players, will make its official debut.
Your Pop Quiz answer is Ron Cey.
If you have a tidbit that connects baseball with popular culture, please send it to me at kdavidoff@nypost.com.
