Mark Johnson's homecoming Tuesday night was as much about the people the former Texas A&M head baseball coach worked with as it was about honoring his legacy.
The handshakes and greetings from old friends started at 4:30 p.m. when Johnson's Sam Houston State Bearkats pulled into Olsen Field. They continued until the bus pulled out five hours later.
Willowdean Chandler, widow of legendary A&M baseball coach Tom Chandler, made her way into the SHSU dugout well before the majority of the 3,978 had filed in to Olsen Field to pay her respects to the man who ran the program with the same qualities her husband had.
Roland Harrison, former Bryan East Little League president, whose son, Brian, was a pitcher for Johnson, renewed acquaintances with Johnson along with A&M associate athletics director Alan Cannon, who was Johnson's sports information director, and grounds crew chief Leo Goertz. They were just a few of many, many more.
Several times Johnson leaned over the fence or popped out of the dugout to smile back at an old friend.
After the game Johnson got a surprise visit from Jose Ramirez, the custodian who had been in charge of Olsen Field. You'd have thought the gracious Johnson was talking with former president George Bush considering the amount of respect he showed Ramirez, but that's just Johnson's way. If you do your job well and treat people the right way, you earn his respect for life.
"It was really good to see a lot of people that I hadn't seen that I'd worked with for so many years," Johnson said. "A.C. and Leo and Jose. It was fun to see a lot of friends."
The game wasn't as much fun for Johnson with A&M winning 8-2. The Aggies scored five runs in the first after Johnson had a short stay in his return to the third-base coach's box when the Bearkats were retired in order.
"I didn't want to stumble and fall or anything like that," Johnson said. "But I enjoyed going out. I got to hear Kathy [Ross] sing the national anthem. I hadn't heard her since ... it seemed like she was just a little girl. She sings even better then she did then. That got my chills up when she sang the national anthem. I was really impressed with that. That kinda broke the run over."
Johnson certainly was the center of attention leading up to first pitch.
He received a warm round of applause when public address announcer Rick Hill announced his name during pregame. A few Aggies stood as they applauded.
The 63-year-old Johnson who has lost a few pounds and looks fit to run a marathon, came out of the dugout along with his team while the Aggie War Hymn played. His wife, Linda, was sitting in the stands as usual, watching her husband work.
It looked like old home week with all the smiles displayed during the home-plate meeting before the game as Johnson met with A&M head coach Rob Childress and umpires Matt Stellges, Rick Hall and Doug Williams.
As the home-plate meeting broke up, Johnson patted Childress on the back, and the two talked at length.
What helped make Johnson's first trip back to Olsen Field so special was Childress, who is running the program with the kind of class Johnson admires.
"We have a great relationship," Johnson said.
The Aggies paid tribute to Johnson with a two-minute video on the Jumbotron. Childress called Johnson two months ago, saying A&M wanted to do the tribute.
"I don't even need that, but that's all I would want," said Johnson, who watched as his players gave him a few barbs. "It was very nice for A&M to do that for me."
Johnson came out and tipped his hat, then went to work.
He looked at home wearing No. 7 in the third-base coach's box. But the bright orange jersey along with the batting helmet seemed strange until he clapped his hands or held them in front of his mouth to create a megaphone to holler encouragement to his batter. And when he'd take a few steps around the box or fold his arms, he looked like the same "MJ" we got to see for all those seasons.
For 21 years, Johnson compiled a 876-433-3 record at A&M, making two College World Series appearances and engineering some of Olsen Field's most magical moments.
And while he'd been away three years, he remembered to stay clear of the Olsen Field "RAggies."
"I didn't want to do anything wrong," he said. "I patted the pitcher's butt the first time [out to the mound], so I got ragged on that, and I tried to clean that up a little bit next time."
Johnson is about as clean as you get.
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes awarded him the FCA Baseball/Jerry Kindall Character in Coaching Award two years ago. He also was the first recipient of the American Baseball Coaches Association "Ethics in Coaching" award.
He was and remains one of the nation's most revered coaches, and it started at Aggieland.
"It was fun to get back to Olsen Field," Johnson said. "It was kinda mixed emotions. It was fun to get back, though."
Many who showed up Tuesday night would argue that he's never left.
Robert Cessna's e-mail address is robert.cessna@theeagle.com.