Johnson hit the ground running in
California, leading the league with a .366
batting average through May. He cooled off as the 1970 season progressed, but still went into the
All-star break at .328 to earn selection to the A.L. squad. He remained in the batting title race throughout the season, and went into the final game of the season with batting average which was .002 behind Boston's
Carl Yastrzemski. In the last game of the season against the White Sox, Johnson went two-for-three to win the A.L. batting title by 0.0004 over Yastrzemski. He was removed from the game after his third at-bat, to ensure the title. Johnson became the subject of some controversy toward the end of his first season in California when he was fined by Angels manager
Lefty Phillips for not running out a grounder. This continued into the following spring, when Phillips fined Johnson $100 for loafing in an
exhibition game. The following day, Phillips removed Johnson from a second exhibition after he failed to run out a first-inning grounder. Things deteriorated during the 1971 regular season as Johnson was benched three times in May for indifferent play. On June 4, he was pulled in the first inning of a 10–1 loss to the Red Sox when he failed to run all the way to
first base on a routine ground ball. After being replaced by
Tony González in left field, Johnson intimated that some of his battles with teammates and management were racially motivated. Following a June 13 loss to the Washington Senators, Johnson claimed that
Chico Ruiz, who had been a close friend and was the godfather of Johnson's adopted daughter, pointed a gun at him while the two were in the clubhouse. Ruiz denied the claim. Johnson, limited as a fielder, stopped taking outfield practice before games. In June, after a potential trade deadline deal with the
Milwaukee Brewers for
Tommy Harper fell through, Johnson told reporters that he needed to get out of California, and that "playing in hell" would be an improvement. Johnson was benched after he loafed on two balls hit to him in left field against Milwaukee, which resulted in a five-run fourth inning for the Brewers, and failed to run out a ground ball in his final at-bat in the ninth inning. Phillips put it simply, "If you had seen him play lately, you'd know why he isn't in the line-up." By the end of June, Johnson had been benched five times and fined 29 times. On June 26, Angels GM
Dick Walsh suspended him without pay indefinitely for "not using his best efforts."
Grievance and arbitration Marvin Miller, executive director of the
Major League Baseball Players Association, immediately filed a grievance against the Angels on Johnson's behalf claiming that Walsh failed to properly outline the basis for the suspension in specific terms. His case, however, was weakened when Johnson defended his actions rather than deny the claims made against him by his ballclub. He admitted to not being in the spirit to play properly as the whole team was indifferent toward playing together. Miller eventually ended up filing a grievance on Johnson's behalf suggesting that Johnson was emotionally disabled. (Phillips' stance was perhaps, in part, due to the fact that his fourth place team was suddenly playing better – 17–11 in the month of July.) When a meeting between Miller and the Owners' Players' Relations committee on July 21 failed to resolve the grievance, it went to an independent
arbitrator. After a 30-day suspension, the longest the Angels could give,
Commissioner of Baseball Bowie Kuhn placed Johnson on the restricted list, allowing the Angels to continue the suspension. On August 10, Phillips, the Angels' coaches and six players (including team captain
Jim Fregosi) met with Kuhn's labor advisor John Gaherin, who was part of the three-man arbitration panel attempting to resolve the case along with Miller and professional
Arbitrator Lewis Gill of the
National Labor Relations Board. On August 31, the panel indefinitely postponed a decision on Johnson's appeal, and indicated that they were unlikely to come to an agreement before the end of the regular season. The Angels' case against Johnson hit a snag on September 7, when the
Chicago Sun-Times reported that Walsh had lied about the gun incident with Ruiz, and ordered that the weapon be concealed. Based on the findings of two psychiatrists, Gill found in favor of Johnson, determining that an emotional disturbance was no worse than a physical ailment, and that the Angels should not have suspended him, but rather should have placed Johnson on the
disabled list. Johnson was awarded $29,970 in back pay (as players on the disabled list still receive full pay); however, Gill upheld the $3,750 in fines he received from the team. ==Cleveland Indians==