Catcher Johnson suffers the ultimate celebration penalty

Published 12:10 pm Sunday, September 20, 2009

Those rough-and-tumble victory celebrations by the Mariners finally have spit out an injury. Catcher Rob Johnson can’t play because of a sprained left ankle.

How’d he hurt it?

During that home-plate scrum after Ichiro Suzuki’s game-winning homer Friday against the Yankees, the Mariners gathered around home plate and performed their traditional whack-a-thon with their hero. There was a lot of slapping, pushing and jumping around.

And Johnson came down wrong on his left ankle.

“There was a hole in the right-handed batter’s box and I came down in it,” Johnson said. “It was ugly. You should see the (video) replay. It’ll make you sick.”

Manager Don Wakamatsu didn’t say how long Johnson would be out, although he could catch today in an emergency.

Funny thing, the Mariners are nearly in an emergency state with their catching. Kenji Johjima took a foul tip off his left kneecap and is so sore he can’t play today.

“Being a former catcher, I know exactly how he feels, ” Wakamatsu said.

Adam Moore is starting today’s series finale against the Yankees.