In 1984, Johnson was back with the Tigers and was made the left side of a platoon with Tom Brookens. Johnson started fairly well but had a poor second half. He finished the regular season with a .248 batting average, 50 runs batted in (RBI) and 12 homers in 355 at bats. The Tigers led the division for the entire campaign but Johnson sat the bench for the entire 1984 ALCS while Brookens, Marty Castillo and Darrell Evans split time at third. Johnson wound up pinch-hitting only once in the 1984 World Series, reaching on an error by second baseman Alan Wiggins as the Tigers eased through the postseason en route to the world championship.