By BRENDAN MCGAIR

Sports writer

 There’s a lot that fills up Ron Johnson’s plate on a daily basis, and not all of it is classified as baseball-related.
As the manager of the Pawtucket Red Sox, Johnson is asked to chaperone the organization’s prized prospects while at the same time attending to the needs of veterans who still have a twinkle of big league glory in their eyes.

Oh, and perhaps win a ballgame or two in front of the McCoy Stadium crowd.
Yet if there’s someone who can gather everyone on the same page, Johnson appears to fit the bill. As he gets set for his fourth season with the PawSox and 17th overall managing in the minors, Johnson has demonstrated that no task, not even juggling an ever-hanging clubhouse, is too great for him to handle.

Blackstone Valley Sports: What’s the best part of your job?
Ron Johnson:  Telling the guys you are going to Boston. Bring him in the office one day and tell him to be there for [batting practice] at Fenway or you’re going to meet [the Red Sox] in a certain city. That’s what it’s all about.
We all like to win, and that’s what makes you a good manager, but the bottom line is when the players go up there, you see the effort put in by the whole minor-league system.

BVS: Best reaction you’ve received when informing someone he’s gotten the call.
RJ: [Last year] we were at a truck stop off the Mass. Pike when Jeff Bailey received word. It was late at night … I think we were going to Rochester. I finally got the confirmation they were taking him. I told him and he said ‘Get the [bleep] out of here.’
That lasted for a little bit, but he was absolutely surprised.
Johnny Damon (who Johnson managed at the Double-A level in the Royals organization) might be my best one. We were in Midland, Texas. Johnny played every day. I told him one day, after he looked at the lineup, that he wasn’t playing. He came into my office after batting practice and he was [upset]. I told him he was playing in Kansas City the next day. That was cool.

BVS: What’s the downside?