Upset after being replaced as the starting second baseman by Bobby Grich and the Orioles in need of a power-hitting catcher, Johnson was traded along with Pat Dobson, Johnny Oates and Roric Harrison to the Atlanta Braves for Earl Williams and Taylor Duncan on the last day of the Winter Meetings on December 1, 1972. The following season with the Braves, Johnson enjoyed the best statistical year of his career when his offense exploded and he tied Rogers Hornsby's record for most single-season home runs by a second baseman with 42 (Johnson actually hit 43 that year, but one came as a pinch hitter – The Sporting News Baseball Record Book, 2007 p. 23). The 1973 Braves featured the first trio of teammates ever to each hit 40 home runs in the same season when Johnson hit 43, Darrell Evans hit 41, and Hank Aaron hit 40. Johnson's second-highest home run total was 18, in the 1971 season.