There Will Never Be Another Randy Johnson

Randall David Johnson perhaps no name in MLB history hopes more fear in the hearts of batters than that a big unit we all remember the Mullen the mustache the scowl the Blazing fastball the filthy slider the six foot ten monster of man that accomplished more after 35 than most players do in their entire career but as Legend melds in a myth over the ears we can lose sight of what he truly managed to accomplish during his playing days the absolute absurdatives raw numbers including nearly 5 000 strikeouts 303 wins and five Cy Young Awards we may remember the highlights of the time he hit that burn but we find ourselves forgetting the great stories like the time he won game six of the World Series against the Yankees then came back the very next day and won game 7 at age 38 or how Johnson went from a gangly near bust of a pitcher with the Montreal expos in its mid-20s to perhaps the greatest left-handed pitcher of all time well now it's time to jog remember to appreciate the glory of baseball's Big Unit step right at the plate with us if you dare when Manny Johnson debuted with Montreal expos in 1988 he was already 25 years old and he came with a lot of baggage the California Native was the son of a police officer who grew up throwing balls at his garage door until the nails came out of the wood the young Randy was a two sports star in high school and earned a scholarship to play basketball and baseball at USC where he was a teammate of Mark McGuire the 610 Southpaw already had a high 90s fastball in college but had trouble controlling it often scaring the opposing teams with his lack of command this tradition started early and it wouldn't get any better for him after the Expos drafted Randy in the second round in 1985. he continued to struggle with his control walking an astounding 128 batters at Double A Jacksonville in fact the young hurler was so wild that while we having from an injury his pitching coach had to obtain a department store mannequin to stand in the batter's box while Johnson threw simulated games his teammates were too afraid to do so but his fastball wasn't all that he had trouble controlling during a game with AAA Indianapolis in 1988 Johnson injured his pitching hand after trying to catch a ball smashed up the middle worried this pitch might have a broken knuckle or something Johnson's manager removed him from the game Randy was not happy about that so what did irate Johnson do he threw a right-handed punch at the bat rack breaking his non-pitching hand it turned out that his pitching hand was fine but the punch caused him to miss two months of that season when Johnson finally debuted the expos in September of 1988 he immediately became the tallest player in Major League Baseball history up to that point at six foot ten but that was about the only way he distinguished himself at first his 98 mile per hour fastball and his hard exploding slider were definitely Big League pitches but with no discernible control over them he wasn't able to effectively retire Big League batters consistently he walked as many men as he struck out in 1989 before the Expos decided to deal him to the Mariners mid-season as part of a five-player deal that landed them All-Star left-hander Mark Langston it was an understandable trade at the time the one that exposed fans would later come to regret much like the trade that sent another Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez to the Red Sox 10 years later in 1998. yeah that's right in an alternate reality the Expos had prime Johnson and Martinez in their rotation before he left the Expos however Johnson did earn something of note his awesome nickname while shagging batting practice Randy collided head-on with his smaller expo's teammate Tim Reigns Reigns looked up at the much taller Johnson and remarked you're a big unit and the name stuck for the next three and a half years of the Mariners The Big Unit continued to struggle with his consistency hosting areas near Four with nearly 150 walks a season netting him era plus marks no greater than 108 in any of these seasons for reference an average array plus is a hundred but Johnson did show flashes of utter dominance like on June 2nd 1990 at the King Dome in Seattle versus the tigers that night rainy through the first ever no-hitter in Mariners franchise history striking out eight although even this performance couldn't escape his control woes he still walked six The Man Who Would retire with 303 victories had just 48 by the age of 28. and by 1992 it looked like Randy Johnson might not be in the big leagues long enough to earn that many more tall pitchers who have bad command and rely almost solely on velocity don't generally age well after all then came some timely advice from another hard throwing Ace who knew a little something about control problems it was August 1992 Rainey Johnson was on his way to yet another 500 season with the Mariners in which he led the league in walks so during a Mariners Rangers series The Kingdom he decided to seek out the advice of a future Hall of Famer and fellow fireballer Nolan Ryan Ryan had been a late bloomer as well one that had struggled with walks massively early in his career he knew exactly what Johnson was going through so what did Ryan have to say well for starters he suggested that Johnson make a few adjustments to his mechanics including landing on the ball of his right foot and not the heel as he Strode towards the plate this would keep his momentum going home plate instead of third base and hopefully improve his control he also offered some much needed words of encouragement to the big Lefty later that season in late September the ritual Big Unit faced his mentor at Arlington Stadium in Texas Johnson threw 160 pitches and struck out 18 Ranger hitters he would never again be the same pitcher Johnson also found some additional resolve that off season from more purse Source his father Bud had died from heart issues that Christmas while Randy was en route to the hospital he never got to say goodbye to his father and later said that from that day forward he realized that baseball was just a game it wasn't life or death and he resolved to be the best player he could be and boy was he ever good tonight [Music] in 1993 the noon improved Johnson went 19-8 leading the ale with 308 strikeouts and finishing second in the league Scion voting his era plus jumped almost 30 points all the way up to 135. on top of all of this he managed to walk just 99 hitters his first full season with less than 100 walks allowed after a dominant strike short in 1994 season in which he paid 208 in just 172 Innings The Big Unit had his best season to date in 1995 going 18-2 with 294 strikeouts along with leading the league with a 2.48 ERA this all culminated in his first and only Al Cy Young Award Johnson also pitched the Mariners into and through the playoffs that year beating the Angels nine to one in a one-game playoff before beating the Yankees in game three of the divisional series and returning in game 5 to pitch three Innings of relief as the Mayors won the game in 11 Innings and the series Johnson and the Mariners magical season came to an end against the Indians in the ALCS but the team armed with their newly minted left-handed Ace were now bonafide perennial contenders in the AL flash forward to the 1993 All-Star game at Camden Yards the Phillies left-handed Slugger John Krupp comes up against Johnson in the top of the third inning and The Big Unit lets go of a 98 mile per hour fastball that soars over Crook's head Croc steps out catches his breath and steps back in taking the fastball down the middle then weekly waving at two more pitches before returning to the Dugout as his bemused All-Star teammates look on four years later at the 1997 All-Star Game Johnson's former expo's teammate Larry Walker comes to the plate and experiences a similar missile from Johnson the fast thinking Walker turns his helmet around and marches to the right-handed batters box to take a pitch to The Delight of everyone in the ballpark aside from Amy Johnson that is Walker's a b ended a bit better for him as he turned back around and took a walk though not before registering another iconic highlight for The Big Unit another change of note during this time was Johnson's increasing usage of his nasty and I do mean nasty slider he embarrassed many of hit her with a sweeping pitch including Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin who once swung at one that went between his legs increased Johnson could throw the exploding pitch for a strike in any count too which meant hitters could never dig in and sit on the fastball even in fastball counts that's pretty rough when the fastball you can sit on is over 100 miles per hour from a nearly sidearmed slot the only thing that could hold Johnson back by this point was injuries unfortunately he missed most of the 1996 season after undergoing major back surgery something that would irritate him at times for the rest of his career but he returned once again to his All-Star form in 1997 going 20 and 4 with 291 strikeouts and a personal best 2.28 ERA twice that season he struck out 19 batters in a game and at the height of the steroid era the Mayors won the American League West by six games that season but were eliminated by the Baltimore Orioles and ALDS with Johnson losing both of his starts to another Hall of Famer Mike mussina a pretty anticlimactic end to what amounted to a Monumental season for The Big Unit and so Johnson entered the last year of his Mariners contract in 1998. the team had just committed to long-term deals with his two other stars Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffin Junior and The Big Unit was expecting a big payday as well but he was now 34 years old recently coming off major back surgery and had lots of innings under his belt at this point so when Johnson got off to a slow start that season the managers decided to pull the trigger on a trade instead of a long-term deal sending him to the Astros for three players this was to put it mildly a big mistake the starting pitchers like Mike Hampton and Shane Reynolds already in tow adding Johnson to the mix basically gave the Astros three number one starters and quickly made them the favorites in the National League when the news of the Johnson trade broke the Astros Hall of Fame first baseman Jeff Bagwell was in a bar with some teammates after a game in Pittsburgh and he promptly bought a round of drinks for everyone in the house bagwell's enthusiasm was not misplaced two days later Johnson made his Houston debut against the Pirates striking out 12 in his first start he followed that with back-to-back complete Game shutouts and as the entire baseball world was enthralled with the Home Run race between Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa that fall of 98 Johnson quietly and completely dominated the national League he went 10-1 with an absurd 1.28 era and 11 starts along with a ridiculous 322 era plus leading Houston to win their division by a comfortable 12 and a half games Randy's dominance continued into that postseason he pitched two games in the nlds against the Padres and posted a 1.93 era in them but the Astros bats went silent and he got virtually no run support and lost both games the 102 win Astros were taken down by the pods would go on to lose themselves to the Yankees in the fall classic now free agent and after his remarkable run in Houston Johnson was again one of the most desirable players in the game still at 35 years old most in baseball honestly felt that the big unit's days were probably behind him but Randy Johnson was just getting warmed up in 1999 the Arizona Diamondbacks were just entering their second season in the league and they were desperate to make a splash by signing a big name free agent to the young Squad so they signed the Aging Johnson to a four-year 52 million dollar contract that seemed like a lot of money to give to a pitcher in his late 30s especially for an expansion team but the D-backs were eager to make a splash and make a splash they did during his Four Season run with Arizona Johnson would win the NL Cy Young every single year and reel off one of the best stretches by any pitcher in baseball history let's break it down by 1999 Johnson had added a reliable two-seam fastball to his repertoire a 91 mile per hour cousin to his 98 mile per hour Force seamer he could throw it for strikes and use it to get right-handers out down and away it also gave him a certified ground ball pitch he would utilize his updated repertoire to Great results in that first season in Arizona leading the league in Innings with 271 era Plus at 184 era at 2.48 fifth at 2.76 and strikeouts with a mind-numbing 364. he helped transform an expansion team that won 65 games the year before into a hundred win Juggernaut that lost in the NL Division Series to the Mets this wouldn't be the last time that Johnson would lead his D-backs in the playoffs however Johnson kicked off the 2000 season by having one of the most dominant months of any player in baseball history seriously what he did in April 2000 is right up there with Sammy Sosa hitting 20 home runs in June 1998 where oral hershiser's scoreless September in 1988 in April 2000 Johnson went 6-0 with 64 strikeouts and a 0.91 era he had three complete games and two shutouts and was on the mound for his team for all but 15 outs in those starts The Big Unit was 36 and though he often had to spend time between Innings lying flat in a Dugout Runway to nurses surgically repaired back he was better than ever going 19-7 with another 347 strikeouts easily winning his third career Cy Young that September Johnson struck out Mike Lowell of the Florida Marlins for his 3 000th strikeout the Diamondbacks failed to make the playoffs but added a key roster piece late in that season veteran right-hander Kurt Schilling Schilling was the yin to Johnson's Yang relaxed extroverted and talkative where Johnson was quiet introverted and thoroughly the two opposites attracted wins immediately and would dominate the league in 2001 like almost no combo ever has so let's get to it 2001 first Johnson had one of the oddest things ever happened to a major league player happened to him in a spring training game this foreign that's right A Johnson fastball struck a dove in mid-flight on the way to home plate the umpires declared it a no pitch while Giant's second baseman Jeff Kent picked up the bird with his bare hands and took it back to the Dugout aside from the circus Place Johnson was making plenty of other memories in 2001 as well on May 8th he tied the Major League record by striking out 20 Cincinnati Reds in a single game Johnson and Manny Clemons remained the only pitchers to ever strike out 18 or more batters in a nine inning game on three separate occasions the 2001 season Johnson struck out a personal best 372 batters behind only Nolan Ryan and Sandy Koufax for the single season record more than 37 percent of the hitters that Johnson faced that year were set down on strikes and he faced a ton of hitters 994 to be exact and wrapped a pitching almost 250 Innings he had a 21-6 record with a 2.49 era winning his fourth Cy Young Award but most importantly he and Kurt Schilling also a 20-game winner led the Diamondbacks to a division crown and birthed in the World Series against the New York that's when things would truly get nuts for Randy in game two of the series Johnson threw a three hit shutout in game six for the Diamondbacks trailing three games to two Johnson won his second game with another solid outing and then in game seven with the Yankees taking a 2-1 lead into the eighth inning Johnson came out in relief on zero day's rest and retired all four batters he faced to keep the game close and so when this happened Johnson was the pitcher on the hook for the win picking up his third victory of the series it was a magical championship for Arizona and perhaps even more so for The Big Unit Johnson filed this up with perhaps the best full season of his career in 2002 going 24-5 for the 2.32 era 195 era plus and his 5th straight 300K season finishing with 334 punches he claimed baseball's pitching Triple Crown in route to his fourth straight Cy Young and fifth overall in 2003 Johnson and arthroscopic surgery on his right knee cutting off a season in which he struggled overall relative to his first four years in the desert putting up an era in the fours for the first time since 1989 he would massively rebound 2004 however again leaving league in strikeouts with 290 while winning 16 games with a 2.60 era he also became at 41 the oldest pitcher in baseball history to throw a perfect game during a May 18th matchup with Atlanta Johnson struck out 13 Braves on his fateful day with his 117th and final pitch being clocked at 98 miles per hour after the 2004 season the Diamondbacks decided to cut some salary so they traded the now 42 year old Legend to the New York Yankees for three prospects it was somehow his first time pitching for a big Market Team Johnson won 17 games in 2005 and 2006 for the Yankees who won the AL East both seasons however during this period his era ballooned almost a full two and a half runs from where it was with Arizona all the way to exactly five at the end of his final season with the Yanks during that off-season Johnson had lowered back surgery yet again before being traded back to the Diamondbacks for four players in 2007. he made just 10 starts that season thanks to to more back surgery putting up solid if on spectacular numbers in the games he did Pitch and Then followed it up with an 11-10 season with a 3.91 era in 2008. he finished his career with the Giants The Following Season notching his 300th career win in a game versus the Nationals he was 45 years old at the time and so a legendary career came to an end 22 Big League Seasons 303 wins a 3.29 era five Cy Young's a World Series Championship a 10-time All-Star all while striking out 4875 batters second to only known Ryan all time and the most ever by a left-hander in 2015 Johnson was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of Eligibility getting the third most votes ever cast his run of dominance from 1992 to 2004 shouldn't be overlooked as well during this period he led the league in strikeouts every full season he pitched aside from one the year he didn't was 1997 when Johnson struck out 291 finishing just 1K behind Roger Clemens the last interesting and quite frankly scary based out I'll mention about Johnson is the fact that he hit 190 batters in his career more than any pitcher in over a century I guess it makes sense why all those batters were so terrified all those years the six foot ten Johnson stuck out like a sore thumb when he first entered the big leagues at 25 by age 45 he stood out as a legend a player of the sort we will likely never see again when do you think we'll see another 41 year old throw a perfect game or a pitcher Notch 360 or more strikeouts in a season three years in a row or win for consecutive Cy Youngs or win three separate Games in One World Series or strike out almost 5 000 career batters all these reasons are why we here at MTC believe we can confidently say that they'll never be another Randy Johnson thanks for watching leave a like if you enjoyed the vid and click this playlist for more essay videos just like this one have a great day everyone

Channel: Made The Cut

Views: 1,635,215

Keywords: MLB, baseball, 2022, mlb baseball, baseball videos, braves, sf giants, mlbscores, stlouis cardinals, houstonastros, espn mlb, shohei ohtani, mlb schedule, babe ruth, ohtani, cubs schedule, red sox schedule, phillies schedule, yankees schedule, mlb rumors, dodgers, dodgers schedule

Id: btLNBE5drAE

Length: 17min 25sec (1045 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 12 2023