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PERSONAL:
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- Randy's Dad, Bud Johnson, was a World War II vet and a police officer in Northern California. He raised Randy and his three sisters and two brothers to know that there was right and there was wrong, good and bad, success and failure. No blurring, no gray-area, no in-between. "He was a disciplinarian," Johnson said. "Sneaking out of the house, driving under age – exciting things, but I learned quick not to do them."
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Randy says his earliest memory of playing baseball is "Throwing a tennis ball against the garage door where I had taped a strike zone, then having my dad tell me to pound all the nails back in the door since the bounce of the ball was making them stick out." He also recalled, "Later, in Little League, some parents didn't want me to pitch, being afraid for their kids."
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Johnson remembers the high school growth spurt that brought him to a gangly 6-feet, 10 inches.
"I felt like part of a freak show," Randy said. "I was the object of everybody's jokes and teases. And it hurt. But it wasn't within my personality to lash out. So instead, I went into a shell and became very defensive. I felt like I grew up in the center ring of a three-ring circus."
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Randy pitched a perfect game in his last outing in high school ball (Livermore, California, High School).The Braves drafted Johnson in the third round in 1982, but he wouldn't sign. "That was the days of the early radar guns, and I remember us all sitting there with our guns on the dugout watching this kid," said Paul Snyder, Braves director of scouting. "You watched him and he was a bunch of legs and arms, but you knew he would grow into his body and fastball. So we took him. But his parents couldn't agree on what to do. One wanted him to go to college, the other toplay for us. It got so intense between them as a family, we just backed off." Randy turned down the $55,000, which was a huge signing bonus for a player not taken in the first round.
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In 1985, Johnson led the nation in walks (104) at USC.May 25, 1989, the Expos traded Randy and pitchers Brian Holman and Gene Harris to the Mariners for P Mark Langston.Randy was difficult to coach when he first signed. But he is, and always has been, very competitive. In 1986, San Francisco Giants Manager Felipe Alou talked about being Johnson's manager in the minor leagues, with the West Palm Beach Expos. There was the one about Johnson driving around town in a small convertible, and at 6-foot-10 being so tall that he was looking over the windshield to see the road.
And another one about Johnson single-handedly challenging the entire Vero Beach Dodgers (FSL) club to a fight after they laughed at him for trying to make a play on a foul ball that landed on the dugout roof. There were no takers.
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Alou also related a story of getting a call from the local police late one night because Johnson had been picked up for driving with an invalid license. Johnson was scheduled to pitch the next day, but by the time Alou got his young player free and back to the team hotel, it was close to 4 a.m. The manager told his player to forget making the start, but Johnson was adamant about playing. "He didn't pitch well," Alou said. "He threw a bunch of balls over the screen. But he was tenacious." (Tony Kuttner-MLB.com-7/9/04)
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Randy pitched a no-hitter over the Tigers, June 2, 1990 and credited his purchase of a set of drums for preparing him for it. "I played the drums before I came to the park, and it seemed to settle me down. I was a lot calmer than usual before a start," Randy said. It was the first no-hitter in Mariner history. He said his last no-hitter was a seven-inning perfect game to end his Livermore (California) High School career.
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In July 1990, Randy, who is known to his teammates as "Big Unit", explained why he wears a coat and tie when the Mariners are on the road: "You never know when you might meet Mrs. Unit." Of course, he has since gotten married. And they have three children.
It was Tim Raines, Sr. who gave Johnson the nickname "Big Unit."
Raines came up with the nickname when he ran into Johnson, literally, one day and said "Man, you're one big unit".
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- Late in April 1991, Randy was called for a balk, leading to an opponent's run, after he was distracted when the Mariner Moose threw a bag of peanuts!
- Randy gets up at nine a.m. on the days he's scheduled to start and goes directly to the International House of Pancakes for a stack, heavy on maple syrup. During breakfast he reads everything in the newspaper, except the sports section. Then he goes home, plays his drums for an hour and heads for the park.
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He stays in touch with the ultra-hip rock music scene, especially when he was pitching in Seattle. He doesn't know any members of Nirvana or Pearl Jam, the area's marquee acts, but he is friends with several guys in Soundgarden and Queensryche. "Scott Rockenfield – he's the drummer for Queensryche – he gave me one of his drum kits and autographed it," Johnson says. "So I bang on some of his drums in my house."On Christmas Day in 1992, Randy's dad, Bud Johnson, suffered an aortic aneurysm while Randy was flying from Seattle to spend the holday with his parents. Bud was dead by the time Randy reached the hospital.
"I saw him in his pajamas and just hugged him and cried," Johnsons says. "I talked to him. Everything spilled out. Mostly it was, 'Why? Wht did you have to leave?' I made a promise then that nothing would get in my way, that I'd become the best pitcher I could be."
Randy dedicated the season opener of 1993 to his father, Bud. Randy was crushed. Bud, a policeman at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California came to Randy's high school games in full uniform after work. He had bad knees, but would crouch on the asphalt outside their home in Walnut Creek, California and catch Randy when he was a teen. And it was always Bud who received a call when Johnson pitched a great game. Randy won the season opener eight-one. One of six children, Randy says baseball gave him a special bond with his dad. He keeps a picture of his smiling father in his locker.
"Ever since my father passed away, it's brought me closer to my family and brought me more into focus with baseball," Randy says. "Now I realize how precious time is. Every time I call one of my family members I tell them I love them. Life is very short and you have to enjoy it while you can."
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After his father's death, Randy looked beyond the game and found a serenity that he once doubted would be his. He became a born-again Christian, giving his testimony before 3,000. His conversion came in Oakland where he heard a challenging chapel message by former quarterback Donnie Moore of Pacific Univ. "There are three musts in life," Moore said. "You must die, you must be judged, and you must be born again." Those seeking rebirth were asked to raise a hand. The speaker saw Randy's long arm go up. There was prayer time, both silent and audible.
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He got married to wife Lisa in November 1993, too, changing his lifestyle. He and Lisa joined a neighborhood church.Randy and Lisa have a daughter, Samantha, born in 1995, and a son, Tanner, born in 1996. Their third child, daughter Willow Marie, was born in April 1998. And their fourth, a daughter, Alexandria, born in December 1999.
In 1998, the Johnsons built a home in Arizona that includes an NFL-sized exercise room.Randy had deep involvement in Mariner chapel services, when he was in Seattle. They were overseen by Chuck Snyder, an advertising executive. Snyder says of Randy, "He's gone 180 degrees in his faith and his attitude with others. The death of his dad had left him hurting." Often Randy looks to the skies when he's on the mound. "The press still thinks he's honoring his dad," Snyder says. "But we all know it's his heavenly Father."
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While some in baseball perceive Christianity brings passiveness to a player, the believers simply reflect the new peace and calmness that his entered their lives. "If anything I became a warrior out there," Randy said. "I became stronger."
After becoming a Christian before the 1993 season, Johnson went on to lead the Majors in strikeouts and says his velocity went up in the later innings. "People want to say that Christians are passive," Randy says. "Well, look at my 1993 season. That was anything but passive."
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Johnson signed a four-year, $20.5 million contract with the Mariners in January 1994.In 1994, Randy had the fewest innings ever for a 200-strikeout pitcher, beating out Nolan Ryan's old record of 203 K's in 173 innings.Randy was greatly troubled when he accidentally beaned J.T. Snow during an exhibition game in mid-March 1997. Snow's orbital bone was fractured around his left eye. It would have been worse had Snow's wrist not taken some of the heat of Johnson's 94 mph fastball.
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Randy's best friend outside of baseball, might be Kim Thayil, guitarist for the rock group Soundgarden.
Or else it is James Hetfield of Metallica. They became friends in 1997, and have grown closer over the years. Now, they often attend each others games/concerts. When the headbanger ruptured a disk in his neck in 2002, Johnson hooked him up with a neck specialist.
"I have maybe four friends. Randy is one of those guys I can talk to. He listens. He doesn't blow me off," Hetfield said. (1998)
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Late in April 1998, The American League suspended Randy for three games for throwing at Indians OF Kenny Lofton in an April 15 game.Randy and former Mariner teammate David Segui got in a fight in July 1998. It started over loud music. Randy said he was entertaining guests in front of his locker, where two stereo speakers were located, and Segui turned up the music. "I tried to hold a conversation with my guests and I basically told David Segui, 'Could the stereo be any louder,' – kind of sarcastic," Johnson said. "He gave me a sarcastic answer as well and tempers flared."
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July 31, 1998, The Astros sent P Freddy Garcia, SS Carlos Guillen and P John Halama to the Mariners for Randy.November 30, 1998, Randy signed a four-year, $53 million contract with Arizona's Diamondbacks.
JOHNSON'S PHOTOGRAPHY
One of Johnson's favorite pastimes is taking pictures. He first got into photography as a teenager in Oakland. Later he took photos for his college newspaper, the Daily Trojan, when he was at USC.
Randy says he takes a lot of pictures while walking to the ballpark. "It relaxes me. I can focus on something other than taking the mound," he says. His first camera was a small Kodak Instamatic. Now, his favorite camera is a Pentax 67 Medium Format. He says he likes to take both color and black and white photos.
"I'm not saying Annie Leibovitz has anything to worry about," says Rob Sheppard, editor of Outdoor Photographer Magazine. "But his close-ups capture some very nice moments. You could tell that as a college student, he knew what he was doing and was quite competent."
Johnson was actually recruited to work for the student paper because of his size: The staff of the Daily Trojan held an annual flag football game ("The Blood Bowl") against UCLA's student newspaper, and then-Trojan photo editor John SooHoo thought the Big Unit's height might come in handy.
"Heck, I didn't even know he was a baseball player," says SooHoo, now a photographer with the Los Angeles Dodgers. "I just knew he was a big guy who could help us."
Although the Trojans lost Johnson's debut Blood Bowl game in 1982, he went on to become a reliable, if unspectacular, photographer. He took your standard college newspaper pictures – students moving into dorms, warm spring days.
Since his major-league debut with the Montreal Expos in 1988, Johnson has continued to pursue photography as a hobby. His pictures were on display for the first time at Art Expo '90 in Los Angeles. In 1991, while a Seattle Mariner, he spent a half-hour above Manhattan, shooting the skyline from a helicopter owned by Jeff Smulyan, the team's then-chairman. Two years later, he was angry with the organization when they were unable to turn several of his pictures into a calendar, which he wanted the Mariners to sell to raise money for Seattle's homeless population.
Although Johnson has long had a reputation as one of the game's more surly players, he finds common ground with sports photographers. Before his death from cancer last year, Sports Illustrated's V.J. Lovero was a Johnson favorite. "V.J. took a picture of Randy playing drums way back, and I think that started the connection," says Maureen Cavanagh, a Sports Illustrated photography editor. "He's very interested in lighting and the set-ups. And it's not just a passing hobby. He's been serious about it for a long time." (Last 5 paragraphs: Jeff Pearlman, Newsday-1/14/05)
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Randy also has a tremendous collection of baseball autographs, including Lefty Grove, Cy Young, Babe Ruth and every Cy Young Award winner for over the last 10 years. "I love the history of the game," Johnson said. "It's one thing to have an autograph, but I enjoy reading what they've done. Kid Nichols – do you know he was the only pitcher who has ever won 30 games seven times?"Randy does one of the most extensive workout programs in the game. While you won't see him running or shagging balls in the outfield, Johnson's exercising is very time-consuming. He keeps the exercise bike's wheels spinning like no one else. And his other exercises for the muscles in his legs and arms made him one of the strongest players, pound-for-pound, when he was with the Diamondbacks.
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The way he prepares mentally – well, it's none of your business! He only says that his mental preparation is as important as his physical preparation. He sits at his locker for hours on the days he pitches, at times reading stat sheets, but often simply staring at the floor. He doesn't even tell his teammates, but some say it must be some home-made kind of meditation that he does.Johnson spends time between innings flat on his back in the dugout runway to pamper a surgically repaired back.Randy has the home phone numbers of Carlton, Koufax, Ryan and Spahn programmed into his cell phone.
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Randy sported his new, more conservative, clean-cut look for the first time August 23, 2000.Pitching in an exhibition game against the Giants March 24, 2001, Randy fired a pitch that intercepted a dove on its way to home plate. The bird flew over D'Back C Rod Barajas' head, amid a sea of feathers a few feet from home plate. "I'm sitting there waiting for it, and I'm expecting to catch the thing, and all you see is an explosion," Barajas said. "It's crazy. There's still feathers down there." Giants OF Calvin Murray was at the plate, and said, "The ball was three feet from the plate and the ball just disappeared. It exploded. Nothing but feathers everywhere – just poof!" Johnson was not amused. "I didn't think it was all that funny," he said.
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Midway through the 2001 season, Randy began a pool-based conditioning routine and was encouraged by the results.Randy squats down behind the back of the mound before each game he starts, bowing his head and saying a prayer in the memory of his father.He works hard at working hard. He disdains excuses, showing intense drive and determination. "I'm accountable," Johnson said. "And that's a word most people shy away from.""I pitch with a lot of anger," he said. "It's not right or wrong, but it's the best way for me to go about my business."Randy and wife Lisa were set up to go on a date by friends. "We hit it off because of his sense of humor. He's very dry and witty and we both laughed a lot."
When it was suggested that not many people know the dry, witty Randy Johnson, Lisa laughed. "Yeah, well, he's pretty guarded now. We never expected him to be in the spotlight. Randy really doesn't care for it too much. (Really) the only time most people see him is when he's pitching, which would be like seeing someone else during their college finals. I don't know many people who'd be loose then, do you?"
Lisa loves Randy for his wryness. And there are other reasons she loves him: he is kind; because he was so moved by the birth of his four children that he was beyond overwhelmed; because he loves her independence and honesty, and there are not many men and eve fewer jocks who gravitate toward that kind of woman; because he says, "What I do on the field will come and go, but my kids and my wife are what matters;" and because he just loves having his children around, even on the day he pitches.
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- Randy and Lisa live amid five Jack Nicklaus-designed golf courses at the Desert Mountain Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. He has a putting green in his backyard. His half-dozen sets of golf clubs are, because of his 6-foot-10 frame, custom-fitted. His drivers have 50-inch shafts, and his irons are all three inches longer than standard.
- Randy has a daughter who lives in the state of Washington, from a previous relationship. She was born in 1989.
- March 24, 2003: Randy signed a two-year, $33 million contract extension with the D'Backs. The owner of the Arizona team, Jerry Colangelo, recalled that he was criticized for signing Johnson in December 1998, when Johnson was 35 and was two years removed from back surgery. "How many 39-year-old pitchers are in the position he's in?" Colangelo said. "Well, it's because he's such a unique person. It's because of his competitiveness. It's because of his passion, and he does feel accountable to be the very best that he can be."
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May 18, 2004: Johnson pitched the 17th perfect game in Major League history, beating the Atlanta Braves 2-0, striking out 13. At age 40, Randy was the oldest to fire a perfecto.
How did he celebrate the perfect game? He went to a discount CD store in Atlanta and bought about 10 CD's.After the 2004 season, Randy went on the tour of Japan with a group of Major League all-stars, playing a group of Japanese all-stars.January 8, 2005: The Yankees sent right-hander Javier Vazquez, prospects Brad Halsey and Dioner Navarro, and $9 million in cash to the Diamondbacks, acquiring Johnson.
Randy was paid $10 million in 2005 and $14.5 million each in 2006 and 2007. While his deal with Arizona called for $6 million due in 2005 to be deferred at 2 percent interest, the Yankees are deferring a total of $9 million without interest – $3.5 million payable in both 2008 and 2009, and $2 million in 2010. All of the incentives in the original contract, such as All-Star selection and prominence in voting for the Cy Young Award, were voided. Furthermore, the $9 million payment to the Diamondbacks, to help offset Vazquez's salary, is payable in annual installments of $3 million.
Under his contract with the Yankees, Randy retained his two courtside tickets for the Phoenix Suns through 2007-08; he has the right to purchase them after that. His previous contract with the Diamondbacks included tickets through the 2010-11 season.
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Randy was asked about how the knee brace he wears that is dipped in liquid titanium, works. "The titanium penetrates through the knee and allows the positive and negative ions in your body to align, so you get blood flowing to that area that normally wouldn't flow as freely," Johnson explained. "It's much like the golfers who wear the gold or copper braccelets on their wrist when they are playing."Johnson also uses a hyperbaric chamber. "It's just common knowledge that any athlete who is depleted of oxygen tries to get more oxygen intake for quicker recovery. You see football player who, after running for a 30- or 40-yard touchdown, the first thing they are doing is the oxygen tank."
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Randy's older brother, Greg, died early in December, 2006. Brian Cashman, Yankees G.M. called Johnson to offer condolences. Toward the end of that conversation, Brian expressed genuine concern that Randy's family was OK. That is when it became clear that Johnson would prefer to pitch closer to his home in Arizona.January 8, 2007: The Diamondbacks sent reliever Luis Vizcaino and Minor League pitchers Ross Ohlendorf, Steven Jackson and infielder Alberto Gonzalez to the Yankees, acquiring Johnson and $2 million.
Randy signed a two-year deal that will pay Johnson $26 million. According to The Associated Press, Johnson will receive a $12 million signing bonus, $3.5 million of which is payable in 2007, $500,000 in 2008 and $4 million each in 2009 and 2010. Johnson will have a salary of $4 million in 2007 and $10 million in 2008.
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December 26, 2008: Johnson signed a one-year, $8 million contract with the Giants.June 4, 2009: Randy beat the Washington Nationals to win his 300th game on the first try.November 16, 2009: Johnson declared free agency.January 5, 2009: Randy announced he was retiring.
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PITCHING:
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- Johnson was total domination for most of his career. But, he always was more than strikeouts. When Randy got his breaking stuff down, his fastball up and in, and his fastball boring in on the righthanded hitters, he would win virtually every night.
Because of Johnson's incredible height, he has little margin for error in the mechanics of his delivery. A difference of an inch or so in his release point or arm angle can put the ball a good foot off target once it nears home plate.
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Randy has an exceptional four-seam FASTBALL which has been clocked as high as 100 mph. But now, he tops out at 93 mph, and usually pitches at 88-91 mph.
"I'll say it was fun when I was throwing 98, but more of a challenge when I was throwing 91 to 93," Johnson said in April, 2009. "I'm the majority now. I'm not the minority anymore."
And he has a two-seam fastball that he runs in on righthanded hitters and gets ground-ball outs. That two-seamer is about 86-90 mph -- changeup velocity for the Big Unit. He also has a sharp-breaking CURVE, a wicked, devastating 85-89 mph SLIDER that destroys the batting avg. of righthanded hitters, breaking on their shoetops, and an 84-85 mph SPLIT-FINGER pitch as a changeup that can keep hitters guessing, because he only throws it a few times a game. That slider breaks right above the hitter's shoetops.
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Midway through the 2001 season, because of Curt Schilling's influence, Randy started working that splitter into his repertoire. By mid-August, hitters saw it eight-to-ten times a game. And he improved that spliter since then. By 2004, he was throwing it 20-25 times in some games.He has a real compact delivery. It's nice and smooth and looks effortless. Early in counts hitters often bite at the two-seam fastball that is 91 mph, because it appears more hittable than his 98 mph four-seamer. When the count is three-and-one or three-and-two, he is just as likely to throw a slider as a fastball.
"It's harder for someone who is 6-10," Johnson said during 2009 spring training. "Your limbs are longer. It's harder to keep under control. Your center of gravity is a lot higher off the ground. It makes all the difference. I just tried to simplify things, lessen the arm and leg movement and be as compact as possible."
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His curve will freeze a hitter. It has an outstanding down-and-in motion to righthanded hitters. Like his fastball, he doesn't have solid command of it. But when he gets it over, nobody does much with it.With the arm-length of his 6'10" body, the ball gets up there in rapid fashion.Has the knack of not giving up hits after walks, of striking people out after giving up walks.Lefthanded hitters still dread facing him. They hardly ever hit a homer off him, either – especially in his pre-40-year-old days.
When he's on, his delivery and his fastball are impossible.
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- In 1991, Randy compiled the highest walk ratio of the century for any AL pitcher who worked 200 innings or more – an astonishing 6.79 walks per nine innings. The old record was 6.74, by Bob Feller in 1938.
- On September 27, 1992, Randy struck out 18 batters through eight innings, tying the AL record for a lefthander, before departing with a no-decision after throwing 160 pitches. Johnson was playing cards before the game when Nolan Ryan called to congratulate him on how well he'd been pitching.
Earlier in the 1992 season, when the Rangers were in Seattle, Ryan called Johnson over to watch his workout and talk to him power pitcher to power pitcher. Then, Texas pitching coach Tom House also was there and had spotted a flaw in Johnson's delivery: As the lefty completed his follow-through, he wasn't driving to the plate.
"It was a coaching moment," House, who prides himself on being a teacher first and everything else second, said. "It was a coaching moment," House says. "I'm sure he had been given similar information before, but on this day we had a kid who was ready to listen."
Nolan Ryan related that he was erratic as a youngster, too, but hard work and perseverence, control and proper mechanics eventually prevailed. He told Randy to quit worrying about walks. He told him about how his most important pitch shouldn't be the fastball, but the slider.
"We discussed his mechanics some and his mental preparation to the game," Ryan said. "We talked about his approach to setting up hitters, using the slider."
In 1993, Randy said his talk with Nolan made a difference in his approach to the game. It showed in his performance. M's C Dave Valle said, "I've never seen Randy more content as a person. And it has nothing to do with the way he's performing. As an individual, as a man, the priorities of his life have fallen into place."
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Johnson doesn't try to strike out batters. "That's like asking Frank Thomas if he tries to hit home runs," Randy once said. "It's like saying you're going to try to hit a golf ball hard off a tee. When you think like that, it doesn't happen."In 1995, Randy won the American League ERA and strikeout crowns. He had the AL's lowest opponent's batting avg. against (.201), including just .129 by lefthanded batters, and set the Major League single-season record for strikeouts per nine innings at 12.35, breaking Nolan Ryan's mark of 11.48, set in 1987.
And Randy also established the AL record for best win percentage (minimum 20 decisions):.900, breaking Ron Guidry's mark of .893 (25-3) in 1978. For all of this, Randy was the winner of the 1995 Cy Young Award for the American League.
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Pitch counts don't mean anything when Johnson pitches. In fact, his ERA is lower from the seventh through ninth innings than his overall ERA. And he says that because he is a fastball pitcher, it is natural for him to throw a lot of pitches. "It's not uncommon for me to throw 140-145 pitches a game," he said. "When you're striking a lot of guys out, there are going to be guys who foul a lot of pitches off you."On June 24, 1997, the Big Unit struck out 19 Oakland A's, setting an American League record for a lefthander.White Sox announcer and former Major League pitcher Ed Farmer calls Randy's heater a radio fastball. "You don't see them. You just listen to them go by."
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In 1997, he had the lowest batting avg. allowed by an AL starting pitcher (.194). Randy reached 300 strikeouts in his 29th start of the 1999 season, the fastest to 300 K's in history. He broke Pedro Martinez record, who reached 300 in 31 starts in 1997.- In 1999, Randy became only the second pitcher to win Cy Young Awards in both leagues, following Gaylord Perry. And the day after Johnson won his Cy, Pedro Martinez became the third pitcher in history to win the Cy Young in both leagues. Both pitchers again won Cy Youngs in 2000. Randy joined Sandy Koufax as the only back-to-back winners of the Cy Young in NL history and is just the eighth pitcher to win three awards in his career.
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In 1999, Randy held lefthanded hitters to a .103 batting average and .126 slugging percentage.The Big Unit threw at least 400 more pitches in 1999 than anyone in baseball: 4,206 (according to STATS, Inc.), while leading the Majors in complete games.During the 2000 season, Randy said, "I'm as serious about the game as I've ever been – probably more serious. I had a long conversation (in 1999) with Steve Carlton. He told me that on the days he pitched, he felt it was his responsibility to make everyone around him better, to lift his teammates. That's what I try to do."
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In 2000, he became just the third pitcher since 1900 to win six games in April. Vida Blue and Dave Stewart are the only other pitchers to win six in April, but Randy did it with a better ERA (0.91).On September 10, 2000, The Marlins' Mike Lowell was Randy's 3,000th strikeout. Johnson kept that ball for himself, but he gave the ball from strikeout #3001 to D'Backs owner Jerry Colangelo.Nolan Ryan is the only other pitcher to have three consecutive 300-strikeout seasons.Randy led the NL in strikeouts in 2000 with 347, which was 65 more than his nearest rival. He also tied for most complete games (eight) with teammate Curt Schilling. And he held hitters to a .224 batting average. But he also led all of baseball in pitches thrown (4,026) for the second year in a row. For the two seasons 1999 and 2000, Johnson was 23-9, 2.39 before the All Star break and 13-7 with a 2.78 ERA after it.
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On May 8, 2001, Randy struck out 20 Cincinnati Reds, becoming the first lefthander in history to perform that feat. And only Roger Clemens (twice) and Kerry Wood had ever done it in 9 innings, like Johnson. Tom Cheney struck out 21 in a 16-inning game. The only other lefty to have as many as 19 was Steve Carlton, in 1969, in a game he lost to the Mets, 4-3.Randy was named the 2001 recipient of the Cy Young Award, garnering 30 of 32 first place votes. Teammate Curt Schilling got the other two first place votes. It marked the third time since the award was given that two teammates finished one-two. Brooklyn's Don Newcombe and Sal Maglie finished one-two in 1956, and Los Angeles reliever Mike Marshall finished ahead of teammate Andy Messersmith in 1974. The Big Unit's Major League-leading ERA was one-half run lower than Schilling's 2.98. Randy joined more elite company: The New York Yankees' Roger Clemens has won the award five times, followed by Johnson, Steve Carlton and Greg Maddux with four awards.
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In 2002, Randy became the first pitcher in Major League history to strike out at least 300 batters in five consecutive seasons! And he won his fourth consecutive Cy Young Award!Johnson is not normal when it comes to pitch counts, either. He can throw 115-125 or even 130 pitches a game and come back five days later at normal strength.Warm-up Ritual: Before he warms up from the bullpen mound before one of his starts, Randy likes to play long toss."I think the time and effort that you put into the weight room and the video room and your side sessions is hopefully what you get out of your performance on the mound," Johnson said just before the 2004 season. "I don't ever sell myself short, and I always expect to win because that's the effort that I put into my performance on the day that I pitch and that's the time and effort that I put into preparing for the day that I pitch. I don't expect to lose and that's the bottom line."
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For years, you could tell by the way Randy set his hands if he was going to throw a slider or fastball.In the 10 year period of 1993-through-2002, opposing batters hit only .202 against Randy. That includes 2002, when they only averaged .208.Before the 2003 season, Johnson spent a couple of days with former Big-League pitching coach Tom House and a pitching professor whose tips he hopes will help his arm recover quicker between starts and perhaps even add velocity to his heater. The key is taking even more advantage of his six-foot-ten frame with its long upper body and arms. "He felt like there were things that I could do to actually increase my velocity and deliver the ball closer to home plate by utilizing my height and my release point," Johnson said of House. "For just the two days I was there, it was encouraging. He showed me that I could get six or seven more inches out of my height and delivery. I didn't believe him at first, but we were doing tests and throwing and I was doing that." House persuaded Johnson to alter his delivery so that he releases the ball about six inches closer to the batter than before. Because Johnson is the tallest pitcher in Major-League history at six feet ten, he already looks like he's about 40 feet away from home plate. Now, hitters feel like he's trying to slap them on his follow-through.
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Before Randy's August 20, 2003 start, he made adjustments in his delivery, believing for improved results. He now begins his delivery at his belt instead of having his hands in front of his face.June 29, 2004: Randy struck out his 4,000th batter: Padres 3rd baseman Jeff Cirillo. And on September 15, 2004, he passed Steve Carlton (4,136).
On June 3, 2008, Johnson passed Roger Clemens, moving into 2nd place all time, behind only Nolan Ryan (5,714). For the 2004 season, Johnson led the Major Leagues in strikeout (290) and was second in ERA (2.60) and innings pitched.In 2005, Randy held lefthanded hitters to a .185 average and just one home run in 162 innings, but gave up 31 home runs and a .257 average in 689 at-bats to righthanded batters.
In 2005, Johnson feels that catcher Jorge Posada called too many 2-seam fastballs down and away rather than urging Randy to go inside with his 4-seamer. Johnson's arm action change, and his slider suffered.
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In 2008, Randy held lefthanded batters to a .215 average with not a single home run in 107 at-bats, while righthanded batters hit .267 with 24 homers in 602 at-bats.In 2009, Johnson allowed lefty hitters a .268 average with one home run in 82 at-bats, while righthanded batters had a .260 average with 18 homers in 288 at-bats.LIFETIME STATS: Entering the 2010 season, Johnson had a career record of 303-166 with a 3.29 ERA. Hitters had only managed a .221 batting average and 411 home runs with 3,346 hits in 4,135 innings.
Randy was a a 10-time all-star, 5-time Cy Young Award winner and 303-game winner. He averaged 10.6 whiffs per nine innings for his career -- compared to Nolan Ryan's ratio of 9.5.
Wade Boggs, Tony Gwynn and George Brett, who combined for 16 career batting titles, hit a combined .100 (4-for-40) off the Big Unit.
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