Randy Johnson: Cooperstown’s Intimidating Lefty

Hall of Famer Randy Johnson, the 6 foot 10 inch left-handed starter, had a unique career in many ways. Pitching in a golden age, with some of the greatest starting pitchers in the history of baseball, the Big Unit stood tall both literally and figuratively.

Johnson, with his long hair and scowl, was truly fearsome on the mound. In his own words, Johnson pitched with anger. Because of his height, his near 100 MPH fastball velocity, and his occasional wildness, the Big Unit was one of the most intimidating pitchers in the history of baseball.

Even the best left-handed hitters in the game occasionally woke up with a mysterious ache or pain on the day he was supposed to pitch. Only 12% of the batters he faced batted from the left side, and those who did managed just a .199 average against him. This at bat from John Kruk in the 1993 All-Star Game is classic evidence about how left-handed hitters felt about hitting against him.

This is a tribute to Randy Johnson’s idiosyncratic career, one filled with Cooperstown credientials.

Cooperstown Cred: Randy Johnson (1988-2009, with 6 different teams)

• Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015 (with 97.3% of the vote)
• Career: 303-166 (.646 WL%), 3.29 ERA
• Career: 135 adjusted ERA+, 103.6 WAR (Wins Above Replacement)
• Career: 4,875 strikeouts (2nd most all time to Nolan Ryan)
• Career: 10.6 K/9 IP (most all time with 2,000 minimum IP)
• Let all MLB in strikeouts 8 times
• Had over 300 strikeouts 6 times (tied for most ever with Ryan)
• 5-time Cy Young Award winner (1995 with Seattle, 1999-2002 with Arizona)
• 10-time All-Star
• Finished 1st, 2nd or 3rd in Cy Young voting 9 times
• Co-MVP with Curt Schilling of 2001 World Series (3-0, 1.04 ERA in 17.1 IP)
• Pitched a no-hitter in 1990 (with Seattle) and a perfect game in 2004 (with Arizona)

(cover photo: Arizona Sports)

Randy Johnson: Early Years

Randall David Johnson was born on September 10, 1963 in Walnut Creek, California. From his SABR bio, Johnson’s boyhood idol was a left-handed pitcher from the Oakland A’s, Vida Blue. Johnson was a two-sport star in high school (you’ll be shocked to know that the other sport was basketball).

Randy was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the fourth round of the 1982 draft but decided instead to accept a scholarship to play both baseball and basketball at the University of Southern California. At USC, playing for legendary coach Rod Dedeaux, Johnson was teammates with another future MLB star, Mark McGwire. Big Mac was not just a first and third baseman but a pitcher for the Trojans.

Considering that Dedeaux led USC to 11 NCAA titles, it still amazes me that USC wasn’t able to win one in the two years when Big Mac and the Big Unit played together.

You might be interested to know that, while at USC, Johnson and McGwire pitched to a catcher you might have heard of, future NFL linebacker and head coach Jack Del Rio.

Top Prospect in Montreal

After three years at USC, Randy Johnson was selected by the Montreal Expos in the 2nd round of the 1985 draft.

Johnson still suffered from wildness in the minor leagues but was one of the team’s top prospects because of his eye-popping velocity. In his second full season (with Jacksonville at AA), he walked 128 batters in 140 innings but fanned 163.

In spring training 1988, Johnson was dubbed the “Big Unit” by All-Star Tim Raines, who was a full 14 inches shorter than the tall left-hander. On the mound, Johnson improved a bit with Indianapolis (AAA) in ’88, doing well enough to earn a September call-up with the big club.

With the Expos in ’88. he started 4 games, won 3 of them, posting a 2.42 ERA. Along the way, for those brief few weeks, he showed the form that would ultimately put him in the Hall of Fame. In 26 innings, the Big Unit struck out 25 batters while walking only 7.

Johnson’s September performance was good enough to earn him a spot on the 1989 Opening Day roster but the wildness returned. In 7 starts, he went 0-4 with a 6.67 ERA, walking 26 batters in 29.2 innings. Late in May, first year General Manager Dave Dombrowski made a bold move to help the Expos contend in the N.L. East.

Dombrowski traded Randy Johnson along with two other players to the Seattle Mariners for ace left-hander Mark Langston, who had led the AL in strikeouts three times. The Expos did not make the playoffs and Langston left the team after the ’89 season as a free agent. Suffice it to say, this was not a trade that Dombrowski has ever bragged about.

Randy Johnson’s Seattle Years (1989-1998)

Randy Johnson continued to struggle with his control in his early years in Seattle. He led the American League in walks in 1990, ’91 and ’92. There was, however, one memorable highlight in those early seasons.

It was on June 2, 1990. After two months of struggle, Johnson put it together that night in the Kingdome against the Detroit Tigers. Johnson struck out 8 and walked 6 but he did not give up a run or a hit. The no-hitter was Johnson’s first MLB shutout and it would help him earn his first All-Star berth.

In 1992, his third full season with the Mariners, Johnson was in the middle of a profoundly mediocre campaign as the calendar turned to August. His first start in August was miserable. He gave up 8 runs in 5 innings to the Milwaukee Brewers. Overall, in his first 20 starts of ’92, Johnson had gone 7-13 with a 4.52 ERA.

On a weekend series from August 7-9, the M’s were hosting the Texas Rangers. By coincidence, neither Johnson nor Rangers legend Nolan Ryan were scheduled to pitch in that series.

Anyway, during that weekend, the 28-year old Johnson had a conversation with Ryan, who was still striking out over a batter per inning at the age of 45. Like Johnson, Ryan, in the early years of his career, also struggled with his control, routinely leading the league in both strikeouts and walks.

The Big Unit and the Ryan Express chatted for awhile, and Johnson credits that conversation with turning his career around. Prior to that meeting, Johnson had posted a 4.52 ERA for the year; for the rest of the season it was 2.65. If you look at the “before and after” numbers for Johnson’s entire career, this is the clear turning point.

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Johnson would finish the 1992 season with a 3.77 ERA and, yes, he led the league in walks again but he also led the AL in strikeouts with 241.

Starting in 1993, Randy Johnson went on one of the most dominant twelve-year runs in the history of baseball. In those years, spanning his age 29 to age 40 seasons, the Big Unit was 197-80 (.711 WL%) with a 2.78 ERA and 11.8 strikeouts per 9 innings.

Using advanced metrics, Johnson’s ballpark-adjusted ERA+ was 166 for those twelve seasons (66% above average); his WAR was 83.7. He won his five Cy Youngs during those years and finished 2nd or 3rd four other times.

Glory Years in Seattle

In the first five full seasons after the Ryan chat (1993-97), Randy Johnson was either first, second, or third in the AL Cy Young Award voting four times.

1993 was clearly the breakout season for the Big Unit. He went 19-8 with a 3.24 ERA and a MLB-best 308 strikeouts, the first of five seasons in which he would whiff 300 or more batters. Johnson followed that up with a 13-6 (3.19 ERA) campaign in the strike-shortened 1994 season.

It was in 1995 that Johnson went from All-Star to superstar. The Mariners famously came back from 13 games back in the A.L. West (as of August 2nd) to claim the first division title and playoff berth in the franchise’s history.

The M’s went 36-20 in their last 56 games and Johnson was one of the cogs to that run. In his last 10 starts of ’95, the Big Unit went 7-0 with a 1.45 ERA. That 10-start run included a complete game victory in the tie-breaker game against the California Angels and Mark Langston, the ace lefty he had been traded for five years prior.

For the season, Johnson won 18 games against just 2 losses with a 2.48 ERA and 294 strikeouts. It would earn him the first of his 5 Cy Young Awards.

The 1995 Post-Season

Division champs for the first time in franchise history, the Seattle Mariners were matched up against the AL’s Wild Card entrant, the New York Yankees (this was the first year that Wild Card format was used).

This, of course, was an epic series, with the M’s prevailing in five games. The Yankees had gone up 2 games to 0 at Yankee Stadium but Johnson put the M’s back on track with a Game 3 victory.

After Edgar Martinez‘ 2 home runs and 7 RBI propelled Seattle to a 2-2 series tie, the deciding game was played in the Kingdome on a Sunday.

In Game 5, with the score tied at 4, Johnson came out of the pen in the 9th inning on just one day of rest, putting the Seattle crowd into a frenzy. Manager Lou Piniella later likened it to a gunslinger busting through the saloon doors. Johnson tossed three innings and was the winning pitcher in the 11-win that culminated with Edgar Martinez’ double that led to Ken Griffey’s mad dash home. This remains the signature game in the history of the Seattle Mariners and featured key performances by the M’s two Hall of Famers (Griffey and Johnson) and a game-winning hit by a likely soon-to-be Hall of Famer (Martinez).

Sadly for Seattle, the magic didn’t continue. The Mariners fell in 6 games to the Cleveland Indians. Johnson won Game 3 of the ALCS behind 8 innings of 2-run ball but, perhaps wearing down, he was outpitched by veteran Dennis Martinez in Game 6, losing 4-0.

1996 was a lost season for Johnson. Back surgery limited him to 14 starts and, not surprisingly, the Mariners missed the playoffs.

1997 was sunnier; Johnson went 20-4 with a 2.28 ERA. Johnson finished second to Toronto’s Roger Clemens who may have, ahem, been getting some help. The ’97 campaign was highlighted by two 19-strikeout games for the Big Unit.

In the ALDS, however, Randy struggled, losing twice to Mike Mussina and the Orioles in 2 starts while posting a 5.54 ERA.

Leaving Seattle

In 1998, Johnson was in the last year of his contract. At the age of 34, the Mariners were worried about his long-term durability. Thus the team made a decision (the wrong one in retrospect) to trade their ace left-hander despite the fact that (according to his SABR bio), they drew 9,000 extra fans in the Kingdome every time he toed the rubber. Perhaps bothered by the trade talk, Johnson slumped in ’98, going 9-10 with a 4.33 ERA.

On July 31st, Johnson was traded to the NL Central leaders, the Houston Astros. The move to the senior circuit was like a shot of adrenaline to Johnson and, as it turned out, to the entire Astros team, who won 37 out of 53 games after acquiring their new ace. Johnson, for his part, went 10-1 with a 1.28 ERA in 11 starts with the ‘Stros.

Randy’s October disappointments continued, however. Although the Big Unit pitched well in his two starts, the team scored only 1 run in each outing. The Astros lost in 4 games to the San Diego Padres.

Gunslinger in the Desert

The Arizona Diamondbacks were an expansion franchise in 1998. Team ownership did not want their fans to wait 18 years for a post-season berth (as Seattle’s did) and decided to make a splash in the free agent market in the off-season. Randy Johnson was signed to a 4-year, $52 million contract with a $12 million option for 2003. In addition, the team signed center fielder Steve Finley and traded for left fielder Luis Gonzalez.

The three acquisitions helped the D’Backs to three division titles between 1999 and 2002. The Johnson signing, in particular, was arguably one of the best in the history of free agency. For their $52 million, Arizona got 4 consecutive Cy Young seasons from its ace left-hander.

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The Diamondbacks won 100 games in Johnson’s first season with the club (1999) but lost in 4 games in the NLDS to the New York Mets.

Johnson, despite a Cy Young campaign in the regular season, disappointed in the playoffs, giving up 7 runs in 8.1 innings in Game 1. At that point in his career, in 9 career post-season appearances, Johnson had a middling 2-6 record with a 3.71 ERA.

After missing the playoffs with a 85-win season in 2000, manager Buck Showalter was let go, replaced by first-time skipper Bob Brenly. Under Brenly, the D’Backs were back in the October party in 2001, NL West champs again at 90-72.

Johnson, en route to his fourth Cy Young (third in Arizona), had another memorable moment when he tied the 9-inning MLB record with 20 strikeouts. Facing the Cincinnati Reds at Bank One Ballpark, Johnson did it in style, fanning 8 of the last 9 batters he faced. He didn’t win the game, though; the score was tied at 1 after 9 innings. Arizona won it in the bottom of the 11th.

Anyway, the D’Backs were back to October baseball in 2001. In the NLDS (against the St. Louis Cardinals), it looked like Johnson’s post-season jinx was real. In Game 2, he pitched well (8 IP, 3 ER) but was out-pitched by the immortal Woody Williams. Fortunately for Arizona, the runner-up to Randy in the 2001 Cy Young voting was his teammate, Curt Schilling, who won both Games 1 and 5 of the NLDS.

In the NLCS (against the Atlanta Braves), Randy Johnson discovered the future Hall of Famer within him. He beat future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux in Game 1 (a 2-0 shutout with 11 K’s) and out-pointed another future Cooperstown inductee (Tom Glavine) in Game 5.

2001 World Series

The D’Backs, in just their fourth year of existence, were in the World Series, matched up against the New York Yankees, champions of four of the previous five seasons. Behind Schilling, Arizona won Game 1 easily. In Game 2, Johnson dominated, tossing a 3-hit shutout (with 11 strikeouts), beating Andy Pettitte 4-0. Thanks, however, to some late-inning heroics by Tino Martinez, Derek Jeter and Alfonso Soriano, the Yankees swept the three games in the Bronx, sending the series back to Arizona.

Game 6 was a laugher. The Diamondbacks pummeled Pettitte and reliever Jay Witasick, winning 15-2. Johnson started the game, pitching 7 innings of 2-run ball. Manager Bob Brenly wisely lifted him after the 7th, perhaps saving some bullets for the next night.

In Game 7, Arizona was trailing 2-1 in the top of the 8th inning. With two outs and a runner on first base, Brenly summoned his tall left-hander out of the bullpen to get the final out of the frame. Johnson got Yankees second baseman Chuck Knoblauch to fly out to right field.

Still, it looked bleak for the D’Backs. The incomparable Mariano Rivera was summoned by Yankees manager Joe Torre to get the final six outs. Rivera gave up a two-out single in the bottom of the 8th but struck out the other three Arizona batters. In the top of the 9th inning, Johnson got three consecutive outs, leaving Arizona with one last chance to stage a comeback.

Anyway, as we know from history, the unbeatable Rivera was beaten, on a bloop single by Luis Gonzalez. The mighty Bronx Bombers were vanquished by the upstart Diamondbacks; Randy Johnson was the winning pitcher in relief. With a 1.04 ERA for the World Series, he fittingly shared MVP honors with Schilling.

In 2002, Johnson won 24 games, Schilling won 23, leading the team to 95 wins and another division title. In the NLDS, again against St. Louis, Johnson was shelled for 6 runs in Game 1 and the Redbirds wound up sweeping the D’Backs in 3 games.

Randy Johnson’s Last 7 Years

After Johnson’s four straight Cy Young trophies the Diamondbacks naturally exercised their contract option for the 2003 season and then, in May, they inked their ace to a 2-year, $33 extension.

In 2003, however, the Diamondbacks for the first time did not get their money’s worth. Arthroscopic surgery on his right knee limited Johnson to 18 starts, in which he went a mediocre 6-8 with a 4.26 ERA.

Johnson rebounded, however, with a brilliant ’04 season. On a now-terrible 51-win team, Johnson went 16-14 with a 2.60 ERA and a MLB-best 290 strikeouts. Even more impressive, the once wild Big Unit walked just 44 batters in 245.2 innings, which led to a league-leading WHIP (walks+hits per inning) of 0.900.

The ’04 campaign was highlighted by Johnson’s first career perfect game, a 2-0 win over the Atlanta Braves. At 40, he became the oldest pitcher to accomplish the feat.

Still, the Diamondbacks were now a non-contender, so Johnson was traded to the New York Yankees in January 2005. In his first year in pinstripes, Johnson had what was the last Hall of Fame caliber season of his long career, going 17-8 with a 3.79 ERA and 211 strikeouts. In 2006, now 42 years old, Johnson again won 17 games (against 11 losses) but with a career-worst 5.00 ERA.

Johnson’s two years in the Bronx were also mixed with the disappointment of two ALDS exits, punctuated by his 6.92 ERA in his 3 appearances.

In January 2007, the Yankees sent Johnson back to Arizona. Back surgery limited the Big Unit to just 10 starts in 2007. In 2008, Johnson was able to start 30 games; he went 11-10 with a 3.91 ERA in 30 starts.

Johnson signed a free agent with the San Francisco Giants on the day after Christmas in 2008, pitching his final season in the City by the Bay. Johnson was the 5th starter on a team boasting a rotation of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Barry Zito and Jonathan Sanchez.

Seeing Johnson in a Giants uniform reminded me of the last great left-handed starter before him, Hall of Famer Steve Carlton. Carlton was 41 years old when he was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the Giants and it wasn’t his final stop. The 329-game winner pitched for the White Sox, Indians and Twins before hanging up his spikes at 43 years of age.

Anyway, San Francisco was the last stop on Randy Johnson’s MLB journey. On June 4th, in the first game of a doubleheader in Washington, Johnson picked up his 300th career victory, tossing 6 innings of 1 run ball against the Nationals.

Johnson finished his final campaign with a 8-6 record and a 4.88 ERA. Unfortunately, he was a year early to the San Francisco’s post-season parties; the Giants won the World Series 3 times in the 5 subsequent seasons.

The Unique Career of Randy Johnson

Randy Johnson’s career was distinctive in many ways. For starters, at 6 feet 10 inches, he is by far the tallest Hall of Fame pitcher of all time. Despite the stereotype of the “tall starting pitcher,” there are only 6 Cooperstown-enshrined hurlers who are 6’4″ (Carlton, Gaylord Perry, Rollie Fingers) or 6’5″ (Ferguson Jenkins, Don Drysdale and Eppa Rixey, a giant of a man in the era he pitched from 1912-33). All in all, only the 6’6″ Dave Winfield is within a half a foot of the Big Unit.

Another distinctive feature of Johnson’s career is that he was such a late bloomer. At the end of his age 28 season, he had a career record of 49-48 with a 3.95 ERA. His career WAR (Wins Above Replacement) at 28 was 7.4. Only Early Wynn, Jesse Haines, Dazzy Vance and Phil Niekro had a lower WAR at this point in their respective careers among Hall of Fame starting pitchers.

Johnson’s 49 wins through his age 28 season are just 60th best among the enshrined. By the way, if you count Babe Ruth (92 wins), Johnson would be 61st best (out of 66). Ruth, of course, made it to the Hall of Fame for other reasons than his superb early-career pitching.

Johnson was also unique in that he was a true workhorse in an era where starting pitchers started to throw less. Johnson threw 120 or more pitches in more than one third of career starts (213 out of 603). To put this into perspective in today’s pitch-count-conscious baseball world, there were a grand total of 18 games in 2017 in which the starting pitcher tossed 120 pitches or more. That’s 18 out of 4,860 (less than 0.5%).

Want more?  The Big Unit threw 140 pitches or more 42 times.  That’s been done only 19 times in the entire 21st century, spanning over 90,000 games started! And yes, though Johnson was 36 years old at the start of the century, 3 of those 19 starts were his.

Randy Johnson is also unique in that two of the most famous appearances of his 22-year career were as a relief pitcher. There are many famous examples in post-season history of an ace starter being used out of the bullpen but Johnson has two, Game 5 of the 1995 ALDS and Game 7 of the 2001 World Series. Those two appearances represented signature moments in two of the greatest games played in the last fifty years.

Johnson was tall. He was fearsome. He was durable. And he was undoubtedly famous. One of the kind, a credit to the Hall of Fame.

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