This day in baseball: The Big Unit’s perfect game
Posted: May 18, 2021 Filed under: 21st Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Baseball, Cy Young, Detroit Tigers, Major League Baseball, MLB, Randy Johnson, Seattle Mariners, sports, Turner Field Leave a commentOn May 18, 2004, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson threw a perfect game, beating the Atlanta Braves 2-0 at Turner Field in Atlanta before a crowd of 23,381. Johnson, at 40 years old, was the oldest pitcher in MLB history to throw a perfect game, surpassing Cy Young who was 37 when he threw his perfect game in 1904. The game was also Johnson’s second career no-hitter, the first taking place on June 2, 1990 against the Detroit Tigers when Johnson was pitching for the Seattle Mariners.
Randy Johnson in 2008 (Wikipedia)
2015 Hall of Fame Weekend
Posted: July 26, 2015 Filed under: 21st Century | Tags: Baseball, Craig Biggio, history, John Smoltz, Major League Baseball, National Baseball Hall of Fame, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson 6 CommentsThe Baseball Hall of Fame will be inducting four new members into its ranks later today: Craig Biggio, Randy Johnson, John Smoltz, and Pedro Martinez. Looking at the pictures featuring these gentlemen, it sure is strange to see them all looking so young again.
Head and shoulders of Seattle Mariners Randy Johnson 1994 (Baseball HOF)
Head and shoulders of Boston Red Sox Pedro Martinez, May 2, 1999 in Oakland (Baseball HOF)
Head and shoulders of Houston Astros Craig Biggio, 1991 (Baseball HOF)
John Smotlz of the Atlanta Braves 1994. (Baseball HOF)
Nevertheless, one can hardly argue that the initiation of each of these players into the Hall is well-deserved. While the celebration has been going on all weekend for this ceremony, the formal induction ceremony and the delivery of speeches by these four men will be taking place today, beginning at 1:30 eastern time. You can find complete details about the proceedings here.
This day in baseball: Blindsided bird
Posted: March 24, 2014 Filed under: 21st Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Arizona Diamondbacks, Baseball, history, Major League Baseball, MLB, Randy Johnson, San Francisco Giants, sports, videos 4 CommentsWhat’s it like to get hit by a 95-MPH fastball? It’s bad news for a ballplayer, but even worse news if you’re a bird. On March 24, 2001, in an exhibition game against the San Francisco Giants, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson threw a fastball that hit a dove flying in front of home plate. The bird died instantly, appearing to explode into a firework of feathers, never knowing what hit it.
This day in baseball: Nolan Ryan reaches 5,000
Posted: August 22, 2013 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, history, Major League Baseball, Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Rickey Henderson 1 CommentOn 22 August 1989, Nolan Ryan threw a 96 mph fastball to strike out Rickey Henderson — the 5,000th strikeout of his career. Over the course of the game, Ryan struck out 13 batters and gave up only five hits, but still ended up losing to Oakland 2-0. To this day, Nolan Ryan remains the only pitcher in Major League Baseball history to strike out 5,000 batters (5714 total). Coming in second is Randy Johnson, with 4875 strikeouts.
Photo source: Sports Illustrated
