Randy Johnson
Randy Johnson
Randall David "Randy" Johnson, nicknamed "The Big Unit", is an American former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1988 to 2009 for six teams, primarily the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks. His 303 career victories rank as the fifth-most by a lefthander in major league history, while his 4,875 strikeouts place him second all-time behind Nolan Ryan and are the most by a lefthander. He holds five of the seven highest single-season strikeout totals by a lefthander...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBaseball Player
Date of Birth10 September 1963
CityWalnut Creek, CA
CountryUnited States of America
Typically the northern and western side of the Sacramento Valley enjoys a head start in ground prep and planting over other areas of the valley. My son and I drove up I-5 to Willows and were amazed at the amount of water and its depth out in the fields. Usually this time of the year in this part of the valley, tractors are everywhere preparing the fields for planting.
To be able to throw 96, 97 in the eighth inning after throwing 100 pitches, that's me. My velocity was back to where I'd like to have it, and the sharpness and velocity of my breaking ball was there as well throughout the whole game.
When you're still making quality pitches in their third time up, you can feel your progression. I faced them three times.
Was the decline in the union movement due to a lousy message, or are they going to try a different tactic that will be more effective? It still remains to be seen as all this unfolds.
Unfortunately, it took a long time to fix my mechanics, ... That's the pitcher everyone expected. That's the pitcher I expected. Today my velocity was up because my mechanics were much better.
I expect to win every time I go out. The way I would draw it up would be exactly like tonight not very many strikeouts, no walks and a few hits. For the most part, I was pretty efficient.
I don't think people give Pacific enough credit. We knew they had talent and our goal, defensively, was to stop Richardson.
I got a little tight. So, I just stepped out and let someone else pitch. Everything is fine.
He's a throwback pitcher from the day. The game's changed quite a bit since then, but I can still learn. If you think you know everything that's when you'll be sadly mistaken. If I can take some input that he has and apply it towards what I'm doing out there and use it, then that's a good thing.
He saw a lot of things that sometimes you don't see when you're a pitcher out there, and that's mechanics.
He hit 97, 98 without trying. I'm out there throwing 95 and grunting.
I have been fortunate to be a part of this three times, ... But you could see a lot of new kids in here that haven't experienced this.
I felt pretty good. That's what I've been talking about all along.
I don't ignore it. I know that if I do my job, it can help a lot of different areas. Maybe I can take some stress off the bullpen, maybe I can take some pressure off the other starters and maybe I can help the offense relax a little bit. I know all that. And I don't mind that.