Randy Johnson

Four of his six 300-strikeout seasons occurred after his 35th birthday.

Randall David Johnson (born September 10, 1963), nicknamed "the Big Unit", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (1988–2009) for six teams, primarily the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks.

At 6ft 10in, Johnson was the tallest player in MLB history when he entered the league, contributing to his extremely intimidating persona and pitching style.

He is particularly known for his overpowering fastball and devastating slider, a combination that remained effective throughout his lengthy career.

While he initially struggled with control in his early seasons, Johnson subsequently established himself as one of the most dominant pitchers of his era, leading his league in strikeouts nine times, and in earned run average, winning percentage, and complete games four times each.

In 1982, as a senior, he struck out 121 batters in 66 innings, and threw a perfect game in his last high school start.

Johnson accepted a full athletic scholarship to play baseball for the University of Southern California.

While at USC, he also played two years of basketball.

He was a starter at USC (where he was a teammate of Mark McGwire) under coach Rod Dedeaux, but often exhibited control problems.

After high school, Johnson was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 4th round of the 1982 MLB draft, but did not sign.

He was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the second round of the 1985 Major League Baseball draft.

In 1985, he pitched for the Jamestown Expos of the New York-Pennsylvania League.

In 1986, he pitched for the West Palm Beach Expos of the Florida State League.

In 1987, he pitched for the Jacksonville Expos of the Southern League.

In 1988, he pitched for the Indianapolis Indians of the American Association.

He made his major league debut on September 15, 1988, against the Pittsburgh Pirates, earning a 9–4 victory with a five-inning outing in which he gave up two runs with five strikeouts; his first victim was Orestes Destrade in the second inning.

Johnson posted a record of 3–0 with a 2.42 earned run average (ERA) in four games in 1988, but 1989 saw him slip to an 0–4 mark with a 6.67 ERA in seven games through May 7.

On May 25, 1989, he was traded to the Seattle Mariners in a trade involving five pitchers that brought Mark Langston to Montreal.

In 11 total games played with the Expos, he went 3–4 with a 4.69 ERA and one complete game in 55 2⁄3 innings with 51 strikeouts and 33 walks.

After joining the Mariners during the 1989 season, Johnson led the American League in walks for three consecutive seasons (1990–1992), and hit batsmen in 1992 and 1993.

His untapped talent was explosive: In 1990, Johnson became the first left-hander to strike out Wade Boggs three times in one game, and a no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers attested to his potential.

In July 1991, facing the Milwaukee Brewers, the erratic Johnson allowed 4 runs on 1 hit, thanks to 10 walks in 4 innings.

A month later, a 9th-inning single cost him a no-hitter against the Oakland Athletics.

Johnson suffered another 10-walk, 4-inning start in 1992.

Johnson credits a session with Nolan Ryan late in the 1992 season with helping him take his career to the next level; Ryan has said that he appreciated Johnson's talent and did not want to see him take as long to figure certain things out as he had taken.

Ryan recommended a slight change in his delivery; before the meeting, Johnson would land on the heel of his foot after delivering a pitch, and he therefore usually landed offline from home plate.

Ryan suggested that he land on the ball of his foot, and almost immediately, he began finding the strike zone more consistently.

In a September 27, 1992, game against the Texas Rangers, with Ryan the opposing starting pitcher, Johnson struck out 18 batters in eight innings while throwing 160 pitches, a pitch count that has not been reached in an MLB game since.

Johnson is a ten-time All-Star, won the Cy Young Award five times, and is one of only two pitchers (the other is Greg Maddux) to win the award in four consecutive seasons (1999–2002).

Johnson won Cy Young Awards in both leagues.

He is also one of five pitchers to pitch no-hitters in both leagues, and one of 21 pitchers in history to record a win against all 30 MLB franchises.

Johnson enjoyed a career longevity uncommon to pitchers, with his signature fastball-slider combination remaining effective well into his 40s.

Along with teammate Curt Schilling, Johnson was one of two World Series Most Valuable Players in 2001; in the Series, Johnson won three games and led the Arizona Diamondbacks to a World Series victory over the New York Yankees in the fourth season of the team's existence.

He won the pitching Triple Crown in 2002.

Johnson's 303 career victories are the fifth-most by a left-hander in MLB history, while his 4,875 strikeouts place him second all time behind Nolan Ryan and first among left-handers.

On May 18, 2004, at 40 years old, he threw Major League Baseball's 17th perfect game, and remains the oldest pitcher to accomplish the feat.

Johnson retired at the age of 46, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015, his first year of eligibility.

He is the first member of the Hall to be depicted in a Diamondbacks uniform on his plaque.

Johnson was born in the San Francisco Bay Area suburb of Walnut Creek, California, to Carol Hannah and Rollen Charles "Bud" Johnson.

By the time he entered Livermore High School, he was a star in baseball and basketball.