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
It's hard to mix with a crowd when you're walking down the hallway and everybody else is a foot shorter. I remember hanging out with my friends, like at the mall, and thinking people were staring at me and talking about me. It made me turn inside myself. I became more shy and quiet.
People who say they're not nervous - I would be kind of curious to see how successful you are at what you do and how long you've done it. And what is success in your eyes? Have you separated yourself from everyone else in that craft? Or have you settled amongst the pack?
I've refined my mechanics, refined my pitches. I've gotten more confidence, and I've gotten more determination. I've got a better idea what I'm doing out there.
I listened to all types of music, and obviously when I got to Seattle I was very much aware of the music scene there.
The word 'potential' used to hang over me like a cloud.
Maybe I've lost a little, but I think everyone does over time. People have been writing that I'm getting old every year, and eventually they're going to be right. There's nobody in this game that's doing the same things they once did in the peak years of their career.
I learned a lot from not having success, and realizing when you do have success, how hard it is to maintain it, and what you have to do to maintain it.
We're at the crossroads, ... where we need to win to stay alive.
Any time I've taken the mound, it's always been the old Samson-and-Goliath story written about me.
A lot of heavyweights, with the exception of a few Eastern Europe fighters, they really look like being a heavyweight is just like, who can eat the most Pizza Hut and McDonalds.
When I'm healthy, I can still pitch. I know I can still pitch at that level and get the results that I want.
I had a million-dollar arm, but I wasn't thinking enough about how to be a pitcher.
Greg Maddux is probably the best pitcher in all of baseball along with Roger Clemens. He's much more intelligent than I am because he doesn't have a 95 or 98 mph fastball. I would tell any pitcher who wants to be successful to watch him, because he's the true definition of a pitcher.
I'm tired of people questioning me because of my age. If you looked at my numbers and watched me throw and covered my birthdate, would age be an issue?