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
You get a little bit over the rubber, rushing a little bit, and then your arm seems to drop down. It's been a long process, a long year, a frustrating year. But that's been the problem and I'll continue to work on it.
Mechanically, I've struggled all year long with my arm angle, with my velocity and my effectiveness. That stems from poor mechanics. Tonight, I felt really comfortable on the mound.
By staying back I was able to get the arm angle I need for my fastball and my slider, and I haven't had it consistently. To be able to throw 96 and 97 in the eighth inning after throwing 100 pitches is ... is ... me.
It's been a long year, a frustrating year. But if that's been the problem, I'll continue to work hard on it. To pitch the way I did today, that's the reason why, I believe. Having inconsistent mechanics resulted in inconsistent velocity and inconsistent arm angles. The bottom line is, I've been inconsistent on the mound.
I feel comfortable right now. I just need to go out and pitch accordingly, get my innings in, get my arm strength, remain comfortable with my mechanics and then hopefully take it right into opening day.
I don't need to go out there all the time and throw seven or eight innings. You might like it. I might like it. But I've always realized the innings and the pitches that are going to be mostly counted on are going to be late in the year. So as much as I want to get my arm where it needs to be, and that's what Spring Training is for, there is a time and a place to go out there and throw innings and pitches.
I had a million-dollar arm, but I wasn't thinking enough about how to be a pitcher.
What's impressive is their starting pitching. You give up three runs to a team like ours, that's impressive. Obviously they've played us well, but they've played other teams well.
This whole thing has been compressed. We're doing the best we can in a bad situation.
To say our offense won't come around is like saying the sun won't come up tomorrow.
We found that students there were taking biology, chemistry and physics for three years in high school, Chinese students want to take math and science. Those are the cool subjects there.
We control our own destiny. I'm sure it'll come down to those last three games in Boston.
Everything I threw over the plate they hit.
Everything's fine, everything's good. It's early in the year. I just (wanted to) take a little breather and let the bullpen come in. They did a nice job.