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
We won 55 ball games in eight years, and that's a good record for anybody. My only regret - that 4-5 season sticks in my craw. I'm retiring as a coach, and I feel good about my retirement.
We control our own destiny. I'm sure it'll come down to those last three games in Boston.
I've pitched some pretty meaningful games, and some games where if we lose, we're done, ... That wasn't the case, but it would have been more difficult. We're three games back right now. It's not insurmountable.
I've pitched some good games this year where I haven't been that animated, that locked in,
I think he did a great job. We had a lot of inconsistencies the first half of the year, and to win as many games as we did says a lot about his managerial skills.
With all the adversity this team has been through, it's very gratifying to see how things panned out for everybody. It's pretty satisfying considering I haven't been as consistent as I'd like to be, and to still win 17 games ... that's pretty satisfying.
It's spring training and we want to see what's working, there's going to be games or innings where I decide to just work on this pitch or that pitch, even if we get racked around. Six games, there's not a lot of time to work on everything. I've got a job to do and I just need to go out there and do things and get ready to do it when the bell rings.
It's been unfortunate with Jorge that he first caught the flu and then broke his nose. I've had my last five games being caught by Kelly, but whoever is back there, I'll do my best and be focused. It would have been nice to have had the body of my work caught by Jorge, so he would have had a feel for what's been going on with my pitches.
The more consistent I get, the more comfortable I get, it's fun to go out there and be that locked into a game. It's been a while. I've pitched some good games this year where I haven't been locked in. That's the ingredient I've been missing.
Tiger Woods, Larry Bird, Wayne Gretzky, a pitcher just before a game, I would imagine they all have nervous energy. But as you perform, the nervous energy dissipates and you start to relax and you start to do what you do best.
I know that. The games I'm here to win are the postseason games.
The stuff?s there, obviously. It?s been there all year. It?s been in hibernation.
I've been at this a long time, and it's time to sort of step back. I've been doing this for 34 years. When you're looking at the watch to see what time to end practice, that's pretty much an indication that it's time to sort of kick back.
They actually swung today. The sooner they get their swings down, the better for me as well. I'm not trying to break bats and strike people out, I'm just trying to throw my pitches and feel like I'm accomplishing something. The more I throw, the better my pitches will get.