Randy "The Big Unit" Johnson, 40 years old but 6' 10" tall, has just thrown major league baseball's first perfect game in 5 years.
The Arizona Diamondbacks win 2-0, and The Big Unit takles another step toward Cooperstown. More to the point for some folks, the Atlanta Braves lose. No runs, no hits, no walks, no chance.
Fittingly, the game ended with a 98mph strikeout from the fireballing lefty - and cheers from the Atlanta fans, who showed real class throughout. More on this game and its place in baseball history from MLB.com... and the story gets even better.
When a perfect game is called, a lot of credit goes to the catcher as well as the pitcher. Randy Johnson certainly had high praise for his catcher's work last night. The thing is, this was Diamondbacks catcher Robby Hammock's first Major League game in Atlanta. He had grown up in the northern Atlanta suburb of Marietta, and graduated from South Cobb High School in 1995. Now here he was in the big leagues at last, realizing his dream, with about 50 friends and family members proudly watching in the stands. And then... and then... Perfection.
This is the stuff of which memories are made. This is why some of us love baseball so.
You can't argue against RJ's greatness.
Was channel surfing when I ran across the game in the last inning. I was about to flip away when I heard 'perfect game'. Wow!
I was completely impressed by the sportmanship displayed by the Atlanta fans. They cheered the entire 9th inning, for Johnson. And they were on their feet for the last out. Outstanding.
We had many Atlanta fans in Toronto during the 1992 world Series, when I worked for the Jays as Game Staff. They were, to a person, nice people and class acts. Their behaviour tonight did not surprise me.
Some folks outside of Atlanta seem to get really worked up about the Braves team, though. Like the New York Yankees, they're #1 on their league's "love to hate 'em" list.
Given my unalloyed glee when 6 (!) Houston pitchers combined to no-hit the Yankees last year, I guess I can understand that. Never felt that with Atlanta... but my Dad is a different story. He'll be very happy.
RJ's hero was and is Nolan Ryan. With this performance, he draws the comparisons a bit closer.
Jason Schmidt gave up one very cheap infield hit and one walk tonight. Not often that's the second-best pitching line of the day.
He's a pretty impressive pitcher too, isn't he. The rest of the Giants rotation needs work, though.
Power pitchers do seem to be lasting longer these days, so let's hope we have many years left to watch Jason pitch. Or maybe he'll go the way of Frank Tanana, who became famopus for "throwing in the 90s during the 70s, and in the 70s during the 90s." Somehow, Tanana still managed to win and win.
If you look at Pedro Martinez' velocity (I watched him at the Dome Sunday, and he never even hit 90 mph on the radar gun), we may be witnessing another transformation like that right now.
I didn't read the box score quite carefully enough: Schmidt also allowed a runner on the unusual K/WP combo.
Actually, an argument could be made that Johnson's already better than Ryan, but I think Ryan's generally overrated; he was a very good pitcher who lasted a long time, but not an all-time great. He struck out a ton of guys but also walked a ton, and his ERAs were good but not outstanding. Johnson's best seasons are better than Ryan's.
Ryan played on a lot of mediocre teams.
Have to agree that Johnson is better than Ryan. I think Johnson is one of the five or so best lefthanders of all time. One thing to remember is that Johnson had some of his best seasons during a hitters' era. Also, not only does he still throw in the high 90s, but his control may be better now than at any time in his career. Don't be surprised if he has a Cy Young Award-type year.
He makes all us 40-something men very proud.
Johnson is certainly an outstanding pitcher, but it is too soon to be calling him the best ever. When he nears 6 no hitters and 5,000 strikeouts, let me know.
So you're claiming Nolan Ryan is the best pitcher ever? That's not even close to accurate. The pitcher's job isn't simply to strike people out; it's to prevent runs from scoring. Ryan's career ERA was 3.19, which was 12% better than the league average while he pitched. Those aren't bad numbers, but there not close to the truly great pitchers like Grove, Walter Johnson, or Clemens*. His winning percentage was only .526. Yes, some of his teams were bad, but that doesn't account for all of that. He NEVER won a Cy Young award. Ryan was a very good pitcher who struck out (and walked) a huge amount of batters, and he was able to pitch effectively for a very long time. But he's not the best pitcher ever; frankly, he's not even in the discussion. (And it's 7 no-hitters, not 6.)
*and don't accuse me of bias. I'm a Mets fan, and I despise Roger Clemens.
Jason Schmidt was amazing last night, but you're right that rest of the lineup needs work. Three cheers for the Big Unit for a spectacular feat!
Devin makes some fine points.
For the best single season by any pitcher, ever, I've got to vote for Steve "Lefty" Carlton of the Philadelphia Philles, in 1972. He won 27 games that year... and his WHOLE TEAM won 59 games.
Lefty is probably one of the starters on my all-time baseball team. Nolan isn't there... and Randy Johnson, remarkable though he may be, is on the bubble. My starting 5 are probably Steve Carlton, Sandy Koufax, Satchel Paige, Bob Gibson, and #5 is up in the air among several contenders: Christy Mathewson, Warren Spahn, Carl Hubbell, Walter Johnson... and if we're using National League rules, Babe Ruth. Randy Johnson would be considered as a starter (Clemens isn't enough of a big game pitcher IMO, Maddux is decidedly weak in those situations, and Pedro needs to pitch for a few more years), but his playoff record would count against him. He probably makes the team as my lefty set-up man, though.
You definately have to consider Nolan Ryan as one of the most effective pitchers in professional baseball. i wouldn't call him the best pitcher because he style was simple, and that was to overpower hitters. You can't blame Nolan Ryan for not winning the Cy Young award, for some of you who don't know, you win the Cy Young award by winning a vote, and Nolan Ryan never got the credit he deserved. There is no other pitcher that has more "un-breakable" records than Nolan Ryan. He tied Sandy Koufax's record of 4 no-hitters in a 2 year period. And you guys talk about Randy Johnson pitching so great in his fortys, Nolan threw 2 no-hitters in his 40's. At age 43 and 44, amazing. And Nolan also had greater controll in his 40's, as he only walked 2 batters, and struck out 16 in his last no-hitter. YOu got to give credit where it is dew!