JOHNSON, Randall David ("Randy")

(b. 10 September 1963 in Walnut Creek, California), major league baseball pitcher who won one American League and three National League Cy Young Awards while becoming one of baseball's most dominant strikeout pitchers.

Johnson was the youngest of six children of Rollin "Bud" Johnson, a police officer, and Carol Johnson, a homemaker. He attended Livermore High School in California, where he played baseball and basketball. Graduating in 1982, Johnson drew notice by pitching a perfect game in his final high-school baseball start. The Atlanta Braves selected Johnson in the third round of the June 1982 major league baseball draft. He declined the team's offer, choosing instead to attend college at the University of Southern California, where he received a baseball/basketball scholarship. After his sophomore season, Johnson left the basketball program and concentrated on baseball. In 1985 Johnson entered the major league draft after his junior year of college. The Montreal Expos selected him as the second overall choice.

Johnson made his major league debut for the Expos on 15 September 1988, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates. With his debut Johnson became (at six feet, ten inches) the tallest man ever to play major league baseball, a record he later shared with the pitcher Eric Hillman. In 1989 Johnson was traded to the Seattle Mariners where, in the next season, he became a staple in the pitching rotation, finishing with a 14–11 won-lost record, 3.65 earned run average, and 194 strikeouts, although he did lead the league by walking 120 batters. Johnson also recorded a no-hitter on 2 June 1990 against the Detroit Tigers.

In 1991 and 1992 Johnson continued both to strike out and walk a high number of batters, finishing with more than 200 strikeouts each year, but also leading the league in walks allowed each year. On 25 December 1992, as Johnson was flying to California to join his family for Christmas, his father died. Johnson considered ending his baseball career, but chose to use his father's death as an inspiration for success. He became a born-again Christian and began a practice of giving 10 percent of his earnings to charity.

Another event earlier that year also made a difference in Johnson's baseball career. Late in the 1992 season, while Johnson helped the all-time major league strikeout leader Nolan Ryan and the Texas Ranger pitching coach Tom House with an instructional video, the trio discovered a flaw in Johnson's mechanics that, when corrected, allowed him to add a few miles per hour to his fast ball while gaining a higher level of control over the location of his pitches. The next season, Johnson decreased his walk total while striking out over 300 batters for the first time in his career. He also established new career highs for wins, innings pitched, complete games, and shutouts, along with posting a 3.24 earned run average. In November of that year, Johnson married Lisa, with whom he had four children.

In 1995 Johnson became the first Mariner to win the American League Cy Young Award. His statistics included an 18–2 won-lost record that set a record for the best winning percentage in a season for a starting pitcher with at least twenty decisions. His season also included a complete game win in a one-game play-off against the California Angels on 2 October that decided the American League West championship and put the Mariners into the post-season for the first time in franchise history. The Mariners defeated the New York Yankees in an American League divisional series, but lost to the Cleveland Indians in the American League championship series.

On 31 July 1998 the Seattle Mariners traded Johnson to the Houston Astros. While Johnson experienced a mediocre half-season in Seattle, with Houston he went 10–1 with a 1.28 earned run average. Again Johnson appeared in the postseason, but the Astros were beaten by the San Diego Padres in a National League divisional series.

On 30 November 1998 Johnson signed a four-year, $52.4 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks, which allowed him to play home games near his own home in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. In his first season with the Diamondbacks, Johnson won the National League Cy Young Award. He also helped the Diamondbacks make the playoffs in only their second season, which set a record for quickest playoff appearance by an expansion team. Johnson became one of only three pitchers to win a Cy Young Award in each league, following Gaylord Perry and accomplishing the feat concurrently with Pedro Martinez of the Boston Red Sox. But for the second season in a row, Johnson's team lost in an NL divisional series as the New York Mets beat the Diamondbacks in four games. Johnson also won the NL Cy Young Awards in 2000 and 2001. On 10 September 2000, he became the twelfth pitcher in major league history to record 3,000 strikeouts. The following year, on 8 May 2001, Johnson tied a major league record by striking out twenty batters in the first nine innings of a ball game.

During his career Johnson was active in a number of charities, including the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Salvation Army, and Make-a-Wish Foundation. An avid photographer, Johnson showed his work at the 1990 Art Expo in Los Angeles. He also maintained an active interest in hard rock music, including playing drums with Geddy Lee of the band Rush and members of the band Queensryche.

When Johnson first arrived to the major leagues he was considered an oddity because of his height and his reputation for dominance both in striking hitters out and lack of control in walking them. Even his nickname "The Big Unit" evoked an image of strangeness. But as the wins mounted, Johnson's image changed to reflect his pitching prowess and he became recognized as one of the most dominant strikeout pitchers in major league history.

Insights into Johnson's life and career can be found in Richard Hoffer, "Picture Perfect Pitcher," Sports Illustrated (4 May 1992); Rick Weinberg, "King of K," Sport (June 1994); Tom Verducci, "The Intimidator," Sports Illustrated (26 June 1995); and Nick Charles and Miro Cernetig, "The Amazing Randy," People Weekly (6 Oct. 1997).

Raymond I. Schuck