Posted on 05/19/2004 7:34:00 AM PDT by xp38
ARIZONA'S RANDY Johnson became the oldest pitcher in major-league history to throw a perfect game, retiring all 27 hitters to lead the Diamondbacks over the Atlanta Braves 2-0 last night. The 40-year-old left-hander struck out 13 and went to three balls on just one hitter -- Johnny Estrada in the second inning. Estrada fouled off three consecutive 3-2 pitches before going down swinging.
"A game like this was pretty special," the five-time Cy Young Award winner said. "It doesn't come along very often."
It was the 17th perfect game in major-league history, the 15th since the modern era began in 1900 and the first since the New York Yankees' David Cone against Montreal on July 18, 1999.
"It didn't faze me," Johnson said. "The bottom line was we needed to win the game. Winning the game was the biggest, most important thing."
Cy Young, then 37, had been the oldest to throw a perfect game, doing it in 1904.
Johnson sure didn't act his age, getting stronger as the game went along on a pleasantly warm night in Atlanta.
"Not bad for being 40 years old," he said. "Everything was locked in."
While it was the first perfect game of Johnson's career, it was his second no-hitter.
He no-hit Detroit for Seattle on June 2, 1990, walking six.
"That was far from perfect," he recalled. "I was a very young pitcher who didn't have any idea where the ball was going. I was far from being a polished pitcher. Fourteen years later, I've come a long way as far as knowing what I want to do."
STRUCK OUT FINAL BATTER
Appropriately, Johnson struck out the final batter, pinch-hitter Eddie Perez. The Big Unit pumped his fist and raised his glove in the air. Catcher Robby Hammock arrived at the mound with the ball, giving his pitcher a big hug. Within seconds, he was mobbed by the rest of his teammates.
"He could smell it at the end," Estrada said.
The crowd of 23,381 at Turner Field gave Johnson a standing ovation as he walked slowly toward the dugout. He waved in several directions before disappearing down the tunnel.
"Randy! Randy! Randy!" the fans chanted.
He became only the fifth pitcher to throw no-hitters in both the National and American leagues, joining Young, Jim Bunning, Hideo Nomo and the legendary Nolan Ryan.
The crowd sensed history in the making when J.D. Drew grounded out to end the eighth. The Atlanta fans gave Johnson (4-4) a standing ovation as he trudged off the mound, then another when he batted in the ninth.
While the Braves hit several balls hard off Johnson, the closest thing to a hit was a slow roller by Johnson's Atlanta counterpart, Mike Hampton, in the sixth. Alex Cintron scooped up the ball and threw out Hampton by a half-step.
Johnson lingered near the third-base line, giving Cintron a pat with the glove as he ran off the field.
Cintron also was the offensive hero, driving in Arizona's first run and scoring the other.
Johnson threw the first no-hitter in Seattle history and now he has pulled off the same feat for a different team. This was the first no-hitter for Arizona, which joined the major leagues in 1998.
Johnson's fastball was clocked at 98 m.p.h. in the late innings. Andruw Jones lost his bat trying to catch up with a heater in the eighth. Johnson dominated the Braves with two pitches, augmenting his fastball with a devastating slider.
"It's embarrassing," Jones said. "It's embarrassing when you get beat like we did."
Wow. The guy's amazing.
Magnificent feat for anybody, for a 40 year old, something else again.
Big Unit bump
That guy can chuck it!
He's heading to Cooperstown for sure now!
Wow, now I don't feel so bad about turning 40 this year. :-/
Geeez, you scared me with that "lefty" description.
Only been 15 of these in the modern era (post 1900)
Kudos to classy Atlanta Fans for showing their support and appreciation
Indeed. While a no hitter can be completely in the hands of a pitcher a perfect game also depends on perfect fielding by the teamates so they had a hand in the result as well. Some luck also can play into these things. Last night on the radio someone said Johnson on a few pitches narrowly missed hitting some batters legs or feet.
Yeah, 27 up - 27 down is pretty good, but he went 0 for 4 at the plate. He really needs to work on his hitting.
:-)
Hoorah for the Big Unit!
I'm a Rangers fan, but I love the Big Unit.
Baseball is Awesome.
LMAO
Kudos to the Big Unit. And the fans were rooting for him.
The way the Bravos are hitting, I predict that they'll have two or three more perfect games thrown at them this year.
Yeah, now if only they knock off that Tomahawk Chop cr@p...
Anybody know if 14-years between No-No's is a record? It seems like it should be...
We'll keep the tomahwk chop, thank you very much.
We have to chop with something. Its obvious that baseball bats are not working. :}
Damn kids.
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