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."
sorry about my grumpiness, every cities fans have their own unique way of cheering their teams on. The fact that the Braves' Tomahawk Chop p*sses off opposing fans makes it just that much more attractive. At least their not throwing batteries at the outfielders...
June 21, 1964 (Father's Day) Jim Bunning pitches the first perfect game in the major leagues regular season in 42 years.
And he also got a hit in that game.
Oh and he is now a conservative US Senator from Kentucky.
Of pitchers with 2 or more No-hitters, is 14-years the longest interval between No-no's?
I was looking over the list on mlb.com and 8 of those have come since I was born (1967). I think this is in part because big league hitters try to hit more home runs now and strike out so much more than in the past. There is less focus on putting the ball in play, and so it is less likely for a poorly hit ball to find its way through to becoming a hit.
Mmm, sorry that one I can't answer for you. Bunning had a previous no hitter but I think it was well within the 14 year limit you are asking about. (Sometime in the late 50's I'm thinking.)
Nolan Ryan had 2 no hitters 14 years apart (and 5 more in between)
Date....Opponent.......IP.....H....K...BB....Final
5/15/73...Kansas City......9.....0...12....3......3-0
7/15/73...Detroit..........9.....0...17....4......6-0
9/28/74...Minnesota........9.....0...15....8......4-0
6/1/75....Baltimore........9.....0....9....4......1-0
9/26/81...Los Angeles......9.....0...11....3......5-0
6/11/90...Oakland..........9.....0...14....2......5-0
5/1/91....Toronto..........9.....0...16....2......3-0
The increase in extreme performances, like no-hitters and 60 homerun seasons, is a statistical phenomina related to the overexpansion of Baseball. The talent is spead so thin that the true stars outperform the "average player" by a wider statistical margin that, say, prior to 1968. Look at the spread between the Highest & Lowest individual batting averages, HR's and ERA's for seasons before and after 1968 and you'll see my point.
"He really needs to work on his hitting."
Give the kid time to mature!
Thanks for the stat on Nolan Ryan. You always need a sterling play or 2 in the field, and often a little bit of luck, to achieve a no-hitter. Of course, Ryan seemed to crank them out with some regularity. In my estimation he ranks as the best power pitcher in the divisional era -- certainly the best righty (I'm a Steve Carlton fan, and he NEVER got a no-no).
Still throwing 97MPH @ 40....!
Yes, the 14 year record goes to Randy Johnson...
--Time between 1st and last no hitters--
Johnson 6/2/90 - 5/18/04 = 14 years, 15 days
Ryan 5/15/73 - 5/1/91 = 13 years, 351 days
...but Ryan was 44 when he did this.
He never pitched a perfect game tho.
What an accomplishment!
So... Does he recieve any sort of Bonus for this remarkable feat?
40YR Old LEFTY...You mean I got to boycott the DBacks now?
Um..its 18 not 13 years between 1973 and 1991.
Personally, I think the incidence of 60 HR seasons is due to other factors (the ball or the players being juiced) besides expansion.
Still, pretty impressive numbers. Especially considering that he only played 13 seasons and missed three seasons at the peak of his career due to the war.
It's those un-juiced bats they are using..I call for an investigation.
Remember when a serious homerun hitter was a guy who chipped in 25 or 30 per year? I do. I remember when George Foster hit 50 for the Reds, and we thought that was a mind-boggling number. All those years that Mike Schmidt led the NL, he never had much more than 40, often less. Today that's a sub-par year for Bonds or Sosa.
Many ballparks were just flat out difficult to homer in unless you were a dead pull hitter. Center field fences are now typically just over 400 ft from home plate. OTOH, the old Braves ballpark used to be called the launching pad during Aaron's heyday. Wrigley was another easy one if the wind was blowing out. But these were the exceptions.
I remember the year Foster hit 50 (1977?). If I am not mistaken he was the first to hit that many in over 10 years and no one did it again for at least 10 years after that. You're right that now 25-30 HRs is not considered outstanding, meanwhile how many times have you seen a batter totaly screw up an attempt to bunt?
1991 -1973 ----- 18...right you are...(scratches head) must be those several years I lost in the 70s...
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