The Scowling Giant

Atop the mound, the mulleted-giant bares down the 60 foot 6 inch runway the separates him from the Louisville lumber that sways in anticipation. With hawkish eyes and a freakishly large stature, Randy Johnson better resembles King Leonidas standing at the hot gates than other major league arms that take the mound night after night.

Standing at 6’ 10” the gangly southpaw has been scarring opposing batters with his overbearing stare, velocity, and unruly mullet since 1988. For 22 years Johnson has been the staple of intimidation in the big leagues. From his over powering prime heat to his stare that makes toddler’s cry, Johnson’s achievement of 300 career wins this past June should cement his Hall of Fame bust.

Therefore, in perspective of steroids wide spread impact and usage, is pitching the final frontier for baseball purity?

This decade has been dominated by the steroid scandals that have been connected to a plethora of superstars. From the media driven assault on Barry Bonds to the testosterone-saga of Manny Ramirez, baseballs batting records have been propped up on a base of sand. But unlike the leaning tower of Pisa, fans shouldn’t expect to see any restoration project to overhaul the record book foundations any time soon.

Only one name in the 300-win club; pitching’s equivalent to the 500 homerun club; is suspect in the PED conversation – Roger Clemens. Compare this point to the 7 names in the 500 homerun club that have been surfaced and it is easy to conclude that anabolic injections can be one logical explanation for the long-ball mania.

What has been lost in all the coverage and commentary is the art of pitching. This is not stating that steroids have not permeated into this position of the game, but rather that it is not as rampant. While some of the biggest home run hitters in recent memory have scandal surrounding them; pitching can take some solace in the fact that their records have remained relatively pure.

Johnson’s career spans an impressive 22 years; splitting his time equally between the American and National leagues. Career milestones include the following: 5 Cy Young Awards, 1 Championship, I playoff MVP (co-honors with teammate Curt Schilling), 4,875 strikeouts, 100 complete games, and 37 shutouts. Johnson struck out 300 plus batters in a season 6 times; all of them coming after he was 29 years old. He has thrown a no hitter and a perfect game. He was selected to the All Star Game 10 times and is the only pitcher in the games history to defeat all 30 teams.

While Johnson’s records are what the best resumes in Cooperstown posses, being able to remain relevant into your mid-40’s might be more of a statement. Sports are a game of youth. Bumps, bruises, aches, and all the other everyday injuries that plague professional athletics are better overcome when your body is young. Therefore, Johnson’s achievement at the age of 45 is even more impressive. His path to this point has been paved with surgeries, back problems, and fatigue but when the body falters the mind sharpens.

"I get more gratification out of that because of the way I'm doing it now than the way I did it 10 years ago,” Johnson stated after the game. For a player who relied so heavily on the overpowering approach to pitching, he has evolved to finesse and methodically working through line ups. He won more games from the age of 40-44 (66) then he did from age 25-29 (64). His most dominant stretch was from the age of 35-39 when we accumulated 88 wins. If Darwin was still roaming among us, I am confident that a lecture series entitled “Evolutionary trends and career longevity” would be attended by both academia and fandom.

Securing 300 was done on a forgettable night in Washington D.C. With rain providing the backdrop for the 23,000 or so fans in attendance Johnson threw 78 pitches – walking two and striking out 2 and only relinquishing one unearned run. He was the first pitcher since Tom Seaver in 1985 to win his 299th and 300th consecutively.

For a game that relishes its history, fans and players should appreciate this accomplishment as it does not look like it will be met by the current pitching forces in the game. This doesn’t assume that today’s pitchers cannot achieve significant milestones of yesterday; but rather that the youth of today will not be given the opportunity to pitch into their golden years. While it is likely that Johnson’s career arch is aggressively down-trending to the finish line – at least it is known that his pinnacle of performance was done the right way.

King Leonidas was able to withhold a massive Persian army for 3 days with only 300 men of his royal bodyguard and is remembered as arguably one of the greatest hero’s of European history. Randy Johnson has been keeping opposing forces at bay with a battalion of 8 and a tightly-wound ball of string for almost 22 years. Hopefully, his heroics on the field will be equally appreciated.