Randy Johnson.... - Revolution42's Blog

Revolution42's Blog

Randy Johnson....

Posted on April 8, 2009 at 07:59 PM.

(0)

Like most Ms fans, the subject of Randy Johnson elicits any number of comments and opinions. Me....I liked the guy....and I have always had the opinion that when he left Seattle....so left the chance of a World Series. Very few teams have been competitive in the playoffs or Series without that dominating ace....a guy capable of winning 2 games...or more, in a 5 game or 7 game series Johnson was and has been just that kinda guy. He did it with Arizone...and could have...and should have, when he was the ace of the Ms rotation. Had Seattle kept him around for a few more years...met his contractual needs....I have no doubt that Seattle...during that 2 -3 year run, where they were as talented as any team in, not only the AL...but in all of the Major leagues...would have played in a World Series, thus giving them a chance to win a Series...and as I mentioned....a guy like him, a guy that can win you 2 or even 3 games in a 7 game series...is key. Sure...if you are a team with a deep rotation....the Braves and their 14 years of winning the division and their playoff runs come to mind immediately....but those rotations are a rarity. You need 'that guy". So...I have included an article fom MLC.com below...a little bit of Randy Johnson "stuff"....I will follow him closely this year in his chase for 300 wins and post anything of interest I might find interesting to myself or any other Ms fans or Randy Johnson fans... :

Every time someone is stalking or reaching 300 wins, the question is raised as to whether he will be the last of the breed -- a contradictory exercise to say the least.

But now here comes Randy Johnson, and this time the sky really could be falling.
It's quite basic:
� When Roger Clemens pulled into the 300-win club on June 13, 2003, Greg Maddux sat on 278 wins.
� When Maddux crossed the threshold on Aug. 7, 2004, Tom Glavine had 259 victories, also in the neighborhood.
� And when Glavine got his 300th on Aug. 5, 2007, Johnson was at 284, although gripped by a recurrence of his back woes.
But when Johnson, coming off a strong Spring Training with the Giants and entering the season five shy of the charmed 300 circle, becomes the 24th to reach the destination, there will be no active pitcher on his trail.
Of course, no one knows when Johnson will get No. 300. But, entering the season, the pitcher closest to him is Jamie Moyer, with 246 wins. And unless Moyer is still not acting his age at 50, he isn't going to sniff 300.
As for the younger set, we're looking at 36-year-olds Andy Pettitte and Pedro Martinez, at 215 and 214 wins, respectively.
And neither is a Big enough Unit to pose a threat.
So enjoy Johnson's ride into a glorious sunset, because it's a tale you could be relating to disbelieving grandkids.
"Pitching 271 innings? Winning 24 games? Striking out 372 people? C'mon, who are you kidding?"
Any more 300-game winners upcoming? Who are we kidding?
"I don't think there will be one for a while," said Nolan Ryan, who bagged his 300th in 1990 with the Rangers, whom he now serves as club president. "A lot of it depends on changing the way pitchers are used now. It's not the five-man rotation as much as starters not going deep into the game and the fact that they use as many as three bullpen guys.
"When the starter goes out, the more bullpen guys you use, the better chance you have one of one them having a bad night. I don't think [the 300-win club] is like the 500-home run club, where you have a lot of guys moving into it. There are a lot less 300-game winners."
"You don't want to say never, but this could be it, with Randy," Glavine said. "It wouldn't surprise me if there's not another.
"We're not developing 250-, 270-inning pitchers. When you throw 250, 270 innings, it gives you a better chance to get a win. It's tough to get a bunch of wins if you're going five or six innings. There are many pitchers who have the talent to win 300 games. But I'm not sure you're going to see the durability you saw a generation ago."
With a little better support from the Arizona lineup and bullpen, Johnson would already have his 300 wins. Once recovered from back surgery, he offered a flashback in the second half in 2008: a 2.41 ERA across 13 starts and 86 innings, in which he struck our 76 and walked only 16.
But only five of those starts resulted in wins. Five other times he pitched six-plus innings on a yield of three runs or less, and the D-backs lost all five.
"I feel bad in some regards -- that I've done a lot in Arizona, it would have been fitting to do it there," said Johnson, a native of Livermore in the Bay Area. "But I also feel like this is the next-best scenario, coming back [home].
"I'm familiar with the ballpark, I'm familiar with the Bay Area. It's where I grew up. It's as good a last chapter of my career that there could be."
Johnson's affection for AT&T Park is understandable -- he is 6-4 there with an ERA of 2.35 in 11 starts -- and was reinforced in his final spring tuneup, on Saturday against the A's, when a long drive he conceded as a homer clanged off the wall.
"I did see the benefits of pitching in this ballpark," he said. "I'm already liking this ballpark."
Unlike many other athletes of his stature, Johnson is acutely aware of his 21-season accomplishments and sensitive to those who, innocently or not, slight them. For example, those who see his age-induced drop in velocity as a sign of diminished skills.
As Johnson himself said, looking ahead to when he views his career in a rear-view mirror, "I'll say it was fun when I was throwing 98, but more of a challenge when I was throwing 91 to 93. I'm the majority now. I'm not the minority anymore."
Stuff-wise, perhaps. But when it comes to competitive drive, few have ever been able to keep up with the 6-foot-10 left-hander, whose game face could be the warning label on cans of rat poison.
"My drive to come back and pitch after the back surgeries has been fueled by knowing that I can still pitch at a high level," Johnson said earlier this spring. "People say that I've just come back to win 300 games, but that's not the case. If you're 45 or 46 years old and still pitching at a high level, why would you want to retire?"
And he's not just talking about now, but also the foreseeable future.
"Who's going to dictate whether I retire or not, other than me?" he said. "I mean, there have been times when I thought my career was fleeting. My fastball was gone, but being completely healthy now, I still have that drive to succeed, and I'm not going to end on 300 wins."
But 300 wins may well end with him.