azdad1978
Championship!!!!
Randy Johnson throws perfect game in Atlanta
By Ed Price,
Tribune
ATLANTA - This was better than going to the movies.
Randy Johnson threw the 16th perfect game in major league regular-season history Tuesday, retiring all 27 Atlanta Braves batters as the Diamondbacks won 2-0 at Turner Field.
In six-plus seasons with Arizona, Johnson has had a 20-strikeout game, earned co-Most Valuable Player honors in the World Series and won four Cy Young Awards.
But Tuesday, he was perfect.
“Everything he's done up to this point pales in comparison,” manager Bob Brenly said. “It was one of those nights where a superior athlete was on top of his game and was in a tremendous rhythm out there.
“His focus, his concentration, his stuff — everything was as good as it could possibly be, and that's the end result.”
On his 117th pitch, Johnson blew a 98 mph fastball past pinch hitter Eddie Perez to seal his 13th strikeout. Catcher Robby Hammock jumped up and down with joy on his way to the mound to get to the suddenly huggable Johnson.
Seeing Hammock's reaction made Johnson finally smile. His recent frustration — revealed last week when he said fans’ money is “probably better spent going to the movies than coming to watch the Diamondbacks” — had evaporated.
“I was happy to see him so happy,” Johnson said.
To Johnson, at least in the minutes after the game, just winning was most important. Arizona snapped a five-game losing streak as it opened a four-city, 13-game, 13-day trip.
“It's easy to say now, but had I lost (the perfect game), I probably would have been fine with it,” Johnson said. “I would have been a little upset had I gotten into the ninth inning and lost it, but the bottom line is, I just wanted to win the ballgame.”
Johnson had the second-most strikeouts ever in a perfect game (Sandy Koufax had 14 in 1965), and went to just one three-ball count.
The Diamondbacks’ radar gun timed Johnson, who turns 41 in September, with one 99 mph pitch, five 98 mph pitches and 12 more at 97 mph. In addition, he had his vintage slider — the one that looks like a strike but breaks so sharply it nearly hits a right-handed hitter in the foot.
“I don't think my stuff has been any better than it was today,” Johnson said.
“He had great life on his fastball, he had a sharp slider, he was throwing the ball in good spots all night,” Hammock said.
“Because all of his mechanics were absolutely perfect tonight,” Brenly said, “it was nearly impossible to pick up the rotation and tell what pitch he was throwing.”
Johnson, whose ability is magnified by remarkable focus and intensity, realized during the game he had yet to pitch from the stretch — meaning no baserunners — but he was able to put it out of his mind quickly.
“I try not to get caught up in that,” he said when asked when he realized he was working on perfection. “I think when you start thinking about things like that, you lose your focus.
“Anybody who says that they don't know what's going on, they're only kidding you. Obviously I knew what was going on, but it's not over until you get the third out.”
The closest an Arizona pitcher had come to a no-hitter was on Sept. 13, 1998, when Andy Benes had one at Cincinnati until Sean Casey singled with one out in the ninth inning.
Johnson's was the first National League perfect game in 14 years, since Dennis Martinez threw one for Montreal at Los Angeles. (In 1995, Pedro Martinez pitched nine perfect innings for Montreal but allowed a hit in the 10th inning, so baseball does not list it among the perfect games.)
Atlanta had give Johnson his most trouble in his career; he came into Tuesday's start with a 3-5 record and 5.80 ERA against the Braves in his career.
But because of payroll cuts and injuries, this Atlanta team has a different, younger look. The Braves struck out 18 times in their previous game, Sunday against Milwaukee's Ben Sheets.
“It's embarrassing,” said Atlanta catcher Johnny Estrada, who battled Johnson through a 11-pitch at-bat and a seven-pitch at-bat. “I'm (ticked) off. I appreciate the history of the game and what guys have done, but I don't appreciate it when it's done against you.”
The nearest Johnson got to perfection previously was May 16, 1993, when he retired the first 22 Oakland batters before walking Kevin Seitzer. He got within two outs of a no-hitter before Lance Blankenship singled.
Johnson is the 27th pitcher with multiple no-hitters, the fifth with one in each league. His other came in June 1990, for the Seattle Mariners against Detroit.
The nearly 14-year gap is the longest between no-hitters without one in between; Nolan Ryan went almost nine years between the fifth and sixth of his record seven.
“I was far from perfect that day,” said Johnson, who walked six in his 1990 no-hitter. “I was a very young pitcher who really didn't have any idea where the ball was going. Fourteen years later, I've come a long ways.”
Said Braves manager Bobby Cox: “Randy is capable of doing that every time he goes out there. It wouldn't shock me if he threw two or three in the same year.”
By Ed Price,
Tribune
ATLANTA - This was better than going to the movies.
Randy Johnson threw the 16th perfect game in major league regular-season history Tuesday, retiring all 27 Atlanta Braves batters as the Diamondbacks won 2-0 at Turner Field.
In six-plus seasons with Arizona, Johnson has had a 20-strikeout game, earned co-Most Valuable Player honors in the World Series and won four Cy Young Awards.
But Tuesday, he was perfect.
“Everything he's done up to this point pales in comparison,” manager Bob Brenly said. “It was one of those nights where a superior athlete was on top of his game and was in a tremendous rhythm out there.
“His focus, his concentration, his stuff — everything was as good as it could possibly be, and that's the end result.”
On his 117th pitch, Johnson blew a 98 mph fastball past pinch hitter Eddie Perez to seal his 13th strikeout. Catcher Robby Hammock jumped up and down with joy on his way to the mound to get to the suddenly huggable Johnson.
Seeing Hammock's reaction made Johnson finally smile. His recent frustration — revealed last week when he said fans’ money is “probably better spent going to the movies than coming to watch the Diamondbacks” — had evaporated.
“I was happy to see him so happy,” Johnson said.
To Johnson, at least in the minutes after the game, just winning was most important. Arizona snapped a five-game losing streak as it opened a four-city, 13-game, 13-day trip.
“It's easy to say now, but had I lost (the perfect game), I probably would have been fine with it,” Johnson said. “I would have been a little upset had I gotten into the ninth inning and lost it, but the bottom line is, I just wanted to win the ballgame.”
Johnson had the second-most strikeouts ever in a perfect game (Sandy Koufax had 14 in 1965), and went to just one three-ball count.
The Diamondbacks’ radar gun timed Johnson, who turns 41 in September, with one 99 mph pitch, five 98 mph pitches and 12 more at 97 mph. In addition, he had his vintage slider — the one that looks like a strike but breaks so sharply it nearly hits a right-handed hitter in the foot.
“I don't think my stuff has been any better than it was today,” Johnson said.
“He had great life on his fastball, he had a sharp slider, he was throwing the ball in good spots all night,” Hammock said.
“Because all of his mechanics were absolutely perfect tonight,” Brenly said, “it was nearly impossible to pick up the rotation and tell what pitch he was throwing.”
Johnson, whose ability is magnified by remarkable focus and intensity, realized during the game he had yet to pitch from the stretch — meaning no baserunners — but he was able to put it out of his mind quickly.
“I try not to get caught up in that,” he said when asked when he realized he was working on perfection. “I think when you start thinking about things like that, you lose your focus.
“Anybody who says that they don't know what's going on, they're only kidding you. Obviously I knew what was going on, but it's not over until you get the third out.”
The closest an Arizona pitcher had come to a no-hitter was on Sept. 13, 1998, when Andy Benes had one at Cincinnati until Sean Casey singled with one out in the ninth inning.
Johnson's was the first National League perfect game in 14 years, since Dennis Martinez threw one for Montreal at Los Angeles. (In 1995, Pedro Martinez pitched nine perfect innings for Montreal but allowed a hit in the 10th inning, so baseball does not list it among the perfect games.)
Atlanta had give Johnson his most trouble in his career; he came into Tuesday's start with a 3-5 record and 5.80 ERA against the Braves in his career.
But because of payroll cuts and injuries, this Atlanta team has a different, younger look. The Braves struck out 18 times in their previous game, Sunday against Milwaukee's Ben Sheets.
“It's embarrassing,” said Atlanta catcher Johnny Estrada, who battled Johnson through a 11-pitch at-bat and a seven-pitch at-bat. “I'm (ticked) off. I appreciate the history of the game and what guys have done, but I don't appreciate it when it's done against you.”
The nearest Johnson got to perfection previously was May 16, 1993, when he retired the first 22 Oakland batters before walking Kevin Seitzer. He got within two outs of a no-hitter before Lance Blankenship singled.
Johnson is the 27th pitcher with multiple no-hitters, the fifth with one in each league. His other came in June 1990, for the Seattle Mariners against Detroit.
The nearly 14-year gap is the longest between no-hitters without one in between; Nolan Ryan went almost nine years between the fifth and sixth of his record seven.
“I was far from perfect that day,” said Johnson, who walked six in his 1990 no-hitter. “I was a very young pitcher who really didn't have any idea where the ball was going. Fourteen years later, I've come a long ways.”
Said Braves manager Bobby Cox: “Randy is capable of doing that every time he goes out there. It wouldn't shock me if he threw two or three in the same year.”
