Randy Johnson is one of the best pitchers in MLB history.
A first-ballot Hall of Famer, he finished his career with 10 All-Star Games, a World Series championship in 2001, a whopping five Cy Young awards, a World Series MVP (2001), a pitching Triple Crown (2002), nine strikeout crowns, a no-hitter, and a perfect game.
Everything a pitcher can accomplish, he did it.
Some people, however, remember him because of an unfortunate incident.
That happened today, but 22 years ago, in 2001.
“22 Years Ago Today: Bird takes an unfortunate flight path at Diamondbacks spring training game, flies right into a Randy Johnson fastball,” Darren Rovell tweeted.
22 Years Ago Today: Bird takes an unfortunate flight path at Diamondbacks spring training game, flies right into a Randy Johnson fastball pic.twitter.com/ggONNT6WG7
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) March 24, 2023
It was a freak accident that happened on March 24, 2001, at Tucson Electric Park, during the seventh inning of a spring training game against the San Francisco Giants.
Calvin Murray was the hitter.
After the ball killed the dove, the ball was ruled dead, and it was ruled “no pitch”.
A few years later, the “Big Unit” would reveal that people remember him about the incident nearly as much as winning the World Series later that year.
The poor bird was just flying around when its life ended after being struck by a Johnson fastball.
It couldn’t be a slower pitch, or a less overpowering pitcher, no: it had to be the owner of one of the hardest fastballs in the game.
Play stopped for a few minutes, as Johnson was processing what just happened.
Of course, it wasn’t his fault: it’s not like he aimed at the bird.
But it went down as one of the most bizarre moments in recent baseball history.
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