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TODAY: Monday, May 15
Johnson grows into dominating role
By Jim Caple
Special to ESPN.com

Back in the spring of 1989, I was covering the Mariners, which was a bit like covering the WB network is today. Neither had much hope of surviving past September.

True, Ken Griffey Jr. had just taken up residence in center field at that point, but the Mariners had never had a winning record and were best known for Funny Nose and Glasses Night.

Randy Johnson
The Big Unit paced the AL four times in K's while with the Mariners.

So at the end of that May when the Mariners dealt Mark Langston, their best pitcher but a potential free agent after the 1989 season, to Montreal for three pitching prospects, I saw the trade as many others saw it: a typical Seattle cost-saving move, simply dealing off an expensive, proven star pitcher for cheap prospects.

After all, who knew what to expect from this Randy Johnson? Other than that he was tall and left-handed. At 6-10, he was the tallest pitcher in big league history (the Elias Baseball Analyst once noted he was taller than eight of the 12 players on the Seattle Sonics roster) and many doubted whether anyone so tall could keep his pitching mechanics in proper order. Think Greg Maddux throwing a changeup while on stilts and roller skates.

In Johnson's first years with Seattle, his height was always mentioned, as if he had legally changed his name to "Six-Foot-Ten Randy Johnson." He was a curiosity as much as anything. When he pitched, you kept looking into the dugout for the bearded lady and the Siamese twins.

Yes, he threw hard but he also was wild, leading the league in walks three consecutive seasons from 1990-92. And he did goofy things like mark off his locker with yellow police tape. While he was capable of the occasional brilliant performance -- he threw a no-hitter in 1990 -- he didn't appear to have the necessary consistency or control to become a Cy Young winner.

But then a funny thing happened. The game's tallest pitcher grew some more. Not in height, but in maturity. He talked and listened to Nolan Ryan. He drew inspiration from his deceased father. And in the process, he became a pitcher, not a thrower.

After walking a league-high 144 batters in 1992 (and hitting another 18) and going a mediocre 12-14, the Big Unit steadily improved his control and cut down his walk totals. From 144 to 99 to 72 to 65. Suddenly, Johnson had Nuke LaLoosh's arm and Tom Glavine's head.

Johnson dedicated himself to his craft and made himself his league's best pitcher, the sort of pitcher who can carry a team. And as for those idiots who had thought the Mariners made a bad trade in 1989, he proved us wrong again in 1995 when he won a one-game playoff against the Angels to earn Seattle its first division championship. The losing pitcher that day was Mark Langston.

Now Johnson is the best pitcher in the National League, and when it comes to the best pitcher in the game, Johnson and Pedro Martinez are as close as Angelina Jolie and her brother. With virtually the same career record as Sandy Koufax (167-88 to Sandy's 165-87), he is entering Cooperstown territory. Watching him step onto the mound is like seeing Mark McGwire step into the batting cage, Steven Spielberg step behind the camera or Madonna step into the hair salon.

Those early Seattle days are long gone. Johnson is on his fourth team now with Arizona, on his way to his third Cy Young Award. When he takes the mound, he stands head and shoulders above everyone else. And it has nothing to do with his height.

Box score line of the week
You know it's a bad week for relievers when Mariano Rivera blows a two-run lead, allowing nearly as many runs in one inning (three) as he had in his previous 46.1 innings (four), dating back to last July. Then there were Jeff Zimmerman and John Rocker, who each committed game-ending balks.

Mere child's play, however, compared to the performances of Cincinnati reliever Elmer Dessens and Texas reliever Matt Perisho. On May 4, Dessens allowed 14 hits in relief, the most by a reliever since Bob Forsch allowed 18 hits in 1988. That's impressive, but not as much as Perisho's outing two days later when he allowed 10 runs on just five hits.

Perisho's line:

2 IP, 5 H, 10 R, 7 ER, 4 BB, 2 K

Perisho was not the first reliever to allow 10 runs in relief (in addition to Forsch, Mel Rojas and Doug Davis hit double-digits last season and Will Cunnane did it with San Diego a couple years ago). But to do it and have your team win -- Texas rallied for a 17-16 victory -- now, that's really remarkable.

Lies, damn lies and statistics
The Big Unit not only has a lower ERA (0.93) than Martinez (1.22) and Maddux (.262), he has a higher batting average than Tony Gwynn (.186), Ken Griffey Jr. (.214), Rickey Henderson (.205), Juan Gonzalez (.220) and Sean Casey (.185). He has a five-game hitting streak, which is longer than Gwynn has had this season. ... Not to suggest that Griffey is struggling but he has a lower batting average than Cy Young winners Johnson, Maddux (.278) and Pat Hentgen (.333). ... Nice weekend for Oakland. The Athletics somehow scored 26 runs in two days and lost both games to the Rangers, including a 17-16 loss. In a four-day span, they lost 17-16 and 11-10, won 7-6, then lost 9-8.

From left field
Oakland's Jason and Jeremy Giambi became the 14th set of brothers to homer in the same game Monday. The first brothers, Paul and Lloyd Waner, did it three times, Hank and Tommie Aaron did it twice and Matty Alou did it with his brothers Jesus and Felipe. Here are the brothers who homered in the same game and their career totals:

HRs Brothers
768 Hank (755) and Tommie (13) Aaron
448 Joe (361) and Dom (87) DiMaggio
428 Cal (408) and Billy (20) Ripken
406 Graig (390) and Jim (16) Nettles
237 Felipe (206) and Matty (31) Alou
206 Tony (166) and Billy Conigliaro (40)
140 Paul (112) and Lloyd (28) Waner
127 Jason (120) and Jeremy (7) Giambi
122 Bret (106) and Aaron (16) Boone
108 Vladimir (100) and Wilton (8) Guerrero
98 Tony (94) and Al (4) Cuccinello
66 Wes (38) and Rick (28) Ferrell
63 Jesus (32) and Matty (31) Alou

Barroom Jeopardy
Q. Has a player ever homered off his brother?

A. Yes. Oct. 7, 1904, George Stovall hit his first home run, off his brother, Jesse. On July 19, 1933, Boston catcher Rick Ferrell homered off his brother, Wes, who responded by homering in the bottom of the inning. And on May 29, 1976, Joe Niekro hit his only career home run -- off his brother Phil. Joe got the win in a 4-3 game and Phil got the loss.

Jim Caple is the national baseball writer for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which has a website at www.seattle-pi.com.		 



ALSO SEE
Stark: Unit, Pedro are special indeed

Johnson turns into superhero

Stats Class: Johnson vs. Koufax















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