The Big Unit Is The First Arizona Diamondback Enshrined

 It is official, Randy Johnson will be entering the Hall of Fame on July 26^th as an Arizona Diamondback, the first Diamondback to be enshrined.

 

This is a bittersweet selection for me, I was fortunate enough to live in Seattle during most of Johnson’s 9 ½ seasons there and saw him pitch live on many occasions. I would love to see him enter as a Mariner but there is no arguing that his time in Arizona was significantly better. During his 8 seasons as a D-Back he went 118-62, 2.83 ERA, 4 Cy Young Awards and a World Series title (plus Co-MVP of the series).

 

The positive outcome here is that I am a Diamondback fan too and I think Johnson is a perfect selection as the first Arizona Diamondback in the Hall of Fame. Additionally Ken Griffey Jr. becomes eligible next year for the Hall of Fame ballot and he will (better be) enshrined as the first Seattle Mariner and hopefully followed by Edgar Martinez.

What If Randy Johnson?

During a Spring Training game in March 2001 Randy Johnson threw a fastball that never made it across the plate. In a case of extremely bad timing (for the bird), a dove swooped down in the ball's path and was destroyed by the pitch, it literally exploded.

In my next installment of custom What If? cards
 2001 SPx Winning Materials Randy Johnson/Dove combo relic card

Randy Johnson Retires

Johnson
Originally uploaded by Jumper48

After 22 seasons and 303 wins, my favorite pitcher, Randy Johnson, has announced his retirement. He made it clear that he wanted to leave the game on his terms and that is why he chose to leave now. He has been fighting injuries and inconsistencies over the last few years so it looks like he made the right decision.

He definitely has a HOF career going 303-166 with 4,875 strikeouts for 6 different teams, including playing for my two favorite teams Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks. He has won the MVP, has thrown 2 no-hitters and has won the Cy Young Award 5 times. I hope to see Randy Johnson standing on the steps of Cooperstown in 2015.

As expected, with the announcement the eBay Trolls have begun overloading the site with well over 200 new auctions added within the last 12 hours. Most are grossly overpriced too.