Randy Johnson Retires- Randy Johnson Career Retrospective

January 9, 2010

By DailySkew

With Randy Johnson announcing his retirement last week, I thought I’d take a look at Randy Johnson’s career and where he ranks as one of the best baseball pitchers all-time. First of all, I witnessed Randy Johnson’s entire career, which started in 1988 with the Expos, when he matured as a pitcher with the Mariners and was already a superhuman by 1995, when he defeated the Yankees in 2001 with the Diamondbacks, and unfortunately when he joined the Yankees in 2005 and jumped the shark.

I can vouch that as a left hander pitcher, he was the best in my era. You have to go back to Warren Spahn to find a better lefthander (sorry Steve Carlton). If you adjust by era, you may have to go back to Lefty Grove to find a better lefthander. Note I skipped Sandy Koufax- yes, Randy Johnson owns Sandy Koufax when it comes to career value (Koufax had 4 years of dominance), while The Big Unit was unstoppable from 1993 to 2004 (minus 2 seasons where he was mostly on the DL due to overwork).

Over his career, Randy Johnson earned 5 Cy Young Awards, 10 All Star Games, a World Series ring, and a World Series co-MVP. He ranks #2 to Nolan Ryan in career strikeouts. He final record was 303-166, a .646 winning percentage. He has a no-hitter and was the oldest man to hurl a perfect game to his resume. He won at least 20 games three times. He won the 2002 Triple Crown. His career ERA is 3.29 (36% better than average).He struck out 20 men in a game. His post-season campaigns against the Yankees were legendary.

When you add right-handers into the equation, to me Randy Johnson was still one of the best pitchers of all time. In our era, where HRs and run scoring ruled, only a handful of pitchers were not only able to survive but dominate for years: Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez, and Mariano Rivera.

With lineups in both the American League and National League stacked up with hitters, playing in smaller ballparks, and- ahem- better conditioning in the weight room and knowledge of nutrition, an ERA of 4.50 was accepted as being fine. A manager would say to an average pitcher “Just go out there and keep us in the game for 6 innings”. Not for The Big Unit, though. 9 innings, 10 innings, no-hitters, coming out of the bullpen in the post-season, strikeout king, record breaker…Randy Johnson was a innings MONSTER, something that separates him from Pedro Martinez and puts him closer to Greg Maddux and Roger Clemens when it comes to having a long productive elite career. When push comes to shove, Randy Johnson was better than the Strikeout Champion Nolan Ryan.

I’ve read Bill James’ opinion and what the Stat Heads think about Randy Johnson and his peers. Right now in 2010 here’s how the “intellectuals” rate these 5 elite modern era pitchers, mostly based on innings pitched, ERA+, strikeouts to walk ratio,and teams played on/run support/defense:

1) Roger Clemens
2) Greg Maddux
3) Randy Johnson
4) Pedro Martinez
5) Mariano Rivera (stat heads penalize relief pitchers)

When it comes to peak years (like their 5 best years or 5 consecutive years) the Stat Heads say:

1) Pedro Martinez
2) Roger Clemens
3) Greg Maddux
4) Randy Johnson
5) Mariano Rivera

When it comes to post-season, Stat Heads don’t value what happens in the playoffs and World Series as much as “real” baseball fans do. So I will rank these players, but the truth is Mariano Rivera stands head and shoulders above them, and 2-4 can be interchanged.

1) Mariano Rivera
2) Randy Johnson
3) Roger Clemens
4) Greg Maddux
5) Pedro Martinez

The question remains: if you were a manager and needed ONE of these pitchers to start Game 7 of the World Series, who would you choose?

Randy Johnson is 3-0, 1.04 ERA in World Series play in17.1 innings.
Roger Clemens is 3-0, 2.37 ERA in 49.1 innings.
Greg Maddux is 2-3, 2.09 ERA in 38.2 innings.
Pedro Martinez is 1-2, 3.71 ERA in 17 innings

Based on that Randy Johnson sure seemed to have went to another level in World Series play.

Keep in mind, stats don’t tell the whole story about Randy Johnson. Even when he was in his prime, it always seemed as if he wasn’t as lucky in wins as Roger Clemens. This plagued guys like David Cone and Mark Langston as well, but Randy was able to eclipse those types of strikeout pitchers by winning a lot more and having a fantastic winning percentage. I guess what I’m trying to say is that based on my observations, Randy should have won a lot more- that’s how great he was. It goes without saying: RANDY JOHNSON IS A FIRST BALLOT HALL OF FAME SELECTION.

As much as I would like to end this tribute on a high note, I think it’s only fair to bring up Randy Johnson’s bad side: he wasn’t a “people person”. He valued baseball history and his place in baseball history much more than dealing with the fans, reporters, management, or interacting with teammates. Randy was mean. Rumor is that he lives on his ranch with his family and animals and will make sure you don’t trespass.

Johnson’s Yankees run was horrible, even though he won 17 games twice, it was based on run support. The less said about Randy Johnson’s Yankees career, the better.

It’s amazing how the 5 elite pitchers of the modern era have different personality types:

Randy Johnson: Enneagram Type 5 – Anti-social, mean, and shy but with skills that couldn’t be matched; he avenged everyone who made fun of his for being tall and skinny with acne; he had the last laugh.
Roger Clemens: Enneagram Type 3 – The cocky, arrogant, showboat over-achiever who did ANYTHING to win, including criminal acts.
Greg Maddux: Enneagram Type 7- Able to win based on learning from practical experience and matchless forethought and planning; praised by his teammates for being humble and accessible.
Pedro Martinez: Enneagram Type 4w3- Strong willpower with a flair for the dramatic; able to have his short run of being the best based on his intensity and competitive spirit.
Mariano Rivera: Enneagram Type 4 integrated to Type 1- A saint who focuses his emotions into an unbreakable disciplined focus which resulted in being the most consistent of all of all time.

1989 Donruss #42 Randy Johnson (RC – Rookie Card)