Tuesday, May 04, 1999

Tall, talented, terrifying

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Johnson brings 145 career wins, fastball to Cinergy

BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Randy Johnson received plenty of fan attention in his first day at Cinergy Field Monday. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

        Randy Johnson's long left arm is what gets him all those strikeouts. But it's his competitive drive that gets him all those victories.

        A quick story illustrates Johnson's I-won't-give-in attitude: Johnson's Arizona Diamondbacks are playing the San Diego Padres.

        The score is tied 3-all in the eighth inning. The Padres put two runners in scoring position with one out. Then Johnson, who has thrown 138 pitches, gets mad.

        “Up to that point, he was throwing 97 (miles per hour),” said Thom Brennaman, Arizona's TV broadcaster. “His 139th pitch is 101 mph. The 141st and 142nd pitches are all over 100 mph. He wasn't going to let the run score.”

        Johnson strikes out the next batter, then gets a groundout to get out of inning. The Dbacks win 5-3 in 11 innings.

        The kicker is Johnson strained a neck muscle picking up a piece of luggage at the hotel just before leaving for the ballpark.

        It was so bad he nearly had to scratch his start.

        “He could barely throw during warmups,” Brennaman said. “But he's unbelievably tough.”

        Johnson will bring that fastball and that fire to the mound Wednesday against the Reds when he makes his first start at Cinergy Field.

        “God blessed Randy with a great left arm,” said Arizona manager Buck Showalter said. “But the more you're around this game the more you realize things happen for a reason. Randy's a very competitive man. He loves to win. He's very focused.”

        Johnson isn't something you see everyday. He's 6-foot-10, 230-pounds of arms, legs and hair. If that weren't enough, his sidearm, whip-like deliv

        ery makes his release point seem about 50 feet from the plate.

        “He's a presence out there,” said Reds first baseman Sean Casey.

        “The closest thing I've seen to a left-handed Ewell Blackwell,” Reds radio man Joe Nuxhall said.

        Johnson brought a 143-79 career record, a 3.36 career ERA and the finest strikeout ratio (10.6 per nine innings) in baseball history with him to Arizona. That last stat is more impressive when you consider the pitchers behind Johnson: Nolan Ryan is No.2 at 9.6 per nine, and Sandy Koufax is No.3 at 9.4.

        But the Diamondbacks got a lot more than numbers when they signed Johnson to a four-year, $52.4 million free agent contract on Dec. 1. They got what every contender needs: A No.1 starter, a guy who can stop losing streaks, a guy who wants the ball in big games.

        “A lot of guys shirk their resonsibility,” Showalter said. “They don't want to be a No.1 starter. Randy takes that on every time he pitches.”

        Johnson's pitching philosophy?

        “I just throw as hard as I can as long as I can,” he said.

        But Johnson's game is more than just heat. Like Ryan and Koufax, Johnson became effective when he found his control.

        Before 1993, he was striking out and walking batters at pretty much an equal rate. And his record was 49-48. Since then, he's struck out roughly three for every batter he's walked. And his record is 96-32.

        Johnson is getting used to pitching in the National League after 9¹/₂ seasons with the Seattle Mariners. Johnson spent the second half of last season with Houston. He went 10-1 with a 1.28 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 12 starts. One of those wins was over the Reds 1-0 on Sept. 7. Johnson struck 14 that game. (Johnson also pitched one inning in relief for Montreal against the Reds at Riverfront Stadium in 1989).

        In last year's game the Reds got six hits and one chance.

        “We had a runner on third with no outs,” Reds manager Jack McKeon said. “But we didn't get him in. Against (Johnson), you've got to cash in on your chances.”

        Johnson is 2-1 this year with a 3.40 ERA. He leads all of baseball with 63 strikeouts.

        “I'd like more wins obviously,” he said. “But everyone would. But I've pitched fairly decent. It's still early.”

        Johnson, of course, lives with the expectations that come with the big contract.

        “It's tough,” Showalter said. “People expect him to be perfect every time out. If he doesn't strike out 10 or 15 guys, everyone wants to know what's wrong.”

       

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