The first words of the Bible are not, as some baseball fans think, "In the big inning....."
All serious baseball fans have an "I was there!" story concerning some major event or record-setting performance in baseball.
On my wall at home is a picture of my brother and I at a ballpark just after a game. There is also a ticket stub and a box score. The game was played at Arlington Stadium on September 27, 1992 between the Texas Rangers and the Seattle Mariners.
We had come to see Nolan Ryan pitch. Unfortunately, it was not one of his better days. Ryan had only 5 strikeouts in 7 innings. He also gave up 8 hits and issued 5 walks, was tagged for two runs (although only one of them was earned), and threw a wild pitch.
But as the game wore on both my brother and I began to notice the Seattle starting pitcher. He was a tall, lanky southpaw, and had arms so long that when the ball finally left his hand when he threw it seemed to be already halfway to home plate.
And we also noticed that he struck out one Texas Ranger after another.
We didn't know it then, but the pitcher was Randy Johnson. Johnson was at the time a talented but erratic young fireball thrower. In this game he fanned a total of 18 batter, which tied an American League record for strikeouts by a left-handed pitcher in a single game. What was even more amazing is that he did this in only 8 innings of work.
Yesterday I learned that Johnson (a.k.a. the "Big Unit") had decided to retire after 22 seasons. He went on to top his 18-strikeout performance with a pair of 19 strikeout games and a record-setting 20 strikeout gem. Johnson retired with 4,875 total strikeouts and a record of 303 wins against 166 losses. Johnson was also a 10-time All Star, 5 Cy Young award-winner, and had a World Series championship.
So thank you, Big Unit!
Oh - the game? Texas won 3-2 in the bottom of the night inning. The Rangers hit a single to left field off Johnson's replacement that scored the winning run. I know because ... I was there!
