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91-411: The original game consisted of 30 neighborhood kids from which the player must build a team. Over the years, the idea of "Pro players as kids" became popular, and the original statistics and looks of the players changed. As the game progresses, there are some professionals that become available or "unlockable" including Randy Johnson , Derek Jeter , and Mike Piazza . In Backyard Baseball , players take

182-431: A Defense-Independent ERA in an attempt to measure a pitcher's ability regardless of factors outside his control. Further, because of the dependence of ERA on factors over which a pitcher has little control, forecasting future ERAs on the basis of the past ERAs of a given pitcher is not very reliable and can be improved if analysts rely on other performance indicators such as strike out rates and walk rates. For example, this

273-417: A win against all 30 MLB franchises . Johnson enjoyed a career longevity uncommon to pitchers, with his signature fastball-slider combination remaining effective well into his 40s. Four of his six 300-strikeout seasons occurred after his 35th birthday. On May 18, 2004, at 40 years old, he threw Major League Baseball's 17th perfect game , and remains the oldest pitcher to accomplish the feat. Johnson retired at

364-568: A 2.42 earned run average (ERA) in four games in 1988, but 1989 saw him slip to an 0–4 mark with a 6.67 ERA in seven games through May 7. On May 25, 1989, he was traded to the Seattle Mariners in a trade involving five pitchers that brought Mark Langston to Montreal. In 11 total games played with the Expos, he went 3–4 with a 4.69 ERA and one complete game in 55 + 2 ⁄ 3 innings with 51 strikeouts and 33 walks. After joining

455-443: A commercial for the streaming service DirecTV Stream parodying Ghostbusters , as the group (titled Goatbusters) battles a giant Mr. Redlegs destroying a baseball stadium. Johnson has been featured as a playable character in various Backyard Baseball games. Johnson appeared in the episode "Control" on Franklin & Bash as himself. Earned run average In baseball statistics , earned run average ( ERA )

546-502: A daughter from a previous relationship with Laurel Roszell named Heather Renee Roszell (born 1989). He is a resident of Paradise Valley, Arizona . During batting practice in 1988, the 6-foot-10-inch (2.08 m) Johnson, then with the Montreal Expos , collided head-first with outfielder Tim Raines , prompting his teammate to exclaim, "Damn! You're a big unit!" The nickname stuck. Throughout much of his career, Johnson held

637-600: A few bullpen sessions he was cleared to start in game 3 of the ALDS; however, he gave up 5 runs in 5 2 ⁄ 3 innings and being saddled with the loss. In January 2007, the Yankees traded Johnson back to the Diamondbacks, almost two years to the day that Arizona had traded him to New York, for a package of Luis Vizcaíno , Alberto González , Steven Jackson , and Ross Ohlendorf . The Yankees' decision to trade Johnson

728-549: A four-year contract, with an option for a fifth year, for $ 52.4 million, with the Arizona Diamondbacks , a second-year franchise. Johnson led the team to the playoffs that year on the strength of a 17–9 record and 2.48 ERA with 364 strikeouts, leading the majors in innings, complete games, and strikeouts. Johnson won the 1999 NL Cy Young Award and Warren Spahn Award as the best left-handed pitcher in MLB. Johnson became

819-529: A hopeless feeling. The first time you face him you feel like he's going to hit you right in the back of the neck when he throws it, like every pitch is going to hit you in the back of the neck. And it ends up down and away for a strike and you just have to trust it's going to be a strike, and heaven forbid he doesn't lose one out there and heaven forbid, there goes your cheek." Johnson has four children with his wife Lisa: Sammy (born 1994), Tanner (born 1996), Willow (born 1998), and Alexandria (born 1999). He also has

910-698: A managerial role by creating a team of different players to compete against opponents. In the different installments, one could choose to play a one-off exhibition game or a seasonal league, followed by the "Backyard Baseball League" playoffs, which contains the American League and National League division series , the AL and NL championship series and finally the "Backyard Baseball World Series ". Series games will vary per game. This game has various playable modes, and they include: Single Game, Batting Practice, Spectator, and Season Game. A remastered version of

1001-653: A news story 15 years later remarked, "the event remains iconic, and the Big Unit says he gets asked about the incident nearly as much as he does about winning the World Series later that year with the Arizona Diamondbacks". Johnson struck out 20 batters in a game on May 8, 2001, against the Cincinnati Reds . Johnson recorded all 20 strikeouts in the first nine innings and was replaced before

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1092-472: A no-hitter and a perfect game in his career (after Young, Bunning, Addie Joss , and Sandy Koufax ; since Johnson, Mark Buehrle and Roy Halladay have joined this group). Johnson struck out Jeff Cirillo of the San Diego Padres on June 29, 2004, to become only the fourth MLB player to reach 4,000 strikeouts in a career. He finished the 2004 season with a 16–14 record, though his poor record

1183-538: A one-year deal with his hometown San Francisco Giants for a reported $ 8 million, with a possible $ 2.5 million in performance bonuses and another $ 2.5 million in award bonuses. Johnson became the 24th pitcher to reach 300 wins , beating the Washington Nationals (the team that he first played for when they were known as the Montreal Expos ) on June 4 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. He became

1274-442: A pitch count that has not been reached in an MLB game since. It was during the 1992 off-season when Johnson returned home for Christmas only to lose his father to an aortic aneurysm . His father's death was so devastating that he decided to quit baseball, only to have his mother convince him otherwise. Johnson broke out in 1993 , posting a 19–8 record, 3.24 ERA and one save, his first of six 300-plus strikeout seasons (308), and he

1365-428: A pitcher pitching 300 or more innings is 1.12, set by Bob Gibson in 1968. The record for the lowest career earned run average is 1.82, held by Ed Walsh , who played from 1904 through 1917. Some players may be listed with infinite ERAs. This can happen if a pitcher allows one or more earned runs without retiring a batter. Several players have registered an infinite ERA for their limited pitching careers in MLB, usually

1456-552: A pitcher's ERA to a scale where 100 is average for the league and takes into account the various dimensions and other factors of each ballpark. In baseball statistics , runs per nine innings (denoted by R/9 or RA9 ) is a measure of a pitcher 's effectiveness in preventing runs ; calculated as: (9 × runs allowed) / ( innings pitched ). In this way, it is different from the ERA in that all runs, rather than only earned runs, are included. Because of rules changes post-1920, most notably

1547-421: A pitcher's effectiveness became more difficult using the traditional method of tabulating wins and losses. Some criterion was needed to capture the apportionment of earned-run responsibility for a pitcher in games that saw contributions from other pitchers for the same team. Since pitchers have primary responsibility for getting opposing batters out, they must assume responsibility when a batter they do not retire at

1638-567: A pitching machine) in his hope that he would break Roger Maris's then-single-season record for home runs. He made a cameo appearance in a commercial for MLB 2K9 with teammate Tim Lincecum . Johnson made an appearance in a GEICO insurance commercial . In 2012, he appeared in a TV ad for Pepsi Max . In 2016, Johnson appeared in a TV ad for the Mini Clubman . In 2022, Johnson appeared with his former teammates Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez as well as Hall of Famer David Ortiz in

1729-494: A player, he was especially known for his overpowering fastball and devastating slider , a combination that remained effective throughout his lengthy career. While he initially struggled with control in his early seasons, Johnson subsequently established himself as one of the most dominant pitchers of his era, leading his league in strikeouts nine times, and in earned run average , winning percentage , and complete games four times each. Along with teammate Curt Schilling , Johnson

1820-470: A relatively short while, allowing them to exert themselves more for each pitch, unlike starters who typically need to conserve their energy over the course of a game in case they are asked to pitch 7 or more innings. The reliever's freedom to use their maximum energy for a few innings, or even for just a few batters, helps relievers keep their ERAs down. ERA, taken by itself, can also be misleading when trying to objectively judge starting pitchers, though not to

1911-539: A relief stint. In a freak accident on March 24, 2001, at Tucson Electric Park , during the 7th inning of a spring training game against the San Francisco Giants , Johnson threw a fastball to Calvin Murray that struck and killed a dove . The ball was ruled dead, and it was ruled "no pitch". The event was not unique in baseball history, but it became one of Johnson's most-remembered baseball moments;

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2002-489: A season six different times, a Major League record tied with Nolan Ryan . Johnson is a ten-time All-Star , won the Cy Young Award five times, and is one of only two pitchers (the other is Greg Maddux ) to win the award in four consecutive seasons (1999–2002). Johnson won Cy Young Awards in both leagues. He is also one of five pitchers to pitch no-hitters in both leagues, and one of 21 pitchers in history to record

2093-488: A season by a pitcher. He also became the first pitcher in baseball history to post a 24–5 record. Johnson spent the majority of the 2003 season on the disabled list and was ineffective in the few injury-hampered starts he did make. He hit the only home run of his career on September 19, 2003, against the Milwaukee Brewers . Johnson was a .125 hitter over 625 career at-bats. On May 18, 2004, Johnson pitched

2184-498: A second career as a photographer. He had studied photojournalism at the University of Southern California, and photography remained a passion. He has done photography work for NFL games, a tour of the rock band Rush , and has done wildlife photography . In the prime of his career, Johnson's fastball was clocked as high as 102 mph (164 km/h), with a low three-quarters delivery (nearly sidearm). His signature pitch

2275-495: A senior, he struck out 121 batters in 66 innings, and threw a perfect game in his last high school start. Johnson accepted a full athletic scholarship to play baseball for the University of Southern California . While at USC, he also played two years of basketball . He was a starter at USC (where he was a teammate of Mark McGwire ) under coach Rod Dedeaux , but often exhibited control problems. After high school, Johnson

2366-601: A single appearance. Examples include Bill Ford with the Boston Bees in 1936 and Fred Bruckbauer with the Minnesota Twins in 1961. Outfielder Vic Davalillo made two pitching appearances with St. Louis Cardinals in 1969 and failed to record an out while facing four batters and allowing one run, leaving him with an infinite ERA as a major-league pitcher. (This comes from attempting to divide any non-zero number by zero). An undefined ERA occasionally occurs at

2457-545: A slight change in his delivery; before the meeting, Johnson would land on the heel of his foot after delivering a pitch, and he therefore usually landed offline from home plate. Ryan suggested that he land on the ball of his foot, and almost immediately, he began finding the strike zone more consistently. In a September 27, 1992, game against the Texas Rangers , with Ryan the opposing starting pitcher, Johnson struck out 18 batters in eight innings while throwing 160 pitches,

2548-595: A starting pitcher had more than twice as many strikeouts in a season (372) as hits allowed (181) (first accomplished by Pedro Martinez in the 2000 season with 284 strikeouts and 128 hits and later also accomplished by Max Scherzer in 2017, and both Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander in 2019). He also became the second pitcher to strike out 300 more batters than he walked, walking 71 batters against 372 strikeouts (first accomplished by Sandy Koufax who struck out 382 batters against 71 walks in 1965). In 2002, Johnson won

2639-539: Is also the last pitcher to win 3 games in a single World Series. Johnson's Game 7 relief appearance was his second of the 2001 season; on July 19, a game against the Padres was delayed by two electrical explosions in Qualcomm Stadium . When the game resumed the following day, Johnson stepped in as the new pitcher and racked up 16 strikeouts in seven innings, technically setting the record for the most strikeouts in

2730-400: Is because National League relievers actually pitched to pitchers less often than NL starters did for a number of reasons, chiefly because relievers are usually active in later innings when the double switch was available and/or pinch hitters tended to be used in the pitcher's batting spot. ERA is also affected somewhat by the ballpark in which a pitcher's team plays half its games, as well as

2821-485: Is credited with devising the statistic, which caught on as a measure of pitching effectiveness after relief pitching came into vogue in the 1900s. Prior to 1900—and, in fact, for many years afterward—pitchers were routinely expected to pitch a complete game , and their win–loss record was considered sufficient in determining their effectiveness. After pitchers like James Otis Crandall and Charley Hall made names for themselves as relief specialists, gauging

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2912-509: Is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine. Thus, a lower ERA is better. Runs resulting from passed balls , defensive errors (including pitchers' defensive errors), and runners placed on base at the start of extra innings are recorded as unearned runs and omitted from ERA calculations. Henry Chadwick

3003-417: Is the premise of Nate Silver 's forecasts of ERAs using his PECOTA system. Silver also developed a "quick" earned run average (QuikERA or QERA) to calculate an ERA from peripheral statistics including strikeouts, walks, and groundball percentage. Unlike peripheral ERA or PERA, it does not take into account park effects . Another statistic derived from ERA is Adjusted ERA , also called ERA+, which adjusts

3094-492: The 1993 All-Star Game in Baltimore, Maryland , in a famous incident, Johnson threw a fastball over the head of Philadelphia Phillies first baseman John Kruk . On October 3, Johnson entered the final game of the season as a defensive substitution, replacing Brian Turang in left field. This made him the tallest player to play the field in baseball history. After pitching well in the strike-shortened 1994 season, Johnson won

3185-658: The 1997 edition involving former Expos teammate Larry Walker , at that point with the Colorado Rockies . When Johnson had started an interleague game versus the Rockies on June 12, Walker chose not to play, explaining that "I faced Randy one time in spring training and he almost killed me." In the All-Star Game, Walker batted against Johnson, who theatrically threw over his head. Ever adaptable, Walker placed his batting helmet backwards and switched sides in

3276-565: The American League Cy Young Award in 1995 with an 18–2 record, 2.48 ERA and 294 strikeouts. His .900 winning percentage was the second highest in AL history, behind Johnny Allen , who had gone 15–1 for the Cleveland Indians in 1937. Johnson became the first regular starting pitcher in history to strike out more than a third of all batters faced. He also became the first Seattle Mariners pitcher to win

3367-409: The American League later accepted this standard and began compiling ERA statistics. Baseball encyclopedias will often display ERAs for earlier years, but these were computed retroactively. Negro league pitchers are often rated by RA , or total runs allowed, since the statistics available for Negro league games did not always distinguish between earned and unearned runs. As with batting average ,

3458-636: The National League Cy Young Award voting, despite pitching only two months in the league, and helped Houston win their second straight National League Central division title. During the playoffs, however, the Astros lost the 1998 NLDS to the San Diego Padres , 3–1. Johnson started Games 1 and 4, both losses. He only gave up three earned runs combined in the two games, but received only one run in support (in Game 4). Johnson agreed to

3549-590: The New York Yankees . Johnson was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2015. The Diamondbacks retired his number on August 8, 2015. At the retirement ceremony, Johnson was presented with a replica of the drum set used by Neil Peart , drummer for the Canadian band Rush , during their 30th anniversary tour . Johnson has participated in over 40 trips with

3640-746: The Philadelphia Phillies in July 2000, and the two aces anchored the Diamondbacks rotation. In the fourth year of the franchise's existence, Johnson and Schilling carried the Arizona Diamondbacks to their first World Series appearance and victory in 2001 against the New York Yankees . Johnson and Schilling shared the World Series Most Valuable Player Award , the Babe Ruth Award , and were named Sports Illustrated magazine's 2001 " Sportsmen of

3731-584: The Phillies ' 59 wins for an all-time record ratio of 45.8%). The Diamondbacks traded Johnson to the New York Yankees for Javier Vázquez , Brad Halsey , Dioner Navarro , and cash in January 2005. Johnson pitched Opening Day for the Yankees on April 3, 2005, against the Boston Red Sox . Johnson was inconsistent through 2005, allowing 32 home runs; however, he regained his dominance in late 2005. He

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3822-506: The San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park eight months following his back surgery. On June 3, 2008, Johnson struck out Mike Cameron of the Milwaukee Brewers for career strikeout number 4,673. With this strikeout Johnson surpassed Roger Clemens for the number two spot on the all-time strikeout leaders list. Johnson struck out 8 in the game but could not get the win as the Diamondbacks lost 7–1. Johnson got his 4,700th career strikeout on July 6, 2008. On July 27, 2008, Fred Lewis became

3913-679: The Southern League . In 1988, he pitched for the Indianapolis Indians of the American Association . He made his major league debut on September 15, 1988, against the Pittsburgh Pirates , earning a 9–4 victory with a five-inning outing in which he gave up two runs with five strikeouts; his first victim was Orestes Destrade in the second inning. Johnson posted a record of 3–0 with

4004-1012: The United Service Organizations . He also supports initiatives to fight homelessness. In recognition of all his charitable efforts, he was the Hall of Fame recipient of the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award in 2019. In January 2015, Johnson was named a Special Assistant to the team president of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Derrick Hall . In 2020, The Athletic ranked Johnson at number 28 on its "Baseball 100" list, complied by sportswriter Joe Posnanski . In 2022, as part of their SN Rushmore project, The Sporting News named Johnson on their "Phoenix Mount Rushmore of Sports", along with Arizona Cardinals football player Larry Fitzgerald , Phoenix Suns basketball player Steve Nash , Phoenix Mercury basketball player Diana Taurasi . Since retiring from baseball, Johnson has pursued

4095-560: The 17th perfect game in MLB history . At 40 years of age, he was the oldest pitcher to accomplish this feat. Johnson had 13 strikeouts on his way to a 2–0 victory against the Atlanta Braves . The perfect game made him the fifth pitcher in Major League history (after Cy Young , Jim Bunning , Nolan Ryan , and Hideo Nomo ) to pitch a no-hitter in both leagues. He also became the fifth pitcher in Major League history to throw both

4186-442: The 1960s, sub-2.00 ERAs returned as other influences, such as ballparks with different dimensions, were introduced. Starting with the 2019 season , an ERA under 4.00 is again considered good. The single-season record for the lowest ERA is held by Dutch Leonard , who in 1914 had an earned run average of 0.96, pitching 224.2 innings with a win–loss record of 19–5. The all-time record for the lowest single season earned run average by

4277-423: The 96 mph (154 km/h) range and his slider clocked at around 87 mph (140 km/h). Johnson also threw a split-finger fastball that behaved like a change-up, and a sinker to induce ground-ball outs. In a June 27, 2012, appearance on The Dan Patrick Show , Adam Dunn (a left-handed batter) was asked who the best pitcher he faced was. "Honestly, Randy Johnson when he was good. It's hopeless. It's like

4368-452: The Angels a 5–2 lead, but the Yankees were unable to come back in the series. After an inconclusive year in pinstripes, New York fans hoped that Johnson would return to his dominant style in his second Yankee season. Johnson began 2006 well, but then he struggled to find form. In between some impressive performances, he allowed 5 or more runs in 7 of his first 18 starts for the season. Johnson

4459-480: The Big Unit ", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (1988–2009) for six teams, primarily the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks . At 6 feet 10 inches (2.08 metres) tall, Johnson was the tallest player in MLB history when he entered the league, contributing to his extremely intimidating persona and pitching style. As

4550-716: The Cy Young Award, and the only one until Félix Hernández took home the honor in 2010 . Johnson capped the Mariners' late-season comeback by pitching a three-hitter in the AL West's one-game playoff, crushing the California Angels ' hopes with 12 strikeouts. Thus unable to start in the 5-game ALDS series against the Yankees until the third game, Johnson watched as New York took a 2–0 series lead. He defeated

4641-597: The Giants bullpen. On September 19, 2009, Johnson made his first relief appearance in 4 years, facing the Los Angeles Dodgers for 3 batters. At age 46, he was at the time the second oldest player in Major League Baseball, trailing only former Mariners teammate Jamie Moyer . On January 5, 2010, he announced his retirement from professional baseball. The Mariners invited Johnson to throw out

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4732-582: The Mariners during the 1989 season , Johnson led the American League in walks for three consecutive seasons (1990–1992), and hit batsmen in 1992 and 1993. In July 1991, facing the Milwaukee Brewers , the erratic Johnson allowed 4 runs on 1 hit, thanks to 10 walks in 4 innings. A month later, a 9th-inning single cost him a no-hitter against the Oakland Athletics . Johnson suffered another 10-walk, 4-inning start in 1992. His untapped talent

4823-465: The Mariners traded Johnson to the Houston Astros for three minor leaguers: Freddy García , Carlos Guillén , and John Halama . Johnson was a Mariner for nearly 9 years, his longest tenure with one team. In 11 regular-season starts with the Astros, Johnson posted a 10–1 record, a 1.28 ERA, and 116 strikeouts in 84 + 1 ⁄ 3 innings, and pitched four shutouts. Johnson finished 7th in

4914-480: The Yankees in Game 3 with 10 strikeouts in seven innings. When the series went the full five games, the Mariners having come back from a 2–0 deficit to win both games at the Kingdome , Johnson made a dramatic relief appearance in the series final, Game 5, on only one day's rest. Entering a 4–4 game in the ninth inning, Johnson pitched the 9th, 10th, and 11th innings. He allowed one run, struck out six, and held on for

5005-573: The Year ." For the first of two consecutive seasons, Johnson and Schilling finished 1–2 in the Cy Young balloting. Johnson also won his third consecutive Warren Spahn Award. Johnson's performance was particularly dominating, striking out 11 in a 3-hit shutout in Game 2, pitching seven innings for the victory in Game 6 and then coming on in relief the following day to pick up the win in Game 7. Of Arizona's eleven post-season wins in 2001, Johnson had five. He

5096-407: The ability of pitchers to throw effective breaking balls, due to both reduced air resistance and difficulty in gripping very dry baseballs. These conditions have been countered to some extent since 2002 by the team's use of humidors to store baseballs before games. These difficult circumstances for Rockies pitchers may not adversely affect their win–loss records, since opposing pitchers must deal with

5187-514: The age of 46, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015 in his first year of eligibility. He is the first member of the Hall to be depicted in a Diamondbacks uniform on his plaque. Johnson was born in the San Francisco Bay Area suburb of Walnut Creek, California , to Carol Hannah and Rollen Charles "Bud" Johnson. By the time he entered Livermore High School , he was a star in baseball and basketball . In 1982, as

5278-527: The bases loaded, and then gives up a single which scores 2 runs, he is not charged with those runs. If he retires the next batter (and pitches no more innings), his ERA for that game will be 0.00 despite having surrendered the lead. (He is recorded with a blown save if those runs tied the game or affected a lead change.) Starting pitchers operate under the same rules but are not called upon to start pitching with runners already on base. In addition, relief pitchers know beforehand that they will only be pitching for

5369-421: The batters' box to stand right-handed for one pitch. He ended the at bat by drawing a walk. The incident momentarily drew mirth and laughter from players in both dugouts , fans and announcers, and, of course, comparisons to the at bat with Kruk in the 1993 All-Star Game. In spite of garnering a reputation of avoiding Johnson, Walker batted .393 (11 hits in 28 at bats) against him in his career, nearly double

5460-421: The beginning of a baseball season when a pitcher has yet to appear in any games. It is sometimes incorrectly displayed as zero or as the lowest-ranking ERA. At times it can be misleading to judge relief pitchers solely on ERA, because they are charged only for runs scored by batters who reached base while batting against them. Thus, if a relief pitcher enters the game with his team leading by 1 run, with 2 outs and

5551-470: The ceremonial first pitch at the Seattle Mariners home opener at Safeco Field on April 12, 2010, and inducted Johnson into the Mariners Hall of Fame on January 17, 2012. The Diamondbacks invited Johnson and former teammate Curt Schilling to both throw out the ceremonial first pitches for the Arizona Diamondbacks ' recognition of the 10th anniversary of the 2001 World Series team that defeated

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5642-476: The definition of a good ERA varies from year to year. During the dead-ball era of the 1900s and 1910s, an ERA below 2.00 (two earned runs allowed per nine innings) was considered good. In the late 1920s and through the 1930s, when conditions of the game changed in a way that strongly favored hitters, a good ERA was below 4.00; only the highest caliber pitchers, for example Dazzy Vance or Lefty Grove , would consistently post an ERA under 3.00 during these years. In

5733-588: The distribution of the best characters. In Backyard Baseball 2001 , in addition to the 30 fictional kids, each team was represented by at least one MLB pro player, many of which were all-stars during the 1999 Major League Baseball All Star Game . Eventual Hall of Fame players featured include Barry Larkin , Vladimir Guerrero , Jeff Bagwell , Larry Walker , Chipper Jones , Derek Jeter , Mike Piazza , Tony Gwynn , Ken Griffey Jr. , Cal Ripken Jr. , Ivan Rodriguez , and Randy Johnson , who are all playable characters to choose from. Other professional players from

5824-450: The extent seen with relief pitchers. The advent of the designated hitter rule in the American League in 1973 made the pitching environment significantly different. From then up through 2021, pitchers spending all or most of their careers in the AL, while not usually having to worry about batting themselves, had been at a disadvantage in maintaining low ERAs compared to National League pitchers who could often get an easy out when pitching to

5915-488: The first Backyard Baseball title was released on October 10, 2024, with a remastered version of Backyard Baseball 2001 planned to release on a later date. Pablo Sanchez, one of the fictional playable characters in the game, has been regarded as one of the strongest athletes in video game history. The game has also been noted for its diversity (gender, race, disability, etc.) of characters, both in ratio of white to non-white and male to female, as well as skill level and

6006-422: The first left-handed batter to get four hits against Johnson in a game. In the first at-bat in this game, a fog horn went off as Johnson was releasing his pitch, causing him to throw an eephus pitch which fell for a strike. He finished the season with an 11–10 record and an ERA of 3.91, recording his 100th career complete game in a 2–1 victory over the Colorado Rockies . On December 26, 2008, Johnson signed

6097-438: The later games included Chipper Jones , Frank Thomas , Alex Rodriguez , Alfonso Soriano , Ichiro Suzuki , Sammy Sosa , Jim Thome , Albert Pujols , Nomar Garciaparra , Ken Griffey Jr. , and Barry Bonds . Several of these players would be featured in multiple releases including Nomar Garciaparra , Derek Jeter, and Alex Rodriguez . Randy Johnson Randall David Johnson (born September 10, 1963), nicknamed "

6188-451: The movie Little Big League , playing himself. Johnson appeared in a Just for Men commercial where he had a grey beard and his neighbors told him "Your beard is weird." Johnson also appeared in a Right Guard commercial where he fired dodgeballs at Kyle Brandt , who represented odor. Johnson also appeared in several commercials for Nike in 1998. The spots comedically portrayed him taking batting practice (swinging ineptly at balls from

6279-572: The opposition's pitcher. Starting in 1997, when teams began playing teams from the other league during the regular season, the DH rule was in effect only when such interleague games are played in an American League park; this was rendered moot after the National League permanently adopted the DH in 2022. This difference between the leagues (the DH) also affected relievers, but not to the same degree. This

6370-449: The pitching Triple Crown , leading the NL in wins, ERA, and strikeouts, and was voted his fourth consecutive Cy Young and Warren Spahn Awards. It was Johnson's fourth consecutive 300-strikeout season with the Diamondbacks, and fifth consecutive overall, extending his own MLB record from the previous season in which he set the record for the most consecutive seasons with 300 or more strikeouts in

6461-415: The plate moves to base, and eventually reaches home, scoring a run. A pitcher is assessed an earned run for each run scored by a batter (or that batter's pinch-runner ) who reaches base while batting against that pitcher. The National League first tabulated official earned run average statistics in 1912 (the outcome was called "Heydler's statistic" for a while, after then-NL secretary John Heydler ), and

6552-540: The rate of all left-handed batters at .199. When the 1998 season began, Johnson was upset the Mariners would not offer him a contract extension, given his contract was expiring after the season. Though the Mariners initially wanted to keep Johnson, turning down a trade offer from the Los Angeles Dodgers , they fell out of contention, going 8–20 in June. Minutes before the non-waiver trade deadline, on July 31,

6643-407: The same problems. Indeed, hometown hurlers have some advantage in any given game since they are physically acclimated to the altitude and often develop techniques to mitigate the challenges of this ballpark. Still, conditions there tend to inflate Rockies' ERAs relative to the rest of the league. In modern baseball, sabermetrics uses several defense independent pitching statistics (DIPS) including

6734-417: The season was among the NL's top ten strikeout pitchers. But on July 3, his surgically repaired disc from the previous season was reinjured. Johnson had season-ending surgery on the same disc, this time removing it completely. Reporting that the procedure went "a little better than expected", Arizona hoped that Johnson would be ready for the 2008 season. Johnson made his season debut on April 14, 2008, against

6825-531: The series-ending win in Seattle's dramatic comeback. Johnson was sidelined throughout much of the 1996 season with a back injury, but he rebounded in 1997 with a 20–4 record, 291 strikeouts, and a 2.28 ERA (his personal best). Between May 1994 and October 1997, Johnson had gone 53–9, including a 16–0 streak that fell one short of the AL record. Johnson had two 19-strikeout starts in 1997, on June 24 and August 8. Another colorful All-Star Game moment proceeded in

6916-428: The seventh left-handed pitcher to achieve the 300-win milestone and the fifth pitcher in the last 50 years to get his 299th and 300th win in consecutive starts, joining Warren Spahn , Steve Carlton , Gaylord Perry , and Tom Seaver . Johnson was placed on the 60-day disabled list with a torn rotator cuff in his throwing shoulder on July 28, 2009. Johnson was activated by the Giants on September 16, 2009, and assigned to

7007-474: The start of the tenth, but because the game went into extra innings, he is ineligible to share the nine-inning game strikeout record. On August 23, 2001, Johnson struck out three batters on nine pitches in the 6th inning of a 5–1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, becoming the 30th pitcher in major league history to pitch an immaculate inning . Johnson's 2001 season was the 2nd time in MLB history where

7098-430: The table including the one for Johnson with Seattle general manager Woody Woodward and one for Rickey Henderson with Oakland general manager Sandy Alderson . When Gillick was unable to contact Woodward he agreed to utilize the deal with Alderson. When Woodward returned Gillick's call he said he would agree to the deal for Johnson. However, Gillick gave his word to Alderson even though the deal had not been finalized. At

7189-497: The tendency of hometown official scorers to assign errors instead of base hits in plays that could be either. As an extreme example, pitchers for the Colorado Rockies have historically faced many problems, all damaging to their ERAs. The combination of high altitude (5,280 ft or 1,610 m) and a semi-arid climate in Denver causes fly balls to travel up to 10% farther than at sea level. Denver's altitude and low humidity also reduce

7280-533: The third pitcher in history, after Gaylord Perry and Pedro Martínez , to win the Cy Young Award in both the American and National Leagues; Martínez won the AL Cy Young in the same season that Johnson won its NL counterpart. Johnson finished 2000 with 19 wins, 347 strikeouts and a 2.64 ERA, and won his second consecutive NL Cy Young Award and Warren Spahn Award. The Diamondbacks acquired Curt Schilling from

7371-532: The title of tallest player in MLB history. Former pitchers Eric Hillman , Andrew Sisco , Andrew Brackman , and Chris Young have also been measured at 6'10". After his retirement, the title of tallest player was held by Johnson's former Diamondback teammate Jon Rauch , a relief pitcher who is 6 feet 11 inches (2.11 m). Johnson guest-starred in The Simpsons episode " Bart Has Two Mommies ", which aired on March 19, 2006. Johnson appeared in

7462-425: Was 5–0 against the Yankees' division rival Red Sox and finished the season 17–8 with a 3.79 ERA, and was second in the AL with 211 strikeouts. In 2005, The Sporting News published an update of their 1999 book Baseball's 100 Greatest Players . Johnson did not make the original edition, but for the 2005 update, with his career totals considerably higher and his 2001 World Championship season taken into account, he

7553-494: Was a slider that broke down and away from left-handed hitters and down and in to right-handed hitters. The effectiveness of the pitch is marked by its velocity being in the low 90s along with tight late break; hitters often believed they were thrown a fastball until the ball broke just before it crossed home plate. Right-handed hitters have swung through and missed sliders that nearly hit their back foot. Johnson dubbed his slider "Mr. Snappy". In later years, his fastball declined to

7644-625: Was also the first Seattle Mariners pitcher to reach 300 strikeouts in a single season . In May 1993, Johnson again lost a no-hitter to a 9th-inning single; again, the opponent was the Oakland Athletics. He also recorded his 1,000th career strikeout against the Minnesota Twins ' Chuck Knoblauch . Prior to the trade deadline, Johnson was nearly dealt to the Toronto Blue Jays for Steve Karsay and Mike Timlin . Toronto general manager Pat Gillick had two separate transactions on

7735-522: Was explosive: In 1990, Johnson became the first left-hander to strike out Wade Boggs three times in one game, and a no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers attested to his potential. Johnson credits a session with Nolan Ryan late in the 1992 season with helping him take his career to the next level; Ryan has said that he appreciated Johnson's talent and did not want to see him take as long to figure certain things out as he had taken. Ryan recommended

7826-490: Was more effective in the second half. Johnson finished the season with a 17–11 record, a subpar 5.00 ERA with only 172 strikeouts. It was revealed at the end of the 2006 season that a herniated disc in Johnson's back had been stiffening him and it was only in his second to last start of the season that he decided to get it checked. This exposure caused him to miss his last start of 2006. After being given epidural anesthesia and

7917-556: Was one of two World Series Most Valuable Players in 2001 ; in the Series, Johnson won three games and led the Arizona Diamondbacks to a World Series victory over the New York Yankees in the fourth season of the team's existence. He won the pitching Triple Crown in 2002. Johnson's 303 career victories are the fifth-most by a left-hander in MLB history, while his 4,875 strikeouts place him second all time behind Nolan Ryan and first among left-handers. He recorded 300 strikeouts in

8008-437: Was partially due to a lack of run support as his ERA that year was 2.60. Johnson led the major leagues in strikeouts (with 290) and finished second to Roger Clemens for the Cy Young Award. In the games where Arizona scored three or more runs, Johnson was 13–2. As his team only won 51 games that year, his ratio of winning 31.3% of his team's games was the highest for any starting pitcher since Steve Carlton in 1972 (who won 27 of

8099-477: Was primarily based on a pre-season conversation he had with Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman about the importance of being closer to his family in Phoenix after the death of his brother. Johnson missed most of April, rehabilitating his injured back before returning on April 24, 2007. Johnson allowed six runs in 5 innings and took the loss, but struck out seven. He returned to form, and by his tenth start of

8190-545: Was ranked at Number 60. Johnson was a disappointment in Game 3 of the 2005 Division Series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim , allowing 5 runs on 2 home runs in 3 innings. He avoided being charged with the loss when the Yankees rallied, but eventually lost. In Game 5 in Anaheim, Johnson made an effective relief appearance with 4 1/3 scoreless innings after Mike Mussina gave up 5 runs and 6 hits to give

8281-776: Was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 4th round of the 1982 MLB draft , but did not sign. He was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the second round of the 1985 Major League Baseball draft . In 1985, he pitched for the Jamestown Expos of the New York-Pennsylvania League . In 1986, he pitched for the West Palm Beach Expos of the Florida State League . In 1987, he pitched for the Jacksonville Expos of

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