Randy Johnson Biography

1963-

American baseball player

Standing at least a head taller than most of his fellow players, Randy Johnson is one of the tallest players ever to play in Major League Baseball (MLB). At six feet, ten inches, Johnson's towering stature has earned him the nicknames "Big Unit" and "Big Bird." But it's not Johnson's height but his incredible pitching skills that have earned him the greatest fame. Johnson first won glory as baseball's "strikeout king." And he continues to hurl 100-mile-an-hour fastballs and sliders that confound batters, but he also boasts one of the best earned-run averages (ERAs) in MLB history. As compelling a force as

Randy Johnson

he is on the pitching mound, Johnson is surprisingly modest, avoiding the spotlight away from the game whenever possible. After nearly fifteen years in the game, Johnson was still going strong in the early years of the new millennium, driven by a quest for perfection. As he told AskMen.com, "The one thing that keeps me going is [that] I'm never content with anything…. If I was to retire today, I'd like to think this was my best year. But I'd like to think [that] with hard work and determination, I could get better in certain categories." A five-time winner of the Cy Young Award, Johnson trails only Roger Clemens, a six-time winner. Johnson won the award four years in a row (1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002).

CONTACT INFORMATION

Address: Randy Johnson, c/o Arizona Diamondbacks, P.O. Box 2095, Phoenix, AZ 85001. Phone: (602)462-6500.

SELECTED WRITINGS BY JOHNSON:

(With Tom House) Fit to Pitch, Human Kinetics, 1996.