MLB legend shares funny story

Randy Johnson is one of the greatest pitchers in Major League Baseball history. But on Saturday, Johnson shared that he gets remembered by a lot of people for one pitch.

Specifically, Johnson is remembered for one pitch that took the life of a bird that happened to be flying in its path.

Johnson and Luis Gonzalez were honored on Saturday as the inaugural members of the Arizona Diamondbacks Hall of Fame. During the game, the two were in the broadcast booth with announcers Steve Berthiaume and Tom Candiotti.

While in the booth, Johnson shared what kind of interaction he often has with fans.

“People go, ‘Hey, aren’t you the pitcher that hit the bird?’ And I look at ’em and I go, ‘I played 22 years and I’ve done a lot more than just kill a bird.'”

Most of you probably know exactly what Johnson is talking about. But if you don’t or maybe you need a reminder, here’s what happened.

During a 2001 spring training game against the San Francisco Giants, Johnson threw a pitch. As the ball was moving toward the plate, it struck a dove, who essentially flew right into it. While there was some initial confusion about whether the pitch would be ruled a ball, Johnson’s pitch, like the bird it struck, was ruled dead.

A look at Johnson’s career achievements leaves no doubt as to why he was a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

He won 303 games in his career and is one of only 24 pitchers in MLB history to reach 300. Johnson is also one of only 24 players to throw a perfect game. During his illustrious career, Johnson won five Cy Young Awards, second only to Roger Clemens on the all-time list and he’s one of only seven pitchers to win a Cy Young in each league. Johnson is also one of only four pitchers to strike out more than 4,000 hitters in his career and his 4,875 career strikeouts are second all-time to Nolan Ryan.

That’s really only scratching the surface. But all of those achievements put Johnson in select company. Nailing a bird with a pitch — by complete accident — puts Johnson in his own group.

Also, since his playing career ended, Johnson has become an accomplished photographer. He even has his own company, Randy Johnson Photography . The logo for Randy Johnson Photography is a bird lying on its back.

So, it’s not exactly like Johnson has done a lot to distance himself from that pitch.

Indeed, though, he’s right. Johnson has done a lot more than just kill a bird.

[Jomboy Media on X , rj51photos.com , Photo Credit: Arizona Diamondbacks/MLB]

The post Randy Johnson: ‘I’ve done a lot more than just kill a bird’ appeared first on Awful Announcing .