Last month, 45-year-old Randy Johnson sat in front of his locker in the visitors’ clubhouse at Coors Field. Stuffed into an undersized chair, his knees crowding his chin, the 6-foot-10 left-hander looked worn out.
The night before, the Rockies had roughed up the left-hander, battering him for seven runs in an 11-1 Colorado victory over San Francisco. For just the seventh time in 21 years as a starting pitcher, Johnson failed to strike out a batter.
“What bothers me the most is that I didn’t give my team a chance to win,” he said. “That’s what I’ve done most of my whole career, get my team deep into the game and pitch when it matters most. That’s what I’m about.”
Johnson is a baseball survivor, with a primal need to compete. Though blessed with a fastball that once sent shivers down hitters’ spines, Johnson was smart enough to realize raw power didn’t translate into greatness.
That is how, more than two decades after his big-league debut, and after two back surgeries, the five-time Cy Young Award winner joined one of sport’s most exclusive clubs Thursday when he won his 300th game. He’s likely the last pitcher to do so for a long, long time.
Five days before getting shelled at Coors, Johnson shut out the Rockies for seven innings in San Francisco, a reminder that at his best, he’s still as good as they come.
“He was tough, especially that very sharp slider of his,” said Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who was 3 years old when Johnson made his big-league debut on Sept. 15, 1988, with Montreal. “It looks like it’s going to be over the middle of the plate and by the time you swing it’s at your shoe tops.”
When Johnson broke in with the Expos, he wasn’t a pitcher; he was a wild man with a mullet. He walked almost a batter an inning in three-plus seasons in the minors before being called up. When Montreal traded him to Seattle in 1989, he had just three career wins at age 25.
But he found a way to harness his blazing fastball and nasty slider, as well as his emotions, to become one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball history. His 4,845 strikeouts are the most by a left-handed pitcher and the second-highest total in major-league history, behind Nolan Ryan’s 5,714.
Remarkably, nearly 80 percent of Johnson’s victories have come since he turned 30.
“The way I look at Randy, his career was more patterned after Warren Spahn’s career than so many other 300 winners,” said Ryan, referring to the Hall of Famer whose career was interrupted for three years by World War II.
Spahn had just 67 wins when he turned 29, but finished with 363, most for a left-hander.
Ryan believes it took Johnson longer to fulfill his potential because of his lanky build and the difficulty of mastering a repeatable delivery because of it.
“Trying to be consistent with extremities that long, and being able to control his body, I think, were the biggest challenges he had,” said Ryan, now the Texas Rangers president.
A giant step in Johnson’s development came during an August 1992 series in Seattle against the Rangers. Ryan, pitching for the Rangers, pulled Johnson aside and offered Johnson two sage pieces of advice. One, if you want to be great, cut down on your walks. Two, he suggested a basic change in Johnson’s mechanics to help him improve his control.
“I didn’t realize it, but Nolan said I was landing on the heel of my foot instead of the ball of my foot,” Johnson recalled. “I would spin out of my delivery and fall toward third base. That’s why I was walking too many.”
In 1993, Johnson had his first breakout season, winning 19 games and striking out 308.
“I think Randy was on the verge of putting it all together at that point in his career,” Ryan said, trying to downplay his role.
During his best years, in Arizona (1999-2002), Johnson fully harnessed his enormous ability, winning 81 games during those four seasons and striking out nearly five batters for every one he walked.
“No one was ever tougher on me,” said Rockies first baseman Todd Helton, who has 13 hits, no home runs and 10 strikeouts in 48 career at-bats vs. Johnson. “Even if he’s having a bad day, you are still going to have a bad day. He’s that type of pitcher.
“Obviously, to get to 300 wins you have to be very dominating. But the thing that impresses me the most is that he’s made some great adjustments over the years as he’s gotten older. He used to just throw the ball by people. Now he throws his breaking ball wherever he wants to.”
Still, Johnson admits baseball’s a much tougher gig for him these days.
“It’s harder to get your body ready, and I don’t like the travel,” he said. “I’ve got four kids at home, and I miss them.”
But the day after that tough night in LoDo, the subject of the approaching milestone was something of a nuisance. Johnson kept turning the conversation back to how he needed to pitch better to help his team.
“The competitiveness and the fire to go out and compete every fifth day, I still have that,” Johnson said. “I don’t think that will ever leave me, even on the day I retire.”
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com
Endangered species?
Could 45-year-old Randy Johnson be the last of baseball’s 300-game winners? Five-man rotations, limited pitch counts and increased specialization have made it harder to rack up victories. A look at who might be next:
(Pitcher, Age, Team, Wins)
Jamie Moyer 46 Phillies 250
No way he hangs on long enough.
Andy Pettitte 37 Yankees 220
Already contemplating retirement.
Roy Halladay 32 Blue Jays 139
Arvada West product is the best bet, but would have to average 16 wins over the next 10 years.
CC Sabathia 28 Yankees 122
Can a man this big stay healthy long enough?
Johan Santana 30 Mets 116
Best pitcher in baseball, but must average 15 wins over the next 13 seasons.
Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post
