Cy Young Profile: Randy Johnson, 1999

Pitcher, Arizona Diamondbacks

Age:  36 (Sept. 10)

1^st season with Diamondbacks

Bats – Right, Throws – Left

Height: 6’10” Weight: 225

Prior to 1999:

A native of California, Johnson starred in baseball and basketball in high school. He received a scholarship to USC for both sports and was originally drafted as an amateur by the Braves in 1982, without signing a contract. Johnson spent three seasons playing college baseball and was drafted by Montreal in 1985, this time signing. With his great pitching speed, he moved up quickly through the minor league system, where he worked on his control. Johnson made his first major league appearance with the Expos late in the 1988 season and started four games, compiling a 3-0 record and 2.42 ERA with 25 strikeouts in 26 innings. Off to an 0-4 start in 1989, “The Big Unit” was traded to Seattle in May and went 7-9 in 22 starts with his new club and had a 4.40 ERA. In 1990, Johnson pitched the first no-hitter in franchise history against Detroit as part of a breakout season in which he compiled a 14-11 record with 3.65 ERA and continued to struggle with his control while leading the AL with 120 walks to go along with 194 strikeouts in 219.2 innings. He was also chosen to his first All-Star game. Continuing to improve, Johnson accumulated over 200 strikeouts for the first time in 1991 (228) and led the league for the first of four consecutive years with 241 in ’92 (the last of three straight seasons in which he topped the circuit in walks). He was again an All-Star in 1993, a year in which he compiled a 19-8 record and was 13-6 during the strike-abbreviated 1994 season. In 1995 the Mariners reached the postseason for the first time in franchise history and Johnson contributed mightily with an 18-2 record and AL-leading 294 strikeouts and 2.48 ERA. He received the AL Cy Young Award for his performance. In 1996 major back surgery limited “The Big Unit” to eight games, but he rebounded with a 20-4 record and 291 strikeouts in ’97. With talk of a trade swirling throughout the 1998 season, Johnson got off to a 9-10 record and 4.33 ERA before being dealt to the Houston Astros at the trade deadline. He helped his new club to a division title with a 10-1 record and 1.28 ERA. Entering the free agent market, Johnson signed a four-year contract worth $52 million with the second-year Diamondbacks in 1999.  

1999 Season Summary

Appeared in 35 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Pitching

Games – 35

Games Started – 35 [1, tied with four others]

Complete Games – 12 [1]

Wins – 17 [8, tied with Pedro Astacio]

Losses – 9

PCT - .654 [9]

Saves – 0

Shutouts – 2 [2, tied with five others]

Innings Pitched – 271.2 [1]

Hits – 207

Runs – 86

Earned Runs – 75

Home Runs – 30 [12, tied with Brian Bohanon & Jose Lima]

Bases on Balls – 70

Strikeouts – 364 [1]

ERA – 2.48 [1]

Hit Batters – 9 [9, tied with Al Leiter & Matt Clement]

Balks – 2 [10, tied with fifteen others]

Wild Pitches – 4

League-leading complete games were +4 ahead of runner-up Curt Schilling

League-leading innings pitched were +19.1 ahead of runner-up Kevin Brown

League-leading strikeouts were +143 ahead of runner-up Kevin Brown

League-leading ERA was -0.20 lower than runner-up Kevin Millwood

Midseason Snapshot: 9-7, ERA - 2.95, SO - 211 in 152.2 IP

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Most strikeouts, game – 17 (in 8 IP) at Cincinnati 6/30

10+ strikeout games – 23

Fewest hits allowed, game – 2 (in 7 IP) vs. Florida 6/14

Batting

PA – 104, AB – 97, R – 1, H – 12, 2B – 4, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 6, BB – 0, SO – 46, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .124, GDP – 1, HBP – 0, SH – 7, SF – 0

Fielding

Chances – 37

Put Outs – 4

Assists – 28

Errors – 5

DP – 2

Pct. - .889

Postseason Pitching:

G – 1 GS – 1 (NLDS vs. NY Mets)

CG – 0, Record – 0-1, PCT – .000, SV – 0, ShO – 0, IP – 8.1, H – 8, R – 7, ER – 7, HR – 2, BB – 3, SO – 11, ERA – 7.56, HB – 0, BLK – 0, WP – 0

Awards & Honors:

NL Cy Young Award: BBWAA

All-Star

15^th in NL MVP voting (21 points, 5% share)

NL Cy Young voting:

Randy Johnson, Ariz.: 134 pts. – 20 of 32 first place votes, 84% share

Mike Hampton, Hou: 110 pts. – 11 first place votes, 69% share

Kevin Millwood, Atl.: 36 pts. – 1 first place vote, 23% share

Jose Lima, Hou: 3 pts. – 2% share

Billy Wagner, Hou.: 3 pts. – 2% share

Kevin Brown, LAD: 1 pt. – 1% share

Trevor Hoffman, S.D: 1 pt. – 1% share

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Diamondbacks went 100-62 to finish first in the NL Western Division by 14 games over the San Francisco Giants in their second season of existence. Lost NLDS to New York Mets, 3 games to 1.

Aftermath of '99:

“The Big Unit” followed up with another Cy Young award-winning season in 2000, compiling a 19-7 record with 347 strikeouts and a 2.64 ERA for the 85-77 Diamondbacks. Johnson made it three straight Cy Young awards in 2001, going 21-6 with a 2.49 ERA and 372 strikeouts. He created a productive tandem with RHP Curt Schilling, and Arizona went on to win the World Series, in which Johnson and Schilling were co-MVPs, with Johnson winning Game 7 in relief. Johnson was recipient of another Cy Young award in 2002 following a 24-5 tally and a 2.32 ERA with 334 strikeouts. The Diamondbacks fell short in the postseason but “The Big Unit” was re-signed. Knee surgery cut short his ’03 season and Johnson dropped to 6-8 with a 4.26 ERA.  Off to a 3-4 start at age 40 in 2004, Johnson pitched a perfect game against Atlanta. He went on to a 16-14 record and a 2.60 ERA and league-leading 290 strikeouts. Looking to shed salary in 2005, the Diamondbacks dealt Johnson to the New York Yankees where he won another 34 games over two seasons before returning to Arizona in 2007. Johnson spent 2007 and ’08 with the Diamondbacks before finishing out his great career with San Francisco in 2009. For his major league career, Johnson appeared in 618 games, 603 of which were starts, and compiled 303 wins and 166 losses with a 3.29 ERA and 4875 strikeouts, the second highest total in MLB history to date. His record with Arizona alone was 118-62 with a 2.83 ERA and 2077 strikeouts.  He added another 14 wins in the postseason against 18 losses. He compiled five 300-strikeout seasons, was chosen to ten All-Star Games and won five Cy Young awards (one in the AL and 4 in the NL with the Diamondbacks). Johnson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015. His #51 was retired by the Diamondbacks.

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Cy Young Profiles feature pitchers who were recipients of the Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1956 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1966 and from 1967 on to one recipient from each major league.