As 'The Big Unit' gets his number retired by the Mariners, the ESPN MLB Insider had a great recollection on the 'Refuse to Lose' podcast.
On Saturday night, the Seattle Mariners will retire Randy Johnson's iconic No. 51, making him the fifth player to have his number retired by the franchise.
He'll join Jackie Robinson (42), Ken Griffey Jr. (24), Edgar Martinez (11) and Ichiro Suzuki (51) as the only M's players with that distinction.
Speaking on the most recent edition of the 'Refuse to Lose' podcast, ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney told his favorite Johnson story, which dates back to his time with the M's.
"But my outstanding memory of Randy Johnson was actually from a 'B' game on a sleepy morning in Peoria (Ariz.). The Padres and the Mariners are playing a 9am 'B' game, and Randy got into it a little bit in the first inning with a hitter they had on that team named Phil Clark. And he got mad, and all of a sudden, it was like, it went from this meaningless, just, 'let's get our work in for a few innings' game, to 'Randy's coming to kick your (expletive). And he went on, and I'll never forget this, he began to throw just pure power stuff and strike out everybody. And every time he struck out a hitter, he gave a wave of a glove like, 'get out of here.' And that was about as awesome a thing as I've seen since I covered baseball.
One of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, Johnson spent parts of 10 seasons in Seattle, arriving in 1989. He won 130 games in the Pacific Northwest - the most of any franchise he played for - and also had a 3.42 ERA, which was excellent for the offense-heavy time period in which he played. He won the Cy Young Award and led Seattle to its first-ever playoff appearance in the 1995 season. Johnson made the All-Star Game five times with the M's, and he also tossed a no-hitter.
Former Seattle Mariners pitcher Randy Johnson throws the ceremonial first pitch before the game between the Seattle Mariners and the Toronto Blue Jays during game three of the ALCS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at T-Mobile Park. Steven Bisig-Imagn ImagesHe won five Cy Young awards in total, making 10 All-Star Games. He's a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, though he's there as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was inducted into the Mariners Hall of Fame in 2015 and several other members of the M's Hall of Fame should be in attendance on Saturday night.
After the ceremony concludes, the Mariners will play the Kansas City Royals at 6:40 p.m. PT. The Mariners are 16-17 on the young season and coming off a 7-6 loss on Friday.
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