Giants lefty will try to make history tonight
It is a milestone 22 years in the making. But San Francisco Giants pitcher Randy Johnson has been around far too long to talk about something that hasn’t yet happened.
Recommended Stories
Tonight at Nationals Park, the 45-year-old future Hall-of-Famer will go for career win No. 300 when the Giants face the Nationals. It is a feat only 23 pitchers in the sport’s long history (and just four since 1970) have reached. That’s enough to leave any player jittery and Johnson wasn’t talking before Tuesday night’s series opener against Washington, one day before his first attempt at history.
“I’m not going to talk about this stuff. OK, I got to go,” Johnson said over the weekend in San Francisco when approached by reporters. “I get distracted. I just try not to talk at all.”
That pressure is going to be there until Johnson wins again. He reached 299 last Wednesday against the Atlanta Braves. So far in 2009, the five-time Cy Young winner is 4-4 with a 5.71 ERA. Those numbers are a far cry from Johnson’s prime. But the imposing 6-foot-10 left-hander is now asked to be just a complementary part of a rotation that includes young stars Tim Lincecum, last year’s National League Cy Young winner, and Matt Cain (6-1, 2.31 ERA). Both are just 24 and are two of nine San Francisco teammates who were six or younger when Johnson made his big-league debut on Sept. 15, 1988 while with the Montreal Expos.
“It’s a great thing to be a part of it. Because obviously I watched him growing up when I was a kid,” said Giants shortstop Emmanuel Burriss, a District native. “I think it’ll be great for him, it’ll be great for the team, it’ll be great publicity. But at the same time we’re trying to win every game we’re out there.”
Nationals players, meanwhile, were far less reticent. This is the team, after all, that was in San Francisco when Barry Bonds broke the all-time home-run mark two summers ago. They’d rather not be part of Giants’ history again
“The longevity of [Johnson’s] career is unbelievable,” said Nats pitcher John Lannan, who kept Bonds from breaking the home run record on Aug. 6, 2007 only to see his team victimized a day later. “To watch him throw and maybe get his 300th win is unbelievable. It could be the last time for a couple of decades — we just [hope] it’s not against us.”
