COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - Former Mariners pitcher Randy Johnson has been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The towering left-hander, nicknamed the Big Unit, was enshrined Sunday.
The 6-foot-10 native of Walnut Creek, California, played 22 seasons in the major leagues and pitched for the Seattle Mariners from 1989 to 1998. Johnson led his league in strikeouts nine times. He also earned four ERA titles and recorded 100 complete games and 37 shutouts.
Johnson's 4,875 strikeouts rank No. 2 behind Nolan Ryan's 5,714, and his 10.61 strikeouts per nine innings is tops on the career list.
In Seattle, Johnson won 130 games, had a 3.42 ERA, and struck out 2,162 batters. He is third on the Mariners' all-time wins list behind Jamie Moyer and Felix Hernandez.
Johnson pitched the first of his two career no-hitters with the Mariners on June 2, 1990, when he blanked the Tigers 2-0 at the Kingdome.
"Everybody looked forward to when he pitched," said Mick McHugh at FX McRory's in Pioneer Square. "He was so menacing, so dominating on the mound."
McHugh laughs when he thinks about Johnson coming into the restaurant before games.
"Nobody would want to wait on him because they were worried," he said as he laughed. "I said - 'listen, he's just a normal guy off the mound.' On the mound, he's 6'10" but he looks like he's 7'6" coming off the dirt."
Johnson's years with the Mariners added up to the perfect mix for Ken Fulton from Des Moines. He was at the division tie-breaker game against the Angels in 1995.
"For me, I was at the perfect age for that. I was in my mid-20s and my whole life the Mariners had struggled," Fulton remembers. "Because [Johnson] was so unique, he kind of crossed over and people who weren't big fans knew who he was as well just because he was 6-foot-10 and had the different look from most other baseball players."
Johnson reached the pinnacle of his career with the Diamondbacks. In 2001, he went 21-6 in the regular season and 3-0 in the World Series against the Yankees, sharing Most Valuable Player honors with Curt Schilling and leading Arizona to the title in the team's fourth year of existence.
"My only lament is he didn't wear a Mariners hat [in the Hall of Fame], but we had him for 10 years and he was as colorful the day he came as the day he left," McHugh said. "For us to get a star is a big deal in Seattle and he was one of our first legitimate stars. Randy - pardon the pun - he stood above All of them and deservedly so."
"He'll always be a Mariner to all of us."
KING 5's Josh Green contributed to this report.
