Randy Johnson: No. 4 Mariner of All-Time

For 30 days, Baseball Tonight will reveal the top three all-time players for each franchise, voted by the fans. Participate by voting here. The All-Time Franchise players from the Mariners will be chosen on Tuesday, August 19th. Over the next couple weeks, I am going to countdown my own ranking of the ten players on the ballot.

Previous: No. 10: Mark Langston No. 9: Bret Boone No.8: Jay Buhner No.7: Alvin Davis No.6: Jamie Moyer
No. 5: Alex Rodriguez

Number Four

Randy Johnson, SP 1989-1998

With Roger Clemens taking the low road with the steroids scandal, Randy Johnson may be the greatest pitcher of the last two decades. He had two signature pitches, a vicious slider and a flaming fast ball that would clock in at 100 mph in his prime.

Randy Johnson came to the Mariners in a trade to the Montreal Expos for the number ten Mariner of all-time, Mark Langston. The Big Unit, as he was called, was a scary intimidating pitcher when he first broke in with the Mariners. Johnson would spend his first three and a half years as a Mariner working on his control, harnessing the power and speed behind his pitches.
 
By the '93 season, Johnson would begin to assert himself as the ace of the Mariner's rotation. He ended the season with a 13-6 record, a 3.24 era, and 308 strikeouts. That year he gained his first all-star appearance and finished 2nd in Cy Young voting to Jack McDowell.

The Big Unit's best year as a Mariner came in the magical '95 season. He finished with an 18-2 record,  294 strike outs, and a 2.48 earned run average. He was the main player in helping the Mariners make the playoffs for the first time ever when he pitched and won the one game playoff against the California Angels. He would go on to win the first of many Cy Young's in his career.

In 1998, Randy Johnson was traded to the Houston Astros in exchange for Freddy Garcia, Carlos Guillen, and John Halama. All three of those players would end up becoming valuable role players to the club, but nothing compared to the player they were traded for. Randy Johnson would reach the pinnacle of his success by winning a World Series with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001, and winning four consecutive Cy Young's as a Diamondback.


Does Alex Rodriguez deserve the number four spot? Or is the Big Unit in his rightful place in Mariners' history?

Mariner Records:
No.2 Wins -130
No.4 ERA- 3.42 
No.2 Complete Games- 51

No.1 Shutouts- 19
No.1 Strikeouts- 2162

Sources: BaseballReference.com Photo Source: [Juneauumpire]