Randy Johnson retires

[imref]

Former Expo, maybe the greatest pitcher of all time?  Certainly in the top 5 right?

And, he got his 300th win at Nats park!

Career stats:
303 wins
3.29 ERA
4875 Ks
1.171 WHIP

[PatsNats28]

the greatest pitcher of all time?

lol no

[tomterp]

Former Expo, maybe the greatest pitcher of all time?  Certainly in the top 5 right?

And, he got his 300th win at Nats park!

Career stats:
303 wins
3.29 ERA
4875 Ks
1.171 WHIP

Johnson was definitely the greatest pitcher of all time. 


Walter, that is.

[imref]

Johnson pitching to John Kruk in the ASG, throwing the first pitch over his head.

http://www.mlb.com/media/player/mp_tpl.jsp?w_id=344794&w=mms%3A//a1503.v108692.c10869.g.vm.akamaistream.net/7/1503/10869/v0001/mlb.download.akamai.com/10869/library/open/allstar/qa/93as_bigunit_wild_350.wmv&pid=false&cid=mlb&fid=350&v=2&mType=w&urlstr=&mUrl=&type=v_free&_mp=1

[houston-nat]

Johnson pitching to John Kruk in the ASG, throwing the first pitch over his head.

http://www.mlb.com/media/player/mp_tpl.jsp?w_id=344794&w=mms%3A//a1503.v108692.c10869.g.vm.akamaistream.net/7/1503/10869/v0001/mlb.download.akamai.com/10869/library/open/allstar/qa/93as_bigunit_wild_350.wmv&pid=false&cid=mlb&fid=350&v=2&mType=w&urlstr=&mUrl=&type=v_free&_mp=1

What an awesome at-bat.

Johnson's definitely one of the top two professors of the last 20 years, alongside the Professor. Oh, and maybe Mo's in the mix.

[ronnynat]

R. Johnson's definitely one of the best lefties ever. Dude had such a sick slider.

OT: (I was looking at random players' stats) Pedro has to be considered one of the best ever. His numbers from 1997-2003 were just disgusting.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/martipe02.shtml?redir

Look at that WHIP he had in 2000.

[imref]

i do remember pedro and johnson were almost always #1 or #2

R. Johnson's definitely one of the best lefties ever. Dude had such a sick slider.

OT: (I was looking at random players' stats) Pedro has to be considered one of the best ever. His numbers from 1997-2003 were just disgusting.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/martipe02.shtml?redir

Look at that WHIP he had in 2000.

Pedro's 99-00 was absolutely insane, but Johnson had a better career, and he spent a great it on crappy teams.  Still, arguing over who was better between Pedro, Maddox, and Johnson (and we probably should include Clemens, Glavine, & Smoltz in any discussion of that era) is a bit like arguing over the best grade of caviar.  All of those guys absolutely dominated for many years during the steroid era.

[PatsNats28]

i do remember pedro and johnson were almost always #1 or #2
Pedro's 99-00 was absolutely insane, but Johnson had a better career, and he spent a great it on crappy teams.  Still, arguing over who was better between Pedro, Maddox, and Johnson (and we probably should include Clemens, Glavine, & Smoltz in any discussion of that era) is a bit like arguing over the best grade of caviar.  All of those guys absolutely dominated for many years during the steroid era.

D-Backs and Yanks were pretty solid. Pedro spent most of his years on crappy Expos and Sox teams...

[blue911]

R. Johnson's definitely one of the best lefties ever. Dude had such a sick slider.

OT: (I was looking at random players' stats) Pedro has to be considered one of the best ever. His numbers from 1997-2003 were just disgusting.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/martipe02.shtml?redir

Look at that WHIP he had in 2000.

Pedro's numbers are said to be Koufax-like. 

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Don't expect me to be objective when discussing Pedro, but Blue is right on when he compares Pedro to Koufax.  Pedro is Righty Koufax.  Extreme brilliance over a 5 - 7 year period.  Pedro's best years his ERA was more than a run better than the #2 starter in his league and was less than half the league average.  Look at the all-time seasons for ERA+ on baseball reference.  I think Pedro had 2 in the top 10 (so did Maddux and Walter j) and 5 in top 33 (Walter J. had 4).

[edit - actually, in 2000, his ERA was nearly 2 runs better than the #2 starter (Roidger) and his ERA was nearly 1/3 the league average]