Jayson Stark
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Sport Sections

Wednesday, May 9
Updated: May 10, 11:20 AM ET
No record for Johnson? So what




It's games like these that legends are made of.

Randy Johnson, May 8, 2001:

Twenty strikeouts.
No walks.
No line in the record book.
No win.

So the technicalities of baseball bookkeeping say the Big Unit won't move into the space next to Kerry Wood and Roger Clemens in the record book -- because even though he struck out 20 in nine innings, the game he did it in wasn't ready to end. We say: Big deal.

Randy's tough luck
Randy Johnson didn't even get credit for the win in Arizona's 4-3, 11-inning victory because he left the game with the score tied.

But that's nothing new. The Big Unit has become used to being a hard-luck pitcher in Arizona. Since coming to the Diamondbacks in 1999, Johnson has pitched more than 20 games in which he has gone at least seven innings, struck out more than 10 batters and been credited with a loss or a no-decision. Here's a look at some of the the best performances of Johnson's tenure in Arizona that did not result in a win:

2001
May 9: Arizona 4, Cincinnati 3
9 IP, 1 ER, 20 SO, 0 BB, ND

2000
May 10: Arizona 2, Los Angeles 1
8 IP, 1 ER, 13 SO, 1 BB, ND
May 16: Montral 2, Arizona 0
8 IP, 1 ER, 12 SO, 0 BB, L
July 30: Florida 4, Arizona 3
7 IP, 2 ER, 11 SO, 1 BB, ND
Sept. 10: Florida 1, Arizona 0
7 IP, 1 ER, 14 SO, 2 BB, ND

1999
June 25: St. Louis 1, Arizona 0
9 IP, 1 ER, 14 SO, 2 BB, L
June 30: Cincinnati 2, Arizona 0
8 IP, 2 ER, 17 SO, 0 BB, L
July 5: St. Louis 1, Arizona 0
8 IP, 1 ER, 12 SO, 4 BB, L
Aug. 31: Montreal 2, Arizona 1
8 IP, 1 ER, 14 SO, 1 BB, L
--Rico Longoria

That's baseball. That's show biz.

That won't diminish the memory of this game one iota. In fact, we're betting au contraire.

That just makes this night more legendary, not less.

Would people still be talking about Harvey Haddix's evening on the old pitcher's mound 42 years later if he'd just thrown nine perfect innings? Heck, no.

It's the fact that the game kept on rolling -- the fact that baseball thinks Haddix's 12 perfect innings did not constitute a perfect game -- that makes it so memorable.

That's not an outrage. It's actually a tribute to the unique quirks of a unique sport. Those of us who love baseball accept those quirks, even cherish them in a bizarre kind of way.

History and triumph don't always walk side-by-side in our great sport. That's the deal.

Dominance and winning aren't always partners in our business. That's a fact of life all pitchers understand.

Nolan Ryan had four games in which he struck out 19. He was the winning pitcher in one of them.

He didn't file a class-action suit protesting that injustice. That injustice is built into the fabric of the game.

And now Randy Johnson has pitched three games in which he struck out 19 or more. He, too, won one of them. He's dealing with it. Why can't everyone else?

What he did on that mound Tuesday night rises above the technicalities. A week from now, will anybody remember that the winning pitcher in this game was Troy Brohawn? OK, Troy Brohawn's mother. But that's about it.

No, what we'll remember from this game is a soaring 98-mph fastball and a slider that ate the Cincinnati Reds alive. And a box-score line that looked like very few we've ever had a chance to stare at:

9 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 20 K

Gulp.

The Unit's teammate, Armando Reynoso, has 11 strikeouts all season -- in six starts. And on this night, Randy Johnson had more strikeouts than that in six innings.

How cool is that?

Oh, there will be some mention of the Unit in the record books. He still ties the National League record for strikeouts in a game of any length. He's still one of just four men in the history of baseball to strike out at least 20 in a game.

He still joins Roger Clemens and Kerry Wood in the 20-Strikeout, 0-Walk Club. We don't see that group admitting a whole lot of new members any time soon.

Plus, the Unit gets to join the mysterious Tom Cheney in the 20-Strikeout, Extra-Inning Club. And that ain't all bad, either.

We still talk about Tom Cheney's 21-strikeout game -- way back on September 12, 1962 -- too. In fact, in his tremendous book of classic box scores -- "The 100 Greatest Baseball Games of the 20th Century Ranked" -- our friend Joe Dittmar includes Tom Cheney at No. 61. (Haddix, by the way, is No. 4.)

Of course, unlike Randy Johnson, Cheney won his game, pitching 16 innings as the Senators beat the Orioles. He also threw 228 pitches.

Let's just ruminate for a minute on how many Reds the Unit would have struck out if he'd pitched 16 innings, as Cheney did, or if he'd thrown 228 pitches.

If he had, we'd bet the mortgage we probably wouldn't be discussing a mere 20-strikeout evening right now. We'd be talking about a number big enough to get Alan Greenspan's attention.

But we'd probably be spending more time talking about something else -- like whether Bob Brenly had misplaced his sanity on the journey from the broadcast booth to the manager's office. Randy Johnson surely would have a record if he'd kept on going. But would he have a career?

So Brenly did what a billion managers have done before him. He had to make the choice between the pursuit of numbers and the pursuit of something larger. He made the right call.

The game kept on rolling. Randy Johnson didn't. That's our sport. Accept it for what it is.

If we have to put an asterisk next to his name in the books, who cares? It just means Billy Crystal's people can call his people.

And it means an amazing night in a ballpark in Arizona will live on in a special, star-crossed subdivision of our memory banks.

Jayson Stark is a Senior Writer at ESPN.com.




 More from ESPN...
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Johnson may have set the bar ...
Johnson K's 20, gets no decision or record in D-Backs' win

Jayson Stark archive


AUDIO/VIDEO
video
 The Elias Sports Bureau's Steve Hirdt and ESPN's Rick Sutcliffe debate Randy Johnson's place in history.

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 Steve Hirdt of the Elias Sports Bureau explains the official ruling for Randy Johnson's 20 strikeouts.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6

 D-Backs pitcher Curt Schilling predicted a big night for Randy Johnson, but not that big.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6

 D-Backs catcher Damian Miller found it easy to direct Randy Johnson's 20-strikeout performance.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6

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