The Big Unit is born in Walnut Creek California

September 10, 1963 Hall of famer Randy Johnson was born in Walnut Creek, CA. He lived in California through his college years and was a teammate at USC of Mark McGwire.

Nicknamed “The Big Unit,” he is one of the best left handers in baseball history. Johnson was a 10X All-Star, won 5 Cy Young Awards, was named the World Series MVP in 2001 with the Arizona Diamondbacks, led the league in strikeouts 9X & ERA 4X.

On Saturday, June 2, 1990,  Johnson no-hit Detroit as his Seattle Mariners topped the Tigers 2-0 at the Kingdome. It was the Mariners’ first no-hitter and 14 years later on May 18, 2004 Johnson became the 17th player to pitch a perfect game when he beat the Braves 2-0 at Turner Field. It was also the Arizona Diamondbacks first no hitter.

His uniform #51 is retired by the Diamondbacks and he is a member of the Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame. In his 22-year career (1988-2009), Randy had 303 wins, 4875 strikeouts (2nd all-time behind Nolan Ryan), 37 shutouts, & 3.29 ERA. Johnson was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015 (97.3% on the 1st ballot).