D-backs to unveil new team Hall of Fame, Luis Gonzalez, Randy Johnson 1st inductees
Aug 13, 2023, 3:20 PM | Updated: 5:27 pm
Starting pitcher Randy Johnson #51 and Luis Gonzalez #20 of the Arizona Diamondbacks celebrate winning game two of the Major League Baseball World Series over the New York Yankees at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks defeated the Yankees 4-0. (Harry How/ALLSPORT)
(Harry How/ALLSPORT)
The Arizona Diamondbacks announced Saturday the team will be unveiling a new Hall of Fame for the 2024 season.
Team legend and radio play-by-play announce Greg “The Gub’nuh” Schulte said in a ceremony on the field that World Series champions Luis Gonzalez and Randy Johnson would be the first two honored. The event happened during the team’s 25th-anniversary celebration with many former players and coaches.
Gonzalez’s (20) and Johnson’s (51) numbers, alongside Jackie Robinson’s (42), are both currently hanging in the rafters above right field as the three numbers no Arizona player will ever wear again.
The @Dbacks holding a 25th Anniversary celebration pregame! Greg Schulte announces that Randy Johnson and Luis Gonzalez will be the first inductees of the #Dbacks Hall of Fame in 2024. @azfamily pic.twitter.com/AVrXWuFMO4
— Julia Lopez (@JuliaLopez3) August 13, 2023
Gonzalez was drafted by the Houston Astros but arrived in the Valley for the 1999 season, Arizona’s second season as a team.
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Over an eight-year career in the purple and teal uniforms, he slashed .298/.391/.529 with 224 homers (28 per year average), 774 RBIs and, of course, one World Series ring.
His impact on the only men’s sports championship in Arizona echoes throughout Chase Field with reminders of the ninth-inning comeback and Gonzalez’s bloop single that ultimately brought home a win over the Yankees in 2001.
Johnson, or The Big Unit as baseball fans have dubbed him, was drafted by the Montreal Expos and also came to Arizona for the 1999 season.
He played in Arizona for eight seasons and posted a 118-62 record, 2.83 ERA, 2.73 FIP, 1.068 WHIP and 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings over 1,630.1 innings pitched. He also made five All-Star appearances and won four consecutive Cy Young Awards from 1999-2002.
Johnson has a special spot in many D-backs fans hearts as he chose to enter the Baseball Hall of Fame as a member of Arizona despite playing 10 years with Seattle.
