Randy Johnson: Joining the Diamondbacks ‘is why I’m in the Hall of Fame’

Arizona Diamondbacks legendary pitcher Randy Johnson gave credit to his free agency decision to join the team as a prime reason he was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Johnson, along with Luis Gonzalez, will be inducted as the first two members of the D-backs’ new Hall of Fame in a pregame ceremony on Saturday at Chase Field.

The Big Unit joined Arizona Sports’ Bickley and Marotta on Tuesday to retell his path to the infant franchise ahead of the 1999 season. He credited former D-backs owner Jerry Colangelo on the success the team had during his first stint with the D-backs and the impact it had on his career.

“He’s a visionary. Lots of people are visionaries but lots of things don’t come as they plan. Jerry is one of those lucky souls where if he touches something, things turn out pretty well,” Johnson said.

“I’m very fortunate that the decision I made to come to the Diamondbacks was the reason why I’m in the Hall of Fame. Going anywhere else, I don’t know what would have happened.”

Going into free agency after 1998, Johnson was coming off one of the best stretches of his career after a midseason trade to the Houston Astros from the Seattle Mariners where he posted a 10-1 record with 116 strikeouts and a 1.28 ERA.

Johnson talked about the pitch that Colangelo gave the then-35-year-old that convinced him to come to Arizona.

“When Jerry Colangelo came to my house and gave me a sales pitch to come and be part of the franchise, a piece that would turn this franchise around, that was his vision,” Johnson said. “Getting me and things falling in place with my performances, we played better and turned things around.

“I think it was fifth place for the Diamondbacks in 1998 to winning the NL West in 1999 and that carried over into 2000 and our team transformed into a serious competing team and warranted trading for the likes of Curt Schilling and players like that.”

Johnson admitted the D-backs weren’t initially his first choice when it came to teams to sign with in free agency.

“The Diamondbacks weren’t on the top of my list and coming off a 10-1 season, (I thought) it would probably be better to go to a more established team, like the Dodgers, and continue where I left off,” Johnson said. “Jerry continued to pursue me coming to the Diamondbacks and to be a big part of the success of the franchise and eventually he won me over and it worked out in a big way and I’m thankful for that.”

Johnson played 22 seasons in the majors with the Montreal Expos (1988-89), Mariners (1989-98), Astros (1998), D-backs (1999-04 and 2007-08), New York Yankees (2005-06) and San Francisco Giants (2009). He won 303 games and struck out 4,875 batters.

During his first tenure with the D-backs from 1999-2004, Johnson won four consecutive Cy Young awards from 1999-02 and would help Arizona capture its first and only World Series in 2001. Johnson was co-MVP of the series alongside Schilling. On May 18, 2004, Johnson would throw the franchise’s first perfect game against the Atlanta Braves. 

His number 51 was retired by the D-backs in 2015, the same year he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.