e2sports

Larry Joe Bird is born on December 7, 1956 at Bedford Medical Center in the town of West Baden, Indiana. The fourth of six children (five boys, one girl) of Joe and Georgia Bird. At an early age, two of Larry's older brothers, Mike and Mark, showed Larry basketball, and how to play it, and as a Bostonian, I thank them. If Ted Williams was a natural hitter, Larry Bird was a natural shooter. In his career with the Boston Celtics he showed his form and his love for the game. A die-hard player who would play to win, and didn't mind getting physical at times.

His basketball days started in Springs Valley High School, in the neighboring town of French Lick. Bird helped the team out greatly with his height and with his shooting. French Lick had only 2100 residents, however 4,000+ would come out to see the games.

On April 24, 1974, Larry signed a letter of intent to play for Bobby Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers, however Bird would hitchhike home, complaining that he couldn't get accustomed to the large school. He would later attend Indiana State University, where he would be named the Sporting News Player of the Year in what would be his final collegiate season. In that year, he would lead ISU to a 33-0 season, but in a case of foreshadowing, Bird and ISU lost to Michigan State, lead by none other than a kid named Earvin Magic Johnson.

On February 3, 1975, Larry, his siblings, and his mother Georgia would be struck a sorrowful blow as Joe Bird, depressed from financial shortcomings, and still bumming from his divorce with Georgia two years early, does his best Kurt Cobain imitation, a full 24 or so years earlier.

However later in the year, life goes on as Bird married his hometown sweetheart, Janet Condra, a girl Larry knew since the first grade. The marital bliss would not last long as the couple would divorce on Halloween in the following year. In a period of reconciliation, however, Janet would become pregnant with a daughter, Corrie, born on August 14, 1977.

While playing in a softball game in 1979, Larry broke his right index finger. This resulted in a permanently bent finger as he set the fracture himself.

In an interesting turn of events, Larry was picked by the Boston Celtics as the 6th choice overall in the 1978 draft, however he would not sign until 1980, when the Celts signed him before he would enter the draft again, and good thing they did! Larry Legend would be joined in the same year by the two men he will forever be remembered with, Kevin McHale and The Chief, Robert Parrish. With Kevin and The Chief taking care of the low post, Larry was free to do what he did best, shoot the ball from wherever he wanted to.

In his rookie season, Larry was voted to the All Rookie Team. He would go on to be a 12 time All-Star, starting in 10 of those games and named the All-Star MVP in 1982. Larry was named to the All-Defensive Second Team in 1982, 1983, and 1984. Larry joined the company of Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain as the only people to ever win the regular season MVP 3 years in a row! Bird was named the playoff MVP in 1984 and in 1986. He has 69 triple-doubles, in his career, with 10 in the postseason. He's the only Celtic with three consecutive 2000+ point seasons. Larry is also the first player to shoot 50% from the floor and 90% from the free-throw line. Not only that, he's the only one to do it twice. In 1992, Bird was named a Co-captain for the fabled Dream Team that won the gold in the 1992 Olympics at Barcelona.

On February 18, 1985, Bird shows his humility, or he just might have been really tired from his performance. In 3 quarters of play against the Utah Jazz, Larry was 1 steal away from nabbing a quadruple-double. Boston was ahead 90-66 and he would decline to reenter the game. "I already did enough damage," he would say afterward. "Why go for it if we're up by 30?"

On September 30, 1989, Bird would marry longtime girlfriend Dinah Mattingly, whom he had met at ISU. The couple adopted two children, Connor and Mariah.

On August 18, 1992, Larry would retire from the game of Basketball, having won 3 championships and played against some of the greatest players ever. Six years later, on June 29, 1998 Bird was elected to be enshrined in Springfield, MA, in his first year of eligibility to enter the Hall Of Fame. During his last two years of play for the Celts, Larry would be bothered by chronic back pain. While not in the game, he would lay down courtside to try and rest his back. Larry's jersey, #33, is retired as well, hanging next to the other Celtic Legends in the Fleetcenter.

After retiring, he worked for the Celtics Front Office as a Special Assistant for 5 years. Many thought he might replace M.L. Carr as coach, but Rick Pitino was given that job, and Larry Legend returned to his home state of Indiana to succeed Larry Brown as the coach of the Indiana Pacers for the 1997-98 season. He took the pacers to their most wins in a season, 58 and a trip to the conference finals, where they lost to the Chicago Bulls. Larry was named Coach of the year in his first season coaching.

Also, Bird and fellow amazing basketball player Michael Jordan have some history together. I'm sure most of us can remember the McDonalds commercials the pair did in the early 90s. They consisted of the duo playing Horse, a game where you shoot from a spot, or take a certain kind of shot and, if you make it, the opponent has to try and make it or they get a letter. They were doing this, only really extreme horse. They would call their shots like, "Off the backboard, off the kid in the stands holding the foam finger and drinking soda, bounce twice of the pavement, wander around with a dotted line like Billy from Family Circus, nothing but net." Silly, yet highly amusing at the same time. But that's not all. If I remember correctly, a game was made for the Sega Genesis gaming console called Bird vs. Jordan, or maybe Jordan vs. Bird. It was a game where you controlled either character and played a lil half-court one on one.

Larry will always be remembered for what he brought to the game of basketball, how effortlessly he could sink a jump shot, and his rivalries. In the 80's, the Celtics were deep in a strong rivalry against the Los Angeles Lakers. Bird vs. Magic Johnson was a rivalry that went back to college, and always lead to some fierce basketball games. The Celtics also had some history with the Detroit Pistons, as Bird and roughhouser Bill Lambieer almost got into fisticuffs during one game, causing them both to be ejected.

Statistics:

         PPG   RPG   APG  BPG  SPG 
College  30.3  13.3  
 (1980)  21.3  10.4  4.5  0.7  1.7 
1980-81  21.2  10.9  5.5  0.8  2.0 
1981-82  22.9  10.9  5.8  0.9  1.9 
1982-83  23.6  11.0  5.8  0.9  1.9 
1983-84  24.2  10.1  6.6  0.9  1.8 
1984-85  28.7  10.5  6.6  1.2  1.6 
1985-86  25.8   9.8  6.8  0.6  2.0 
1986-87  28.1   9.2  7.6  1.0  1.8 
1987-88  29.9   9.3  6.2  0.8  1.6 
1988-89  19.3   6.2  4.8  0.8  1.0 
1989-90  24.3   9.5  7.5  0.8  1.4 
1990-91  19.5   8.6  7.2  1.0  1.8 
1991-92  20.2   9.6  6.8  0.7  0.9 
Career   24.3  10.0  6.4  0.8  1.7 

sources:

http://www.larrybird.com/stats.html
http://www.unc.edu/~lbrooks2/bird.html
http://www.psci.net/tonjame/tim/Larry_Bird_Collage.html
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/1998/bird/timeline/index.html
and watching the Celtics as I grew up in the Boston Suburbs

If any of you folks out there are now or once have been golf enthusiasts like myself, then at one time in your golfing career you’ve probably gone through a case of the yips. Picture this…

It’s summertime and it’s probably sometime during the middle of the week. You’ve got your eye on the weekend weather forecast and your local prognosticator is calling for a beautiful weekend with sunny skies and no rain in sight. Taking heed of this information, you start making some phone calls to some of your friends to arrange a foursome and get yourself a tee time at your local golf course .You plan to spend about four hours or so on Saturday afternoon with your buddies doing, what in my opinion, is one of the most enjoyable things to do. Chasing a golf ball against a blue sky and green course.

Saturday dawns and for a change, the weatherman (or weatherperson for you politically correct types) is right on the money. As you suck down your morning coffee, all that is on your mind is how well your going to play that day. The temperature is hovering in the low 80’s, the humidity is nothing to speak of, a few puffy clouds dot the sky here and there and an ever so slight breeze blows just hard enough to provide some respite to cool you from the rays of the sun.

Before you make your commute to your to your local golf course, an equipment check is in order. For me, the commute is about twenty minutes or so. That means about 1 hour to 1 ½ hours before my scheduled tee time., I’m going to check my bag to make sure I have enough balls, tees, an extra glove, pencils, sun screen, hat, towel and maybe give my golf clubs a quick wipe down to remove any remnants of the course from the last time I played. The refreshements have been cooling in the fridge since last night and they are dutifully put in the cooler along with some water and maybe a sandwich or one of your favorite snacks.

You arrive at the course maybe a half hour or so before your tee time. You pay your money, put on your golf shoes, grab your sticks and head off to the practice range to loosen up a bit. After hitting some balls and working any kinks out, you head to the practice green and try to perfect the fine art of putting. You drain a couple from anywhere between 10-15 feet and feel pretty damn good about yourself and about how the day is going to turn out.

Then it’s off to the first tee and it’s your turn to drive one down the middle of the fairway. It’s a kinda short par 4. Maybe doglegs to the left a little bit. You want to lay it out there somewhere between 250-270 yards to leave yourself with a decent second shot. Sure enough, the time spent on the driving range turns out to be well spent as you pure one down the alley. Your approach shot is about as easy (if there’s such a thing in golf!) as it can get. You stand maybe 130-140 yards out and loft an iron straight at the pin. The ball lands on the green as if it had fallen on a pillow and you’re left with about three feet for birdie. After hearing the proverbial “nice shot” from your playing partners, you proudly walk up to the green, putter in hand, mark your ball, and await those less fortunate or less skilled to finish up. You think to yourself, “This has all the makings of a great day!”

You line up your putt. There’s nothing special about it. It’s one you’ve made hundreds or thousands of times either on the course, the practice green or in your head. You take a couple of practice strokes, address the ball and prepare to hear that wonderful sound of the ball dropping in the cup. All is (hopefully) quiet as you take a deep breath to clear your lungs and bring back your putter. Your stroke feels smooth as you bring the club forward. All feels right.

Then that little voice inside of your head suddenly screams “What the fuck was that?” as either your wrist or hand make a sudden twitch when the club is mere inches from the ball. After striking the ball, it rolls inches wide of the cup depending on the direction of your “twitch”. You let out your breath, sag your shoulders, lower your head and silently curse yourself in ways you can’t imagine and tap in for a disappointing par. Your golfing partners, if they have any couth at all, know to remain silent. You remove your ball and depending how pissed off you might be, slam or place your putter back in the bag and head towards the next tee. You also offer up a silent prayer to the golfing gods imploring them to relieve you of your misery. You hope, what started out as a wonderful day, will also end that way.

Depending on how close you’re sticking your irons or chipping up, this scene might be played out on numerous holes as you make your way around the course. If it does, you my friend, have been cursed by the aforementioned golfing gods and have fallen victim to what is known in golfing circles as the “yips”. This insidious little monster seems to strike at random at golfers on every level. From the most seasoned professional to that of a weekend hacker, the “yips” have probably claimed more strokes off your score than any errant drive ever will.

So what are the yips?

You can give credit to a former professional golfer by the name Tommy Armour for popularizing or coining the term “yips”. In fact, his case got so bad that it forced him to retire from professional play and resort to the role of golf instructor.

While most people refer to the act of missing a short putt as merely “choking” under pressure, the “yips” seem to be a combination of two things. One seems to be an involuntary muscle spasm caused by a level of anxiety as you try and sink your putt. Usually, the putt is shorter than five feet or so and often times might be considered a “gimmee”.

Research at such learned institutions at the Mayo Clinic has been undertaken as to why and when a person might be subject to the “yips”. So far, here it what it has yielded.

Most sufferers appear to have faster than average heart rates and tend to grip the putter a little bit tighter than those who don’t suffer from this affliction. Nobody seems able to determine when the “yips” start or when they have run their course. They seem to come more often during tournaments or when the competition is heated. If you fall victim to the “yips” you can expect to add about 4.7 strokes to your average for eighteen holes.

Who gets the “yips”?

Strangely enough, avid golfers who have played more than twenty years seem more likely to contract the “yips”. Researchers are baffled by this and attribute the condition to biochemical changes in your brain that occur as you age.

Preliminary research indicates that more than 25 percent of avid golfers develop the yips at some time in their career. Besides the physical changes that occur, some research indicates that the cause of you blowing your two- footer might be attributable to just pain old bad thinking and bad images that might interrupt your concentration. So much for the “power of positive thinking” I guess.

Then there’s the term “performance anxiety”. It seems to be induced by stress and the fact that you're on stage for all to see. Interviews with golfers who have experienced the “yips” indicate that the “disease” occurs way less frequently in practice when nobody is watching then when your trying to drain that three footer to win a tournament in front of a national television audience.

The “Yips”, they’re just not for golfers anymore…

Further research into the phenomena seems to indicate that golfers are not the only ones to fall under the spell of the “yips”. Ever see a baseball player blow an easy throw to first base? “Yips”. How about a NBA player bricking foul shot after foul shot? “Yips”. Outside of the realm of sports, did you ever hear an accomplished musician hit a clunker during a performance? That’s right “Yips”. How about a professional speaker who suddenly is at a loss for words. "Yips" again. The “disease” seems to be spreading, and it must be stopped!

How can I get rid of ‘em?

From a golfing standpoint, the short answer is that nobody seems to know. You might try changing your grip, going to a longer or shorter putter, changing your stance or trying some mental exercises to rid you of this demon. There are also countless remedies you might see in golfing magazines that “guarantee” a cure for the “yips”. Do yourself a favor and pay them no heed. You’ll only become even more frustrated when you find out that the hard earned money you spent on some kind of gizmo went for naught when you blow that first easy putt.

For my part, a couple of drinks after the round usually go a long ways toward making you forget about them for the time being. The bastards that they are though, the “yips” will reside in your memory for a long time to come. That is, until you sink that pressure packed first three-footer or learn to live with them.

Source: I’ve blown enough short putts in my lifetime to cost me a small fortune and my personal acquaintance with the “yips” has been both a source of amusement and profit for many of my golfing friends. That in itself, speaks volumes.

Sport played on ice where two teams consisting of 5 players and one "goaltender" each are using "sticks" to put a "puck" into the other team's "goal".

The playing field and the equipment
Historically a winter sport, now an all year round sport, played indoors in sports arenas with ice making capabilities. The playing field is called a rink, and is rectangular with rounded corners, and enclosed by a board and sometimes Plexiglas to protect the audience from stray pucks and players, occasionally. The international size - sometimes referred to as "Olympic size" - of the rink is 61 by 30 meters (200 by 98 feet). In North American professional ice hockey a narrower rink - 25 meters (85 feet) - is used. The boards are either wooden or or fiberglass and about 1,05 meter (42 inches) high. 

The rink is divided in three zones, one neutral middle zone and two defensive zones belonging to either team. The defensive zones are 18 m (61 ft) and indicated by red a blue line toward the neutral zone. The neutral zone has a red line bisecting it, indicating the center of the rink On either side of the rink, some 2 m (6 ft) from the end boards, is a netted goal 1,2 m high and 1,8 m wide (4x6 ft). 

The players have wooden or composite sticks with a blade attached to it. This is used to pass, dribble or shoot the puck. The puck is a rubber cylinder of 2,5 cm height and 7,6 cm diameter (1'' by 3'') weighing about 160 grams (6 ounces). The players have skates on their feet. Players also have a lot of protective equipment, such as helmets, knee pads, gloves, shoulder pads, elbow pads etc. The goalkeeper ("goalie") has specially designed equipment to protect him/her from hard shots. He also has large knee pads to stop the puck, a glove for catching of the puck, and a larger stick. Goalies also wear face masks, which is sometimes mandatory but usually elective for the other players. 

The game
The goal of the game is to put the puck in the other team's goal. A game is limited by time, usually three periods of 20 minutes of effective play. Sometimes overtime with or without sudden death, and penalty shootout is used to decide games that are equal after a full game. 

Players can use all their body and equipment to move the puck, except for the head or with a club over shoulder level. They cannot close their hand around the puck. They cannot pass the puck with an open hand. They can only score a goal with the stick, unless the puck accidentally bounces on another part of their body. Thus they cannot kick the puck into a goal, but if the puck hits the skate and bounces into the goal, it is ok. 

Players may check and tackle other players anywhere on the ice in order to take the puck from them, except for the goalie. The tackle must be done using the shoulder, the breast or the side of the body, and at least one skate must remain on the ice. A player may not hold, grab, trip another player, nor is any use of the stick against another player allowed. Only players with the puck can be tackled. 

Ice hockey uses offside, meaning that the puck must enter the other team's defensive zone before any player of the attacking team. If the puck goes out of the zone, so must all the offensive players. Another rule is icing, meaning that a puck that goes from the defensive zone of one teams to behind the goal of the other team. If no player from the defensive team touches the puck, the puck will go back to the defensive zone. 

A ice hockey team consists of  2 goalies and 20 field players. Players can substitute anytime during play, as long as no more than one goalie and 5 other players are on the ice at the same time. The game is very fast and physical, so players usually do shifts of 90 seconds a piece. 

There are one referee and two linesmen officiating the games. The linesmen watch for offsides and icing while the referee watches for penalties. Penalties are given for any breach of the rules mentioned above, plus other forms of aggressive and violent play. Examples of penalties are roughing, tripping, cross-checking, high sticking, charging, interference and elbowing. A player called for a penalty has to serve 2 minutes - if it's minor, 5 minutes if it's major - in the penalty box. During this time, the team cannot replace this player, and must thus play shorthanded. If the other team scores, a player doing time for a minor penalty - but not a major one - can return to the game. There are also different forms of personal penalties for misconduct that can render 10 minutes or the rest of the game in the penalty box .

History
The name hockey comes from the French "hocquet", meaning a shepard's stick. The game itself has origins in the early 19th century in Nova Scotia and later spread to the British army. It also has origins in the Irish hurling. The game was spread in Canada and Scotland in the late 19th century, which is also when one started playing on ice and with a puck. 

Competitions
The first ice hockey organization was the Amateur Hockey Association (AHA) of Canada, from 1885. The first league was also formed in Canada and since 1893 teams in North America have been competing over the Stanley Cup, which now is owned by NHL, the National Hockey League. 

A world championship for national teams is held every year, except when Olympic tournaments are played. These are arranged by the International Ice Hockey Federation, IIHF. There have also been various other hockey tournaments for national teams, such as Canada Cup and World Cup. 

Ice hockey has from the beginning been dominated by Canada. They won most world championships from the first one in 1920 until 1963. The few exceptions were by Czechoslovakia, Great Britain, USA and Sweden. Between 1963 and 1993, the Soviet Union won 23 times, only allowing Czechoslovakia and Sweden a few titles each. After the fall of the Soviet Union, several countries have won the world championship. The dominating countries in ice hockey today are Canada, USA, Russia, Sweden, Czech republic and Finland and Slovakia. 

The Olympic tournaments has pretty much followed the same patterns, with respect to what countries have been dominating thorough the years.

The best players in the world play professionally in the NHL, which consists of teams from Canada and the USA.

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reference: ne.se, nhl.com, britannica

Gordon "Red" Berenson is one of the legendary names in hockey history, both in the college and professional ranks. Nicknamed for his red hair which he's carried through his career, Berenson has left a mark on the game of hockey at nearly every turn.

Berenson, a native of Regina, Saskatchewan, was one of the most successful collegiate hockey players in NCAA history as a 3-year varsity letterwinner and former captain for the University of Michigan. Berenson was an All-American in both 1961 and 1962, and his 43 goals in 1962 still stands as a University of Michigan record.

Almost immediately after his final NCAA game (literally the next night after), Berenson became to first player to jump immediately from collegiate to professional hockey, eventually playing in 9 games for the Montreal Canadians of the NHL.

Even though he tallied an impressive 261 goals and 397 assists in 987 NHL games over his career, Berenson is probably best known for having scored six goals in a single NHL game against the Philadelphia Flyers while playing for the St. Louis Blues in 1968. That's only one goal short of the all-time NHL record for goals scored in a game. He also holds sole possession of the NHL record of most goals scored in a single period (4).

Berenson also scored at least 20 goals in seven different seasons in the NHL, playing for Montreal, St. Louis, the Detroit Red Wings, and the New York Rangers. After retiring following the 1977-78 season, Berenson moved on to coaching and served as an assistant with the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL under legendary coach Scotty Bowman, before accepting the position of head coach at his alma mater of Michigan, a member of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, in 1984.

At the helm of Michigan, Berenson had accumulated a record of 448 wins, 220 losses, and 45 ties with a winning percentage of .660 heading into the 2001-2002 season, and is a big reason for the Wolverines' return to the ranks of CCHA and collegiate hockey powerhouses.

Berenson is a member of the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor, the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, and the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame. He was also voted to the NCAA All-Time Collegiate Hockey Team in 1996-1997.

Sources:

nhl.com
www.goblue.com
www.ccha.com

"He uses his size to intimidate batters. He also has that scowl. Randy (Johnson) is more confident on the mound now, too. You can tell by his body language. He used to come apart when guys started doing a lot of bench jockeying. Then he'd let the game get away from him. But not anymore." - Assistant General Manager Dan O'Dowd ¹

Biography:

Randall David Johnson was born on September 10, 1963 in Walnut Creek, California. Randy was always tall for his age, and that height gave him an advantage in the sports he played. He grew up playing baseball and basketball for Livermore High School. In his final game in his senior year, Randy pitched a perfect game, no hits, no runs, no men on base. While Randy would be drafted by the Atlanta Braves, he decided to attend USC instead. At USC, Randy would play alongside soon-to-be super slugger Mark McGwire. In his sophomore year of college, Randy stopped playing basketball so he could focus more on his baseball.

After college, Randy would find himself playing for the Montreal Expos. Everyone could see the potential in the tall rookie. On September 15th, 1988, 5 days after his 25th birthday, Randy scored his first of many Major League Baseball victories. However, Randy would struggle with his control throughout the season. The following season the Expos, thick in a pennant race, would trade Johnson to the Seattle Mariners for Mark Langston on May 25, 1993. In his first game as a Mariner, Randy and the team would go on to beat the New York Yankees. It would be in Seattle that Randy would find success on the pitchers mound.

The change of location would not bring sudden success to the Big Unit, as the 6'10 hurler is sometimes called, but he would come to mature into the sensational pitcher that he currently is. On June 2, 1990 Randy threw his first no-hitter for not only himself, but the first in Seattle Mariners history. Even though Randy was pitching well he still lacked the control that he needed. In 1991 and 92, Randy threw back to back 200+ strike out seasons, yet only finished with a record of 25-24. Randy stepped out in 1993 and wowed the American League. He pitched 308 strikeouts with a record of 19-8; and he did it with less than a hundred walks. Randy would lead the American League in strikeouts from 92-95.

in 1998, minutes before the trading deadline at midnight, a deal was inked between the Mariners and the Houston Astros which sent the Big Unit to Houston for infielder Carlos Guillen, pitching prospect Freddy Garcia as well as a player to be named later. This would cause much relief for hitters in the American League. Randy was being courted by the New York Yankees and almost went to the Yankee pinstripes, as if they needed to buy any more talent

Randy would finish out the year in the 'Stros uniform, but come the summer, things would be different. Randy was a free agent, and began talks with the Arizona Diamondbacks, bringing more pitching power to the fledgling team. Randy would continue to pitch well for the DBacks, and would culminate in his third season with the club.

2001 would be a sensational year in the life of Randy Johnson. In May, Randy would strike out 20 batters in a game, putting him in company with Roger Clemens, who did it twice, and Kerry Wood. Randy would win his third straight Cy Young award, the fourth of his career. His teammate and 1 to the 2 of the Diamondbacks 1-2 punch, Curt Schilling, finished 2nd in the voting, making the pair the third pair of teammates to finish in the top two spots since Mike Marshall and Andy Messersmith of the 1974 Los Angeles Dodgers and Don Newcombe and Sal Maglie of the 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers. The pair also had a combined 665 strikeouts, surpassing the previous mark set by teammates Nolan Ryan and Bill Singer, who combined for 624 with the Angels in 1973.

March 26, 2001 would be an interesting day in Randy Johnson's life. Nothing real special here, but on this day in the seventh inning of the DBacks vs the San Francisco Giants Randy Johnson let loose one of his fastballs, at the same time a dove flew overhead. Unfortunately the dove flew over the head of the catcher, and it wasn't very high off the ground. Needless to say the end result was not pretty. Unlike Yankees outfielder Dave Winfield, who accidentally killed a seagull with a warm-up throw, no charges of animal cruelty were brought up, even though catcher Rod Barajas said, "I'm sitting there waiting for it, and I'm expecting to catch the thing, and all you see is an explosion."

In the post season that year, Randy was on fire. He became the first pitcher to win 5 games in the same postseason, and the first pitcher to get the win in 3 world series games since the Detroit Tigers' Mickey Lolich, who accomplished the feat back in 1968. His strike out to 9 innings pitched ratio is 13.4, .2 better than the previous record set by Pedro Martinez in 1999. His 372 strikeouts were third highest in a season ever. The category is led by Nolan Ryan, who had 383 in a season. Randy also won his 200th win in the 01 season, making him the 98th pitcher overall to do so. Randy, alongside Curt Schilling, would lead the Arizona Diamondbacks to their first World Series championship. This was of course a very good thing because they beat the Yankees :^)

Randy continued his dominance in the 2002 season. Randy, along with fellow ace Curt Schilling, helped the Arizona Diamondbacks become the first team since the 1919 Boston Red Sox to win their first two games of a season by shutout, following a World Series victory. Randy went on to win 23 more games, marking the third time he's won 20+ games in a season. On September 9, Randy struck out his 300th batter on the season, extending his record to 5 straight seasons of 300+ K's. He and Schilling became the first teammates with 300+ strikeouts on the season when Curt got his 300th a week later. Randy Johnson would again win the Cy Young award, his 5th. Also, Randy became the first pitcher since the New York Mets' Dwight Gooden to win the pitching triple crown (record, era and strikeouts).

Despite such a stellar performance during the 2002 season, the 2003 season was much different for Randy Johnson. Plagued by injuries throughout the season, The Big Unit only made half his usual starts and ended the season with a dismal 6-4 record with an era over 4 for the first time in 5 years. After such a bad season, and not getting any younger at the age of 39, many thought somethings may change. Instead of Randy leaving the D-backs, a trade was worked out that sent Curt Schilling to the Boston Red Sox for pitchers Casey Fossum, Brandon Lyon and Jorge De La Rosa.

The Unit knew that he had to pitch very well for the restructured Arizona Diamondbacks. Many players from their World Series team had been lost to trades or free agency. The now 40 year old Johnson was now the sole ace of the team, and had to pitch like it. Which is exactly what he did. After a good start to the season, Randy Johnson went bonkers. On May 18, 2004, Randy pitched a 117 pitch perfect game against the Atlanta Braves. The Unit struck out 13 Braves, including pinch-hitter Eddie Perez, with heat in the upper 90's. The first perfect game in 5 years, Randy became the oldest pitcher to throw perfect at 40 years of age. While it was Randy's first perfect game, it marked the second no-hitter of his career, as he no-hit the Detroit Tigers on June 2, 1990.

With the Seattle Mariners, Randy was as active off the field as he was on. Randy was co-chair, alongside Jay Buhner for the Mariners' annual Cystic Fibrosis Golf Tournament and Auction, which usually raises over $100,000 annually. Randy also supported ChildHaven, a group which provides services for victims of child abuse and neglect. Randy was also chair of the "K for Kids" program which benefited local Boys and Girls clubs in the Seattle area. His charity work continues even though Randy's been moved around a bit. With the Diamondbacks, Randy's been working on and donating to several charities including strikeout Homelessness as well as still working for various cystic fibrosis charities. Randy recorded a public service announcement which was shown in movie theatres that raised awareness about the homeless.

In 2002, the Big Unit declined to play at this year's botched All-Star game. In his place, the San Francisco Giants' Robb Nen was selected. This would mark the 9th time Randy was voted to an All-Star game.

Randy Johnson is also an avid photographer, and in 1990 he had some of his pictures displayed at an art expo in Los Angeles.

Randy Johnson retired from baseball in 2009, after a stint with the San Francisco Giants, at the age of 46. His final win-loss record is 303-166.

Awards and Milestones:

All-Star - 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004
Strikeout Leader - 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004
AL Cy Young Award Winner - 1995
NL Cy Young Award Winner - 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
May 22, 2002 Randy passes 3,500 strikeouts
2001 World Series Champion

Statistics:

Number: 51
Position: Starting Pitcher
Height: 6'10"
Weight: 232
Bats: Right
Throws: Left

sources

1. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/autoweek/aut2001i.shtml
2. ESPN.com: Randy Johnson - http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/stats?statsId=4288
3. Randy Johnson - http://www.infoplease.com/ipsa/A0193841.html
4. Randy Johnson - http://alumni.imsa.edu/~mozart/people/randy.html
5. http://abcnews.go.com/sections/sports/DailyNews/johnson_dove_010326.html
6. Gumby's Randy Johnson Online - http://msgtgumby.tripod.com/johnson/
7. Baseball Almanac - Seattle Mariners Menu - http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/mari.shtml
8. CNN/SI - Baseball MLB - Mariners ship Randy Johnson to Houston - Saturday August 01, 1998 08:12 AM - http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/news/1998/07/31/johnson_astros_final/