Randy Johnson, aka the "Big Unit", was the latest player to pitch a perfect game when the Diamondbacks beat the Braves, 2-0 (box score). He faced the minimum numbers of batters possible and none of them reached first base. No walks, no hits. Perfect. The closest the Braves came to a hit was on a lead-off bunt in the first inning. Also impressive is that Johnson did this on a 40 year-old body and did this without cartilage in his right knee. Check out the graphic from The Times, which charts Johnson's performance batter by batter - don't worry, it's short. Mike Hampton got the tough-luck loss, pitching a complete game while giving up two runs.
After the game, Johnson also credited his catcher Robby Hammock, "The job Robby did back there was amazing. I shook him off two or three times. That was in the eighth and ninth. It's nice when you're on the same page with your catcher." Giving credit where credit is due. Johnson entered the game with a 2.83 ERA, but with a losing record. He finished the game with a mark in baseball history. Johnson's line on the night - 9 innings pitched, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 13 strikeouts. All this on 117 pitches and 87 strikes.
The Diamondbacks have been pretty bad recently, sitting in last place in the NL West, and out of the national sports landscape. Last week they split their series against the Mets, but most people remember them from beating the Yankees in the 2001 World Series. Baseball's last perfect game was in 1999, when David Cone pitched a perfect game for the Yankees. Johnson's was the 17th in baseball history.
Gothamist is just happy that Johnson got rid of that mullet he had because that was really distracting us everytime we saw him pitch.
