Alright, let’s talk about this Randy Johnson fella and that time he hit a bird. Folks keep jabberin’ about it, so I figured I’d put in my two cents, ya know?
Randy Johnson, that big ol’ pitcher, real tall he was, like a beanpole but strong as an ox. They say he was throwin’ the ball fast, real fast. Faster than anyone I ever seen, not that I seen many games, mind you. But folks were sayin’ he threw it 100 miles per hour, maybe even faster. Can ya believe that? A hundred miles! That ball must’ve been like a bullet comin’ at ya.
- He was a lefty, see. Threw with his left hand, which is kinda unusual, I guess.
- Folks called him the “Big Unit,” on account of him bein’ so tall, I reckon.
- He played for a bunch of teams, but I think he was best known for pitchin’ for the Diamondbacks, that’s the Arizona team.
So, this one time, back in March 24, 2001, Randy was pitchin’ in a spring training game. Spring trainin’, that’s when they get ready for the real season. It was a sunny day, I bet, birds chirpin’ and all that. And wouldn’t ya know it, one of them birds got too close.
Randy wound up, all that big body movin’, and let that ball go. And WHAM! That poor bird just flew right into the path of the ball. It was a fastball, they say. A real screamer. The bird, well, it didn’t stand a chance. Just exploded, feathers everywhere. It was a mess, I tell ya.
Now, some folks got upset, sayin’ it was cruel and all that. But I say, it was just an accident. Randy didn’t mean to hit that bird, no sir. It just happened. Birds fly, balls fly, sometimes they meet, and it ain’t pretty. That’s just the way life is sometimes, I tell ya. Things happen, you can’t always control ’em.
People talk about how fast that pitch was. They figured it was around 100 miles per hour. That’s faster than any car I ever been in, that’s for sure. They say Randy could throw even faster than that, like 102 miles per hour at his peak. Can you imagine? He was a regular flamethrower, that fella. Nowadays, there’s lots of young fellas throwing fast, but back then, Randy was somethin’ special.
He won a lot of games, too. More than 300, they say. That’s a whole lot of wins. He even got his 300th victory after he went to play for the San Francisco Giants in 2009. He must’ve been real good, that’s for sure. To win that many games, you gotta be somethin’ special. He was a Hall of Famer, they say. That means he was one of the best ever. And I guess he was. I mean, hittin’ a bird like that, that’s somethin’ you don’t see every day, that’s for sure.
But back to that bird… It’s kinda sad, when you think about it. Just a little bird, flyin’ along, mindin’ its own business, and then BAM! Gone. Just like that. But that’s life, I tell ya. Sometimes it’s hard, sometimes it’s sad, and sometimes it’s just plain weird. Like a bird gettin’ hit by a baseball. Who woulda thunk it?
Anyway, that’s the story of Randy Johnson and the bird, as best as I can tell it. It’s a strange story, but it’s a true one. And it just goes to show ya, you never know what’s gonna happen in this world. So you just gotta keep your eyes open, and be ready for anything. And try not to fly in front of a baseball, especially if Randy Johnson is pitchin’. That’s just common sense, ain’t it?
Folks keep talkin’ ‘bout it, even after all these years. I reckon that’s ‘cause it’s so unusual, you know? You see a lot of things in baseball, but you don’t see a bird gettin’ blasted outta the sky every day. And that’s why people remember Randy Johnson and that bird. It’s just one of those things that sticks with ya, like it or not.
