# Randy Johnson Throws 4000 Strikeouts **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 30, 2004, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randy-johnson-throws-4000-strikeouts/252915 "2004-06-30T17:48:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randy-johnson-throws-4000-strikeouts/252915/1 "2004-06-30T17:48:40Z")
I don’t follow baseball much–I briefly jumped on the Marlins bandwagon when it was making its world series run–but 4000 strikeouts is definitely no small achievement. Hopefully, no “nutritional supplements” (nudge nudge wink wink) went into this herculean task. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randy-johnson-throws-4000-strikeouts/252915/2 "2004-06-30T17:55:26Z")
4000, eh? That must have been some game. [sub]Huh?[/sub] 😃 Winston ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randy-johnson-throws-4000-strikeouts/252915/3 "2004-06-30T18:11:52Z")
No one saw my wee post on this which I posted Live! As I watched it Happen! (on the satellite) > **[4,000K for Randy Johnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=264100)** > > Been a wee bit of an ugly game, but that’s a lurvely number… 🆒 🙂 ☹ My mum adores Randy Johnson and thinks he’s sweet… ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randy-johnson-throws-4000-strikeouts/252915/4 "2004-06-30T18:55:28Z")
> [@Winston Smith](#): > > 4000, eh? That must have been some game. Oh, all right, 4000 **career** strikeouts. _muttered grumble_ Pedant. ;p ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randy-johnson-throws-4000-strikeouts/252915/5 "2004-06-30T19:05:55Z")
> [@dotchan](#): > > Hopefully, no “nutritional supplements” (nudge nudge wink wink) went into this herculean task. 4,000 strikeouts means he’s been pitching at a very high level for a long time, and steroids are not conducive to longevity. In any case, I don’t think he looks that muscular. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randy-johnson-throws-4000-strikeouts/252915/6 "2004-06-30T19:34:06Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > 4,000 strikeouts means he’s been pitching at a very high level for a long time, and steroids are not conducive to longevity. In any case, I don’t think he looks that muscular. I’ve been all over the Arizona MLB page because they had a chart of when he reached every 500th strikeout milestone (ie, 1, 500, 1000, 1500) and now I can’t find that link – but he seems to reach a 500th consistently every two years; amazing stuff. The first strikeout was in September 1988, I remember that; I believe he has reached 4,000 faster than anyone else. He’s big, and mean, and throws hard enough without any assistance from artificial flavours or colours, I should think! He’s lovely. It were grand to see him pitching against David Wells the other night; a pitching matchup out of Toho Studios, I should think! When/If he actually hit Mr Wells, my mum said, a la ‘Blazing Saddles,’ ‘Oh,no no no, Randy, don’t hit him! You’ll just make him angry!.’ ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randy-johnson-throws-4000-strikeouts/252915/7 "2004-06-30T22:49:16Z")
I saw this on ESPN and AZCentral. No. 1: Sept. 15, 1988, Orestes Destrade, Pittsburgh 1,000: May 21, 1993, Chuck Knoblauch, Minnesota 2,000: Sept. 27, 1997, Ben Grieve, Oakland [in relief] 2,500: June 25, 1999, Eric Davis, St. Louis\* 3,000: Sept. 10, 2000, Mike Lowell, Florida 3,500: May 21, 2002, Reggie Sanders, San Francisco 4,000: June 29, 2004, Jeff Cirillo, San Diego \*added by me. I’m trying to find #s 500 and 1500. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randy-johnson-throws-4000-strikeouts/252915/8 "2004-06-30T23:01:34Z")
Gosh, thanks for the work! I found the link I’d sent to my mum, and whilst the article is still the same, the wee box what had the milestone Ks in it has been replaced with a box for multimedia links to see him throw number 4,000, and of course to buy authentic Randy Johnson gear :rolleyes: (In fact, last night, within minutes of him gaining #4000, they were already giving people commemorative t shirts…I know they make up all this stuff ages in advance for any sport, but it still bugs me…) ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randy-johnson-throws-4000-strikeouts/252915/9 "2004-07-01T01:15:10Z")
No question, Johnson is one of the all-time greats, and a sure fire Hall of Famer. But he’ll always be the Big Wuss, to me. As far as I’m concerned, he deserves zero respect. Randy Johnson showed his true colors in his final season at Seattle. The Chicago Black Sox tried as hard to win the 1919 World Series as Johnson tried to win for the Mariners, his last season. Blatant tank jobs like his are hard to stomach. He COULD have chosen to be a man, to be a professional, and to give his best effort for his teammates and fans (knowing that he’d be a very rich man the following season). Instead, he phoned in his performances and pouted like a baby until he got a trade to Houston… at which point, ALL his previous emotional issues disappeared, and he went back to being unhittable. What a putz. I’m only sorry that the Big Wuss got his way. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randy-johnson-throws-4000-strikeouts/252915/10 "2004-07-01T05:41:59Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > But he’ll always be the Big Wuss, to me. As far as I’m concerned, he deserves zero respect. Nobody who wins three games in one World Series can reasonably be called a wuss. And that team (from what I recall, and their 76-85 record) wasn’t very good.