Randy Johnson’s 2009 season with the Giants

Posted on October 3, 2009

Randy Johnson #51 of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the game at AT&T Park on October 1, 2009 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Brad Mangin)

 

Last winter the San Francisco Giants were a team going nowhere, trying to rebuild and get back to .500 after several awful seasons. They had not had such a bad stretch of losing seasons since the mid-70’s when I rooted so hard for the Montefusco, Halicki, D’Aquisto and Murcer-led teams of my childhood. The 2009 Giants were looking for a 5th starter before they reported to Scottsdale for spring training when they decided to sign free agent lefty Randy Johnson. It seemed like a publicity stunt at the time as The Big Unit was just a few wins away from his 300th career victory, a milestone he was chasing before the 45 year old retired. Little did we know that his performance on the mound and leadership in the dugout would help the club both on and off the field.

Once the season got going Johnson said all the right things when he was interviewed, claiming that he was not here just to get his 300th win. He said he was here to help the team get to the playoffs. I remember hearing him say that and laughing. This teams sucks, I thought. He is not going to help them go anywhere. The funny thing is he got some run support in his first few outings, the team did not suck, and he won a few games. This could be interesting!

I had photographed Johnson many times over his career, one of the first times was when he visited the Oakland Coliseum in 1994 with the Mariners on a weekday afternoon. I remember shooting this game for Sports Illustrated and the Mariners were wearing their alternate teal jersey (see above). The light wasn’t great but his hair was flying and he was dealing against a bad A’s team. I always wondered what it would be like to have such a dominating guy pitching for the Giants. As usual, the Giants ended up with him 15 years later as he was about done- like they do with so many other over-the-hill ballplayers.

Getting the chance to photograph Johnson in a Giants uniform was fun this year, starting with his first spring training start at Scottsdale Stadium on February 27. It was strange seeing him in the orange and black as I ran around the ballpark trying to shoot The Unit from ever angle possible during his short two inning stint with the Canon 800mm lens as my trusty assistant Joe Gosen followed me around carrying all of my other gear.

After Johnson won a few early games Sports Illustrated was ready to do a story about him as he neared his 300th win. I shot him a few times for the story, trying to photograph him from every possible angle as my picture editor Nate Gordon and I discussed what he was looking for and where Johnson looks best from. There is only so much you can do with a pitcher, but I shot him from every angle possible, both at night and in the daytime. My favorite picture of him (below) never ran in the magazine, but I was happy that I hid down in the tunnel below the Giants dugout and got off a few frames of Johnson walking up the stairs before he started a game. I thought this picture said something about an old gunslinger nearing the end of his amazing Hall of Fame career.

I shot the last pitches Johnson will throw in a Giants uniform, and maybe ever yesterday afternoon (top photo) on a glorious day for baseball in San Francisco. Johnson came on in relief to pitch the 9th inning of a 7-3 win over his old team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Giants skipper Bruce Bochy brought Johnson in so the hometown fans could see him pitch one last time. Johnson will not be back in 2010, but his promise to try and help the team reach the playoffs proved to be more fact than fiction as this year’s club surprised everyone by contending for the wild card til the last week of the season. Maybe Johnson saw something that the rest of us missed in spring training. Or maybe not.