Randy Johnson picks Arizona logo
Randy Johnson became a major league star with the Seattle Mariners, but he'll enter the Baseball Hall of Fame representing the Arizona Diamondbacks.
"After reflecting the last week and conferring with the Hall of Fame, we've come to the decision that the Diamondbacks logo on my Hall of Fame plaque makes the most sense," Johnson said in a statement released by the Hall on Friday. "I want to express my most sincere thanks to all the teams I played for --Montreal, Seattle, Houston, the New York Yankees and San Francisco-- and particularly all of the fans for supporting me. I'm very humbled by this honor."
Johnson was elected to the Hall on Jan. 6 along with Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz and Craig Biggio. His 97.3 percent plurality was the eighth highest in the history of Hall of Fame balloting behind Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Cal RipkenJr., Ty Cobb, George Brett, Hank Aaron and Tony Gwynn.
Johnson posted a 130-74 record and a 3.42 ERA and won a Cy Young Award in 9 seasons with Seattle. Although he spent more time with the Mariners than any other club, he went 118-62 with a 2.83 ERA over eight seasons in Arizona and captured four of his career Cy Young Awards with the Diamondbacks.
Johnson pitched a perfect game for Arizona at age 40, and he was named co-MVP of the 2001 World Series with Curt Schilling after they combined to pitch Arizona past the Yankees in seven games.
On the same day that Johnson was elected to Cooperstown last week, the Diamondbacks announced that he would be returning to the team in a front-office capacity as a special assistant. This summer, Johnson will join Luis Gonzalez as the only Arizona players to have their uniform numbers retired.
"The Museum staff works with each inductee by suggesting an appropriate logo option, or no logo at all," Hall president Jeff Idelson said in the statement. "For those whose most compelling contributions clearly took place with one team, a logo makes sense. For those whose careers were built significantly among multiple teams, not having a team logo is equally acceptable."
Greg Maddux and Tony La Russa both entered the Hall of Fame last summer with no logos on their plaques after enjoying major success with multiple teams during their careers.
The Hall of Fame will announce the logos for the three other new members next Thursday, but there won't be any suspense in the decisions.
Biggio played 20 seasons with the Houston Astros, and Smoltz spent almost all of his career with the Atlanta Braves before late cameos with Boston and St. Louis. Martinez, who broke in with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Montreal Expos, made four All-Star teams and won two Cy Young Awards with the Red Sox before spending four seasons with the New York Mets and closing out his career in 2009 with the Phillies.
