Randy Johnson’s No-Hitter on June 2, 1990

This 2-0 mastery of the Detroit Tigers, featuring Cecil Fielder, was the Big Unit’s real arrival on the baseball scene, the first obvious evidence that he was more than just an erratic hard thrower. It was also one of the early signs that the Seattle Mariners of the 1990s would be much more exciting than the 1980s team, and a decade later, when the Kingdome imploded, it still stood as one of the great highlights for baseball in the Kingdome. The Seattle Times reported:

Johnson, whose 95 mph fastball and sharp breaking ball give him no-hit ability in every start, was just strong enough, just sharp enough and just wild enough to bring it together last night.

He struck out eight, walked six and had a Tiger reach on an error by shortstop Mike Brumley in the fourth. He threw 50 pitches over 94 mph, several reaching 97, including the final strike to Detroit’s Mike Heath.

“I’ve never seen him before,” said Detroit slugger Cecil Fielder, who fanned twice and walked twice. “But I heard he has trouble controlling his breaking ball sometimes. Well, not tonight.

“The man pitched a great game and deserved what he got. He was throwing that slider over for strikes when he was behind in the count. Then he comes in with that big fastball. How are you going to hit that?

“The answer is – you’re not, and we didn’t,” Fielder said.

Only a few of the batted balls that Johnson allowed had a chance of falling safely. In the first inning, center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. ran down a long shot by Gary Ward. In the fourth, third baseman Edgar Martinez cut off a ball in the hole by Chet Lemon. In the eighth, second baseman Harold Reynolds made a charge-and-shovel play on a roller by Alan Trammell.

There was also a close play in the seventh on Tracy Jones. Martinez’ throw pulled Alvin Davis off first, but Davis slapped a tag on the back of Jones head as he went past.

“I was out,” Jones said of the play, which drew a brief beef from Detroit Manager Sparky Anderson.

Johnson was in trouble only once, and it was of his own making. In the sixth he walked three to load the bases, but came back from a 2-1 count to strike out Lemon, who owns a .314 lifetime mark against Seattle.

After his no-hitter, Johnson said: “I think, being a power pitcher, sometimes I can use my wildness to my advantage. Once, when I was in the minor leagues, Casey Candaele, one of my teammates, told me I should get a pair of big, old, thick, bottle glasses and he would walk me to the mound and I would face toward second base and he would have to turn me around.

“Usually I come in here on game days really high-strung, but I was really relaxed. And then, in about the seventh inning, to get my mind off the no-hitter , I started tapping the drum beats I’d been practicing. I just got a beat and kind of got into my own world.

“It kind of took my mind off the game, and it made it easier for me to go out there every inning. I think if I had been thinking about the game between innings, something bad might have happened. Getting my mind off the game really helped.

“I’ve been listening to some tapes on how to relax, and the combination of those tapes and the drumming worked. I’m going to talk to Jim (Lefebvre) about taking those drums on the road.”

Johnson said of the game’s ending: “The feeling I had is something that’s hard to describe. Toward the end of the game, I felt like I could throw my pitches exactly where I wanted to and, for me, that’s saying a lot.

“After it was over, I didn’t know how to react. It’s the greatest thrill in the world. It’s a great joy to do it. It’s an accomplishment I’ll probably never do again.

“There’s a sigh of relief that it is done and completed now. I can really feel for guys like Brian Holman who come within one out of one.”

As a postscript, here’s an unofficial list of all nine no-hitters in the 1990 mlb season, with pitcher or pitchers, opponent, score and date (Perez’s and Hawkins’ have been dropped from the official ranks):

– Mark Langston (7 innings) and Mike Witt (2), California vs. Seattle, 1-0, April 11.

– Randy Johnson , Seattle vs. Detroit, 2-0, June 2.

– Nolan Ryan, Texas at Oakland, 5-0, June 11.

– Dave Stewart, Oakland at Toronto, 5-0, June 29.

– Fernando Valenzuela, Los Angeles vs. St. Louis, 6-0, June 29.

– Andy Hawkins, New York at Chicago, 0-4, July 1.

– Melido Perez, Chicago at New York, 8-0, July 12.

– Terry Mulholland, Philadelphia vs. San Francisco, 6-0, Aug. 15.

– Dave Stieb, Toronto at Cleveland, 3-0, Sept. 2

Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr.

Here is the story of the saga that brought Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. together in Seattle in 1990. First this, from the Seattle Times of August 19, 1990:

Although he had an inkling he might not last much longer with the Reds, Griffey Sr. didn’t know for sure himself until he arrived at Riverfront Stadium yesterday and was called into Manager Lou Piniella’s office.

“He was told to retire, or they would move him some other way,” said a Cincinnati source. “He was a victim of the old numbers’ crunch.”

One of the numbers is the player roster. Pitcher Tom Browning recently sprained an ankle and is unavailable to pitch for a while, but not long enough to go on the DL. So the Reds had to keep some young pitchers to cover the starts.

The other number, or numbers, were Griffey’s stats. He was hitting .206 with one home run and eight runs batted in 63 at-bats. He was hitless in his last 19 pinch-hitting appearances.

Mariner General Manager Woody Woodward did not rule out the possibility. “Ken Griffey Sr. is on the voluntary retired list and still the Reds’ property,” he said. “If he chooses to come back and play, he has to settle with that ball club. We will watch the situation closely in the next week.”

Meanwhile, Griffey Jr. was somber after both the Mariners’ one-sided loss to the Yankees and after speaking with his mother.

“I can’t say anything regarding any situations until I talk to my dad,” he said. “We have talked about playing together once or twice. Whether we do or not, at least now he’ll have a chance to see me play more.”

A couple weeks later the Seattle Times updated the story:

Griffey, 40, retired from the Cincinnati Reds Aug. 18, but league rules prohibited another team from picking him up for 60 days, which is beyond season’s end. His status changed last Friday when the Reds decided to release him. That move opened the door for the Mariners to pick up the elder Griffey when the 72-hour waiver period ended.

“My feelings are stronger than ever,” Griffey said about playing with his son when contacted before boarding a flight from Cincinnati to Seattle last night. “I did not even think of it before. I figured I’d be with the Reds and end up the season with them. I guess they had other plans.”

The Reds actually accommodated everyone but themselves in this matter. With his release, Griffey will get paid through the rest of the season, about $85,000. The Reds are responsible for it. Had the Mariners claimed him, they would have been responsible. However, the Mariners waited until he cleared waivers and now only need to play him the prorated minimum, about $15,000, through September.

A father-son game is scheduled before tonight’s Mariner game against Detroit at the Kingdome, so the Griffeys could play together in that one if not the AL contest.

Mariner General Manager Woody Woodward, asked about the addition of Ken Sr. last night, said: “What he means to us is, one, obviously the interest for the fans of having the rare opportunity to see a father and a son in the same lineup; and, two, he has been on winning ballclubs in the past, he has a great personality and he brings his experience of winning here.”

Senior has concerns that his presence could be a distraction to his son, who is hitting .306 and ranks eighth in American League batting.

“But he wants me there,” said the elder Griffey. “I got this strong feeling from talking to him that he wants me there more than anything.”

Woodward said Griffey’s addition would be “more than just a marketing coup,” but it’s uncertain how Manager Jim Lefebvre will use Griffey, who last played in left field May 4.

“I feel I still have a little left,” Griffey said. “I just hope I can help them. They’re better than a .500 club. I’ll know more of what I can provide when I get there.”

Griffey’s wife, Birdie, will fly to Seattle tomorrow. All will stay at Griffey Jr.’s newly built home.

“Junior and I have always been so competitive,” the father said. “He’s always wanted to outdo me. I hope he doesn’t try to press so hard. I hope it’s a positive for everyone.”

Then, in the first game the Griffeys played together, on August 31 vs. the Royals, the Times reported:

Friday, the first night they played together, Junior heard that a $10,000 bounty had been offered to the first photographer to snap a picture of the two together. Junior was concerned; shouldn’t he and his dad control this? “Don’t shoot us together,” he told photographers in the pen next to the dugout. He wouldn’t sit close to his dad, either. Just protecting his rights. His father was amused. Don’t worry, kid. Just enjoy it.

Beyond the back-to-back singles Friday night, Junior admitted his biggest thrill was watching his father throw out speedy Bo Jackson at second base in the sixth inning. “I told him, ‘it runs in the family,’ ” Junior said.

Senior’s throw from left field was a one-hopper to second baseman Harold Reynolds. Jackson was out by 4 feet. He propped himself up on one elbow for several moments, before returning to the dugout.

“I was shocked,” Jackson said. “The scouting report said he didn’t have an arm.”

Senior reflected twice, during Wednesday’s news conference and after Friday’s game, that the man most responsible for his opportunity is Pete Rose, former Reds manager.

“It was Pete Rose who gave me this opportunity,” he said. Rose gave Senior a chance to play again when Griffey was released by Atlanta in July 1988.

Rose is now serving time for income-tax evasion. Senior wrote him a note before coming to Seattle. “I know he would have given his right arm to do the same thing with little Pete.”

Then, of course, the Griffeys hit back-to-back homers in Angels Stadium on September 14, 1990:

The home run was the 40-year-old Griffey’s third in his 32nd Mariner at-bat and the 151st of his 18-year career. The two-run shot came on an 0-2 pitch from Angel starter Kirk McCaskill. The ball cleared the center-field wall by more than 20 feet, 402 feet away.

His son followed with a 388-foot left-field blast, his 20th this season and 36th overall. He was given the green light on a 3-0 pitch.

“That’s history,” Mariner Manger Jim Lefebvre said. “You’ll never see that again. I mean I hope we will see it again. What an exciting moment. The job that man has done since he came here (from Cincinnati). It’s like they should be written up for a Hollywood movie.”

“I kept looking at (third-base coach Bill) Plummer for a sign, just to make sure the `take’ wasn’t on,” Junior said. “It’s something I didn’t think we’d ever do.”

After Senior’s home run he was greeted at the plate by his purposeful son. “I felt for him then,” Senior said. ” I knew he would be thinking home run. I could see it in his eyes when I crossed the plate.

“He tried to do it after I hit the other two against Oakland and in Boston. I knew he would be trying awfully hard. So I just sat quietly and hoped he relaxed and got a pitch he could hit. Then boom.”

“Now that’s something we have talked about,” Junior said. “We did it once before, in spring training. He did his off (Boston’s Roger) Clemens, and I don’t remember who I hit mine off of.”

The Griffeys had their final game of 1990 together on September 30, which also was the final game at 80-year-old Comiskey Park. Senior batted .377 with three home runs and 17 runs batted in his 21 games, then hit .282 in his final 30 games, in 1991. When he retired, he was about six months older than Junior would be when he retired.

Brian Holman’s Near-Perfect Game

On April 20, 1990, at Oakland’s Coliseum, Brian Holman came within an out of pitching a perfect game. And then, as the Seattle Times reported:

One out from baseball’s 15th perfect game since they started to keep records in 1880, the Seattle Mariners’ right hander challenged Ken Phelps of the Athletics with a first-pitch fastball.

And ex-Mariner Phelps, pinch-hitting for Oakland’s 27th batter, Mike Gallego, drove it for a home run that cost Holman his place in the pantheon that includes Don Larsen’s World Series game, Sandy Koufax, Catfish Hunter; cost Holman also his no-hitter and his shutout but not his win over a team of world champions that had showed a sellout crowd of 44,911 not even a reasonable facsimile of a hit. Holman, who struck out seven – including Ricky Henderson to end the game after the big letdown – was totally dominant.

Holman did not get the breaks that [Oakland starter Bob] Welch did over the first four innings. But then, Holman didn’t need them.

The right-hander didn’t allow anything that smelled even faintly like trouble. A dozen Athletics up, a dozen down – with dispatch.

Holman fanned Stan Javier and Jose Canseco to close out the first, then . . . nothing.

The second? Nothing.

The third? Same.

Fourth? Same again, although Javier tried to vary the pattern with a bunt, eaten up by Holman. This was followed by an overswing by Canseco to the right of the mound, played easily by Holman.

All Holman’s efforts to that point had been made to preserve a tie, 0-0.

But Welch cracked in the fifth and Brumley proved his undoing, lining a two-out triple to the wall in right-center. It was the second hit for Seattle shortstops, with Brian Giles, in 27 at-bats this year.

Reynolds battled to get the run home, and eventually succeeded after starting out 0-2, getting back to 2-2, fouling off a pitch and then lashing a triple of his own to left-center.

Briley doubled Holman’s margin with a double, the first time this year Seattle had three straight extra-base hits, bringing Reynolds in to make it 2-0.

Lead or not, Holman picked up the beat again in the fifth inning.

Mark McGwire put a 1-0 pitch to the warning track in dead center, where Griffey took it easily enough for all its distance. Holman ended the inning by fanning Steinbach, his third K.

The only sign of weakness Holman showed in the sixth was going to his first three-ball count, to Lance Blankenship leading off, before he grounded out.

Weiss followed with a tougher-than-it-looked ball to Reynolds’ left. He picked it off, then threw low to Davis. No chance of it spoiling the no-hitter, but Holman had a perfect game going, too.

Gallego followed with a ball to the right of shortstop Brumley, who ran it down and got the out with the long throw over.

Tension began to build in the eighth. Rickey Henderson missed on 2-and-1, fouled off two pitches on 2-and-2, went to 3-and-2 before flying out harmlessly to start the inning.

Javier bounced out easily, then Holman’s first pitch to Canseco was bounced to the backstop. The count went to 2-and-1, then 2-and-2 on a foul ball bounced to the left.

The Oakland slugger took a ball to run the count full, then stroked a fastball just outside third, missing a hit by no more than a foot.

Then Holman struck him out, going strength against strength, beating the big man on pure heat at the letters to make it seven perfect innings. Six outs to go.

Curiously, the eighth was easier for Holman than the seventh although McGwire had to duck an inside pitch before he flied out leading off. Remember, if Holman hits him, the perfection is gone.

Hassey was caught looking at a disputed third strike, which looked good enough on the replay. Then Steinbach drew the count to 3-and-1. But Holman came through with his fourth three-ball strike and got a bouncer to short to leave him just three outs from history.

And his offense took the pressure off about a win, scoring four runs in the top of the ninth off relievers Mike Norris and Dave Otto. O’Brien and Martinez led with single and Valle bunted them over.

Brumley, who had quite a night, brought O’Brien in with a sacrifice fly to center. Reynolds got his second RBI of the night, singling Martinez in to make it 4-0.

After pinch hitter Henry Cotto walked, Holman was forced to hit. Because Manager Jim Lefebvre had used DH O’Brien as a replacement for Davis at first in the eighth, Holman hacked two fouls and then reached on an error by second baseman Gallego.

The morning after, Holman said: “I feel about the same as last night, mixed emotions. A little sorry to have missed the achievement, but a lot of satisfaction about pitching really well.”

“The phone rang at 2 a.m. and startled me badly. It was a reporter from the Charlotte Observer.”

About having to hit in the top of the ninth, he said: “I would rather we went down 1-2-3 and go back out there. But we scored some runs there, and against Oakland you never can have enough runs.”

And this, about coming back to the dugout after the seventh: “Everybody in the dugout acted as if I had the plague.”

You can read quite a bit about the aftermath of Holman’s near-perfection and his life over the past 20 years.

Edgar Martinez: 4 Errors in One 1990 Game

On May 6, 1990, Edgar Martinez was playing third base for the Seattle Mariners at the Kingdome. It didn’t go well. The Seattle Times reported the next day: “Craig Worthington’s hot second-inning grounder went past Martinez and into left field. Three runs, all unearned, eventually scored.

In the seventh, with the score tied 3-3, Martinez dropped Phil Bradley’s routine grounder, picked it up, then threw a grenade that exploded in the dirt in front of Seattle’s first baseman, Alvin Davis. Baltimore’s Bradley stood on second base, and Martinez had two more errors.

Two batters later, with Bradley on third, Cal Ripken Jr. chopped a grounder bound for Martinez. The play was to home. Martinez dropped the ball, and Bradley scored.

It was Little League Day at the Kingdome yesterday and fathers could be seen covering the eyes of their children every time a grounder was hit toward third.”

The Mariners won, 5-4. Edgar said: “I thought about Randy Johnson. I knew he needed to have a good game, and I was trying harder every time the ball was hit to me. I was trying hard for him and for the team. All that was in my mind was that, whatever happens, we’ve got to win. I didn’t want to go home today knowing that we lost because I made errors.

Mariners Manager Jim Lefebvre said: “Edgar just had one of those days. I called him in after the game and told him to check the record book. One of those other guys holding the record of four errors by a third baseman is named Jim Lefebvre. I told him not to worry about it, to relax, just catch the ball and throw it. Everyone goes out of sync sometimes.”

The Times added: “After 26 games, the Mariners have 12 errors from their third basemen – six each by Coles and Martinez. The rest of the team has committed only 15.” A few days later, Mike Blowers, playing third for the Yankees, also committed four errors in a game. In 1986, Bob Brenly did the same, but in a single inning.