Well, now, lemme tell ya a little story ’bout a thing that happened in baseball some 15 years ago, and folks still talk ’bout it today. You mighta heard ’bout it, might not, but it sure is somethin’ strange. We’re talkin’ ’bout the day when Randy Johnson, a big ol’ pitcher, hit a bird with a baseball. Yep, you heard me right—a bird! And it wasn’t just any kind of bird. Nope, it was a poor lil’ dove that got in the way of one of Randy’s fastballs, and the rest, well, as they say, is history.
It happened on March 24, 2001, during a Spring Training game. Now, Spring Training’s a time when teams get ready for the real season, but let me tell ya, this wasn’t what anyone expected. The game was between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Francisco Giants. Randy Johnson, he was pitchin’ that day, and boy, was he throwin’ hard. That man could throw that ball so fast, it woulda knocked the wind right outta ya if it hit ya. And that’s exactly what happened.
As Randy wound up and threw that ol’ fastball, outta nowhere, a dove flew right in the way, and bam! It hit the bird smack in the chest. Now, I don’t reckon the bird had a chance. The ball was comin’ at it like a freight train. The bird just dropped right there on the field. It was a moment nobody woulda expected, not in a million years.
Now, there was some confusion right after that. The umpire, bless his heart, wasn’t sure what to call. Some folks were thinkin’ it’d be a foul ball, but the umpire ruled it a no-pitch. I reckon it was just one of them things that couldn’t really be helped. A bird flyin’ into the path of a fastball? Now, that’s something you don’t see every day.
People still talk ’bout that moment, and for good reason. Randy Johnson was one of the hardest throwers in baseball history, standin’ at 6 foot 10 inches tall, throwin’ that ball 100 miles per hour or more. Heck, they say the ball hit the bird so fast, nobody could really measure how quick it was. Some folks from Cronkite News in Arizona figured the fastball was about 100 miles per hour, but it’s hard to say for sure. All we know is that poor bird didn’t stand a chance.
Some folks even joke that Randy Johnson mighta had some bad luck with animals that day. After all, he wasn’t the first one to accidentally hurt a bird in baseball. There’s even talk of a few other players over the years hittin’ birds during games, though not all of ’em had the same kind of… impact that Randy’s pitch did. And if ya wanna get real technical, the first recorded instance of a bird bein’ hit by a baseball goes way back to 1981. Seems like baseball and birds don’t always get along too well, huh?
Now, Randy Johnson wasn’t always the pitcher he turned out to be. He had a lotta struggles with control in his early days. I reckon the man had a bit of trouble findin’ the strike zone at first. But once he figured it out, he became one of the most feared pitchers in the game. In fact, Randy Johnson is often remembered for his wild pitchin’ style, and his ability to throw so fast and hard. No wonder that bird got in the way, I suppose.
In the years since, that bird incident has become somethin’ of a legend. It’s one of those strange moments in baseball history that folks never forget. And ya know, sometimes it’s the odd, outta-the-blue things that stick with ya the most. Like when a bird gets hit by a fastball, in the middle of a Spring Training game, no less. Ain’t that somethin’?
Now, I know some folks might think this story’s just a bit of funny business, but I reckon there’s somethin’ to be said for moments like this. It’s part of what makes baseball so special. Ya never know what’s gonna happen next. Could be a home run, a strikeout, or in Randy Johnson’s case, a bird takin’ a fastball to the chest. That’s the kind of thing that makes people stop and remember. And who knows? Maybe we’ll be talkin’ ’bout this for another 15 years.
Tags：[Randy Johnson, bird incident, baseball history, Spring Training, fastball, MLB, sports oddities, baseball moments, baseball legends]
