FanHouse Raul Mondesi

I covered Randy Johnson as a beat writer for eight seasons: 1999-2004 with the Diamondbacks and then 2005-06 with the Yankees. (We both moved East the same winter, by coincidence.)

So I figure I saw about 230 of Johnson's starts – hey, I deserved a day off once in a while – and more than 100 of his 300 wins. Off the top of my head, here are the top 10 Randy Johnson moments I witnessed in those eight years:

1. Perfection (May 18, 2004)
Twenty-seven up, 27 down at Atlanta. And after this game, Johnson even smiled. His 117th and final pitch, a called strike to Eddie Perez, was 98 mph. His 14 strikeouts were second-most ever in a perfect game, and at 40, he was the oldest ever to be perfect. "I don't think my stuff has been any better than it was today," Johnson said.

I've always wondered what teams do with all of their old jerseys. Now I know: shove them in a small little room in the bowels of the stadium and forget about them.



Seriously, how cool would it be to have the keys to that room, a great big duffel bag and five minutes alone? I don't know about you, but I'd go straight for those custom Raul Mondesi unis -- my guns need room to breath! Or maybe an David Eckstein jersey, because it'd be all stained and dirty. He's gritty, don't you know?