Randy Johnson

From Stat Geek Baseball's, the Best Ever Book.

Standing 6'10 inches tall, Johnson looked, at times, like he was pitching from all angles, angles that propelled the ball so quickly toward the plate that the batter had no chance to react. Often regarded as the last pitcher who is ever going to win 300 games when he accomplished the feat in 2009 (we don't thnk that's going to be true, by the way), Johnson was a compelling figure on the mound throughout his stays with Montreal, Seattle, the Yanks, and Arizona. What Johnson lacked compared to both Clemens and Maddux, his two mates who are ranked above him, was consistency in some seasons and a rather late start to his dominance It wasn't until Johnson pitched for Seattle in 1993 in the year he turned 30 years old that Randy had a stellar, All-Star caliber season. But once he hit that stride, for the next dozen seasons, with exceptions for 1996 and 2003, Johnson was likely the man most hitters did not want to face. Part delivery. Part intimidation. Part 6'10" of nasty.

Johnson struck more men out than everyone but Nolan Ryan and his Strikeout to Walk ratio was amazing for a pitcher with that many K's. And while he did lack the quick career start or dogged consistency of Maddux in the era, when Johnson dominated, he dominated, leading his team in Arizona to a World Series victory in 2001, and winning the Cy Young Award for four consecutive years from 1999 to 2002.