Arizona Diamondbacks Retire Randy Johnson’s Number 51

Picture Courtesy of mlb.com

AZLatinos.com Staff

No one will ever wear number 51 in an Arizona Diamondbacks uniform ever again.  Randy Johnson number was retired on Saturday during a special ceremony at Chase Field in Phoenix.

The former Diamondbacks pitcher made his grand entrance from the bullpen to the mound where he was greeted by 40,512 fans.

Johnson’s number is only the third one retired by Arizona along with Jackie Robinson’s number 42 and Luis Gonzalez’s number 20.

It has been a wild summer for the tall lefty pitcher as he was inducted in to the Baseball Hall of Fame in July wearing the Arizona Diamondbacks hat. 

During the ceremony, Johnson was given a drum set used by the rock band Rush.

Johnson addressed the fans during his speech; he thanked his former teammates and front office personnel who worked in the organization during his tenure as a Diamondbacks player.

He also recognized and thanked the fans, “Every fan makes it possible for a player to dig down a little bit deeper, whether it was me or any of my teammates, and sometimes do things they didn’t think they could do, and I am a living example of that.  22 years in the major leagues; I never thought that I would ever make the Major Leagues, let alone be successful at this level for 22 years, it was fans everywhere that I ever played, whether you were rooting for me or whether you were rooting against me.”

Among Randy Johnson’s many accomplishments, he is a five-time Cy Young Award winner; he was the 2001 World Series MVP; a 10-time All-Star player and pitched a perfect game in 2004.

Johnson played for six major league teams; with the Arizona Diamondbacks he played from 1999-2004 and 2007-2008.

Johnson retired after the 2009 season with the San Francisco Giants.