| In honor of his fourth Cy Young Award and his 3 wins in the Diamondbacks' World Series victory over the Yankees, Randy Johnson is my featured player for December, 2001. Nicknamed "The Big Unit", the thoroughly intimidating 6'10" southpaw from California dominated the league in 2001 to the tune of a 2.49 ERA, 21 wins, and a near-record 372 strikeouts. He fell just one win shy of pitching's Triple Crown (That category was carried by teammate Curt Schilling and the Cardinals' Matt Morris). Johnson mixes great location with an active, upper 90s fastball, a wicked slider, and a solid change-up and hook to keep hitters often overwhelmed, and sometimes baffled. At 38, this fireballer shows no signs of slowing down. |
