Well, let me tell you ’bout this fella, Randy Johnson. Folks say he threw a baseball like a dang rocket. Fastball they called it, and boy, was it fast. I ain’t never seen nothin’ like it, not even when that ol’ rooster chased me ’round the henhouse.
This here story happened back in 2001, spring trainin’ time they say. Down in Arizona, where it’s hot and dusty. Randy, he was pitchin’ for them Diamondbacks, and there was this batter from San Francisco standin’ at the plate. Calvin Murray, I think his name was.
Now, Randy, he winds up and lets that ball go. Zooooom! Like a bat outta hell! But somethin’ crazy happened. A little dove, just mindin’ its own business, flew right across the field. And wouldn’t you know it, that ball and that bird, they met up right in the middle.
Folks say that ball was goin’ a hundred miles an hour. Can you believe that? A hundred miles! I can barely walk a mile without gettin’ winded. That bird, well, it didn’t stand a chance. Feathers everywhere, they say. Poor little thing.
- Randy Johnson was pitchin’.
- A dove flew across the field.
- The ball hit the bird.
- Feathers flew everywhere.
Now, some folks got all upset ’bout it. Said it was a terrible thing. And I guess it was, for the bird anyways. But me, I just thought, “Well, that’s a heck of a pitch.” I mean, hittin’ a bird in mid-air? That’s somethin’ you don’t see every day. It’s like hittin’ a fly with a slingshot, only a whole lot harder.
They say it was a mornin’ dove, that bird. Pretty little things, they are. Used to see ’em all the time back on the farm. Always cooin’ in the mornin’. Made me think of my grandma’s old clock, always tickin’ away. But that day, that dove was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Randy Johnson’s fastball, they talked about it for days. Some folks said it made him even more famous. Killer fastball, they called it. I don’t know ’bout that. Seems like a sad way to get famous, killin’ a bird and all. But that’s how things go sometimes, I reckon.
Rod Barajas, he was the catcher that day. He musta been surprised as anybody. Imagine seein’ a bird explode right in front of your face. He probably didn’t even see the ball comin’ in, just feathers and dust.
They got video of it, you know. Seen it on the TV. Hard to watch, to be honest. But it happened. And it just goes to show ya, life’s full of surprises. You never know what’s gonna happen next. One minute you’re flyin’ high, the next minute, well, you’re not.
Anyway, that’s the story of Randy Johnson and the bird. A strange tale, ain’t it? But it happened. And it just goes to show ya, that baseball can be a dangerous game, even for the birds. And remember, Randy Johnson threw a fastball that day, a fastball nobody will ever forget. They even said he was a Hall of Famer, whatever that means. Sounded important though.
Tags: [Randy Johnson, fastball, bird, baseball, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants, 2001, spring training, Calvin Murray, Rod Barajas, dove, morning dove, killer fastball, Hall of Famer]
