Randall David Johnson (born September 10, 1963), nicknamed "The Big Unit", is an American former baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1988 to 2009 for six teams. He played primarily for the Seattle Mariners and the Arizona Diamondbacks. His 303 career victories rank as the fifth-most by a left-hander in MLB history, while his 4,875 strikeouts place him second all-time behind Nolan Ryan and are the most by a left-hander. He holds five of the seven highest single-season strikeout totals by a left-hander in modern history. Johnson won the Cy Young Award five times, second only to Roger Clemens' seven, and he is one of two pitchers (the other being Greg Maddux) to win the award four consecutive times (1999–2002). In 1999, he joined Pedro Martínez and Gaylord Perry in the rare feat of winning the award in both the American and National Leagues (a feat since accomplished by Roger Clemens, Roy Halladay, and Max Scherzer). He is also one of five pitchers to pitch no-hitters in both leagues. On May 18, 2004, at the age of forty, Johnson became the oldest pitcher in major league history to throw a perfect game, and is one of seven pitchers who have thrown both a perfect game and a no-hitter in their careers. He is also one of eighteen pitchers in history to record a win against all 30 MLB franchises.
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