Randy Johnson opened his season for the Seattle Pilots the only way Randy Johnson knows how—by mowing down hitters. Fifteen strikeouts. That’s a headline number by itself, the kind of performance you expect from a future Hall of Famer. But if you look beyond the strikeout total, Johnson’s line tells a far stranger story.
His ERA after one start? 9.00. He gave up seven hits, six earned runs, walked three, and served up three home runs. That’s not dominance—that’s survival.
Yet the record books show a win. Why? Because Seattle’s offense put up a crooked dozen, tagging the Oakland Athletics for 12 runs and bailing out their ace. Strip away the run support, and this outing could’ve easily gone down as one of Johnson’s ugliest losses.
This is the paradox of Randy Johnson: on any given night, he can look unhittable and vulnerable all at once. The strikeouts prove the stuff is still elite. The long balls and crooked ERA remind you that if he misses, he misses big.
Nobody in Seattle is panicking—Johnson will be fine, and odds are his ERA will settle quickly. But it’s fair to say this wasn’t the clean showcase Pilots fans were hoping for when their ace toed the rubber on Opening Day. For now, they’ll celebrate the 15 Ks and the win, while quietly hoping the Big Unit’s next line looks a little less like a roller coaster.