Remember When: Randy Johnson Killed a Bird
MLB pitcher Randy Johnson once hit a ball so fast that it killed a bird.
On March 24th, 2001, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Francisco Giants met for an unremarkable spring training game in Arizona.
The Diamondback’s Randy Johnson was on the mound — and was already known as one of the most dangerous pitchers in the MLB.
The 6’10’’ lefty threw a pitch that likely reached 100 miles per hour — only if never made it to home plate. Randy’s ball ended up colliding with a bird mid pitch, and the throw was so fast that the poor feathery creature died on impact.
The one in a million play wasn’t covered in baseball’s official rules so the umpires used common sense to make the call. 15 years later, it’s still known as one of the wackiest things to ever happen in a baseball game. But not everyone was amused by the crazy collision. Johnson says that PETA tried to take legal action against him:
“I was considered a bird killer, and they were actually considering filing charges on the bird’s behalf.”
Ultimately the pitcher didn’t face any legal trouble and the Diamondbacks went on to win the World series later that year.
