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Randy Johnson Retires While Holliday Stays Put
There were two significant developments in baseball Tuesday, neither especially surprising: The 46-year-old left-hander Randy Johnson announced his retirement, and the free-agent left fielder Matt Holliday returned to the St. Louis Cardinals with a seven-year, $120 million contract.
Johnson earned 303 victories over 22 seasons and ranks second on baseball’s career strikeout list with 4,875. He said there was no chance he would return.
“There’s not a lot more for me to do in this game,” Johnson said on a conference call with reporters. “I just think it’s a natural progression. When you’ve played this long, eventually you have to say it’s time.”
Johnson won five Cy Young Awards, second to Roger Clemens, and helped save baseball in Seattle by pitching the Mariners to their first playoff berth in 1995. He went 10-1 for the Houston Astros after a trade in 1998, then signed a four-year contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks that might rank as the best free-agent deal ever.
In each season, Johnson won the National League Cy Young Award and led the majors in strikeouts. He also helped the Diamondbacks capture the 2001 World Series, when he won three games and shared the Most Valuable Player award with Curt Schilling.
Johnson called that his career highlight, and he also cited his 2004 perfect game as a particular point of pride.
“I was 40 years old, and to throw a 98-mile-an-hour in the ninth inning for the last out of the game, I still remember that,” Johnson said. “It says a lot about what I was about when I was out there.”
Johnson later spent two seasons with the Yankees, earning 34 victories but struggling in two playoff starts. He finished with the San Francisco Giants, tearing his rotator cuff last season but returning to relieve at the end of the year. He struck out his final batter, Adrian Gonzalez of the San Diego Padres.
“I would like to coach down the road,” Johnson said. “But at this point, I would like to just enjoy the time at home.”
Holliday said in an interview with ESPN Radio that he was excited not to change teams. In 63 games with the Cardinals after a trade from Oakland in July, Holliday hit .353 with 13 home runs and 55 runs batted in.
“I felt like it was a good fit for me and my family,” Holliday said on the “Doug Gottlieb Show.” “I’m going back to the Cardinals. It was very appealing to me.”
In Game 2 of the Cardinals’ division series, Holliday dropped a potential game-ending fly ball in Los Angeles, setting up the Dodgers’ winning rally. The Cardinals were swept in the series, but the misplay did not dissuade them from bringing back Holliday, who will protect Albert Pujols in the order.
The signing also sends a powerful message to Pujols that the Cardinals plan to compete for the long term. Pujols, a three-time most valuable player, can become a free agent after 2011.
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