Behind The Lens: Randy Johnson
Randy Johnson (aka The Big Unit)
Getty Images
At the age of 55, Randy has already accomplished more in his life than many of us could ever dream. Most sports fans immediately recognize his name from his professional MLB pitching career spanning 22 seasons from 1988 to 2009, including six different teams. He boasts 303 career victories ranked as the fifth-most by a left-handed player in MLB history.
“During batting practice in 1988, the 6’10” Johnson, then with the Montreal Expos, collided head-first with outfielder Tim Raines, prompting his teammate to exclaim, “You’re a big unit!” The nickname stuck.”
Not only was Randy one of the tallest players in the league, and a 10-time All-Star, but he also had one of the most dominant fastballs in the game regularly exceeding pitches faster than 100mph in his prime. Through his vast baseball career, this Hall-of-Famer spent 9 years playing for the Seattle Mariners from 1989 to 1998. It just so happens that he was there during the most epic musical scenes in American rock history. It was early in his Seattle stint that he befriended the guys of Soundgarden, a friendship that would last for decades.
Seattle pitcher Randy Johnson poses for a bevy of photographers during picture day in 1993.
Revisiting his story from SPIN August 22, 2010
"I listened to all types of music, and obviously when I got to Seattle I was very much aware of the music scene there," Johnson recalls. "And Kim [Thayil, Soundgarden's guitarist, pictured above] is a very familiar face with the black beard. I saw him on the big screen in the KingDome where we were playing a baseball game that night, so I figured he must be a baseball fan."
"I made my way to a Soundgarden concert that year while the baseball season was still going. And I met their manager at the time, whoever that was, and I just explained who I was," Johnson says.
"'My name's Randy Johnson, and I play for the Seattle Mariners. I saw Kim Thayil on the Jumbotron, and I'd like to invite him to come down to the ballpark and take some batting practice if he wants.'"
"I left my number, and within a couple of days he got back to me, and I arranged him and, actually he brought Ben Shepherd, the bass player, down with him to the dome, and they took batting practice and had a good time."
While Johnson would later meet his wife and start a family in Seattle, he was a single fella at the time, so he forged a friendship with Thayil, and the two painted the town.
"We became friends," says Johnson, "and he'd take me to a lot of clubs, introduce me to a lot of different bands, and we'd drink and shoot pool and have a good time."
"It just enjoyed hanging out with them, drinking a beer, and watching them do their thing, much like I've had Kim, and a couple of the other guys come to watch me pitch. Two entirely different venues and different fans. Just a whole different setting. But I can appreciate what they do—they're really good at what they do—and I think that I've been okay myself at what I do. I think it's just a great trade-off."
Even after Soundgarden broke up in 1997, and Johnson was traded to Houston in 1998, the pitcher and the axeman remained pals.
"The band went through a very long down period, but being friends, I still stayed in touch with Kim quite a bit," says Johnson. "We talked baseball. He was very supportive of my career and, being a baseball fan, we had a lot to talk about, and me being a music fan, we had a lot to talk about. I guess he was in a mini-retirement before I was, so we talked about that."
After retiring from baseball in 2009, just after notching his 300th career win as a pitcher—a milestone only 23 other players have achieved—Johnson returned to Seattle at the start of the 2010 season to be honored by his former team. It just so happened that Soundgarden was about to end their retirement at the exact same time.
"Kim had asked me to come down to a studio where they were rehearsing," says Johnson. "And this was several days before they did that unannounced first show of theirs at the Showbox in Seattle. Unfortunately, the day before they played that show, I had to leave to go to Japan, so I wasn't able to make it, but I watched them rehearse one night in Seattle and got caught up with all them, told them all good luck."
"Kim told me shortly after that visit that they were going to be doing Lollapalooza and headlining, and I told him that I'd like to come," Johnson says. "My schedule worked out great—I flew from Baltimore to Chicago the morning of the Lollapalooza show, hooked up with Kim and his girlfriend, put my suitcase down, and drove over to the venue with those guys and hung out, said hi to a lot of people, and then took pictures."
"It's kind of hard to not get recognized when you're 6'10"," Johnson laughs. "I did get recognized. Obviously, I don't want to take away from the concert going on, but I was in the photo pit, took some pictures there, on the side of the stage, backstage, and it was just a great experience. They're my friends. I've known them for almost 20 years. And it was an opportunity to do something I enjoy, and then have them utilize the pictures through this article."
While his friendship with Soundgarden afforded him the chance to chronicle the band's historic show, Johnson is a big-time rock'n'roll fan, in general, from his days as a young pitching phenom through today. From wearing band T-shirts under his jersey—emblazoned with band names like Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Rush, and Slayer—to traveling abroad to see gigs (like Led Zeppelin's London reunion show in 2008), Johnson does love the rock.
"I enjoyed music but didn't have the niche to play guitar or drums, but I had the niche to throw a fastball, you know what I mean?" he says.
Johnson was stoked to share his photos with the band, after Lollapalooza. "Everybody in the Soundgarden camp has liked them," Johnson says. "I sent them to Kim, and he sent them to [drummer] Matt [Cameron] and [bassist] Ben [Shepherd]. And they all liked the shots. I think it was maybe something more than what they expected, which is a compliment to me."
To view the gallery click here.
Source: SOUNDGARDEN PICS BY BASEBALL'S RANDY JOHNSON BY MATT KISER AUGUST 22, 2010 SPIN MAGAZINE
From his incredible professional baseball career to professional photography, Randy has done some fantastic work. He has photographed many other bands which you can explore on his photography website RJ51PHOTOS.COM as well as beautiful sports, wildlife, and travel shots he’s taken.
High five to the people who understand the reference of his photography logo :)
Be sure to also check out his photos on Soundgardenworld.com!
