Randy Johnson to announce retirement. Should he have come back for 2010?

I definitely agree with you that Johnson should be a first ballot inductee.

But even though I enjoyed watching him pitch, his stats never struck me as that amazing until you listed them. Not that I'm a big stats guy, but I would have never thought he was that close to 5000 strikeouts. I guess I've just gotten so used to him being so overpowering that I sort of took his dominance for granted. And while I think it would be great to see him reach that milestone, I'm actually glad he has chosen to retire. If nothing else, it speaks of Johnson's commitment more to the team than to his own individual achievements. I'm sure he could maybe pitch another year or so, but would he really be a contributing member of a team as a starter, or would he more likely end up pitching out of a bullpen?

I think the fact that Johnson has chosen to retire rather than trying to catch on somewhere proves that feels he wouldn't really contribute. And having seen Willie Mays play about 2 seasons too many, I'd much rather see him go out with a little left in the tank than try to run on fumes for a season or two.

Without a doubt he's a first ballot hall of famer, I don't think anyone would argue that point (and if they do they're loco), but I like you would have liked to see him pitch one more season and go for that magic 5,000 mark. I'm not sure we'll ever see that again, as the power pitcher is becoming an "endangered species" in baseball. Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson are the only two players this decade (millennium too technically) to record 300 strikeouts in a season (a feat that has been achieved 79 times in the history of baseball), and while players like Linecum and Verlander look promising, I don't think they're careers are going to span 20+ seasons. The somewhat ironic thing about his career is if he had made all of his starts in the '96 season he would have already passed 5,000. Based on the average of strikeouts he had during the '95, '96 and '97 seasons he would be at 5,084, still a long way off Ryan, but he would be the second pitcher too reach that magical mark.

And while he had nothing left prove I'm sure every baseball fan would have loved to have seen their team sign him to a one year contract in pursuit of 5,000 and let him mentor the pitchers on their team, me personally would have loved to have seen him come back for a 3rd stint as a Diamondback and I hope they give him a position in the organization that allows him to share his baseball knowledge with the rest of the players.

He didn't win a major league game until a few days after his 25th birthday. Yet he won 303 games, and was 137 games over .500.

It would have been cool to see him reach 5,000 Ks, because we won't see anyone get up there again... but as I said elsewhere, getting 300 wins was a nice achievement (even though it didn't make him any greater than he already was)... but I don't think he had it in him to reach 5,000 Ks.... had he started earlier, maybe... but if he started earlier, he might have been done a couple of years earlier as well.

He got his 300th win without embarrassing himself...he ended his career with 5 straight winning seasons and was 73-52 during that period (2004-09) even though he was aged 40-44.... just amazing.

Fifteen seasons of averaging more than a strikeout per inning, and 14 of those were over 10K's per 9 inn.

He went out in a good way. The HOF is all that's left for him. A first-ballot shoe-in

No. Johnson was clearly at the end of his career. He had 125 K's to go, and considering he had just 86 last year, it would likely take him two years to reach that plateau.

However, I will say that Johnson was easily the most dominant pitcher of the past Twenty years. He lead the NL in strikeouts 5 times and the AL 4 times. During his 4 year tenure with the D-Backs, he won FOUR Cy Young's. He was a 10 time All Star, threw a Perfect Game, and won a World Series. He is easily among the best southpaws of all time.

First Ballot Hall of Famer for sure.

I wish he would come back but I think he made the right move.

He was slowing down with his K's too much to have a for sure shot at 5000 K's and it would probably be an extra season for sure. Who knows a bad season could worsen his stats, but I doubt 5+ bad seasons could keep him out of the Hall.

I guess I would like to see him comeback, but I guess if he thinks its time to call it quits, its a good move on his part.

No way Chip....he can't get those additional K's, because he probably wouldn't make his allocation of starts. He had 3 major back surgeries, the risk is too high for permanent damage.

There is no doubt about the HOF, he went through periods where he was completely dominant, I agree, a rare talent. Pitching lefty and snapping the ball down below the knees at 97-98...he was amost unhittabe when he was in his groove.

Good Luck. - Hope to see you soon. 1. J-Rawls - Still taking it EZ 2. Hadn't heard them before this Q >_<. As of this second they're pretty damn good. 3. I still ain't been able to find it. I tried to EQ out the vocals last week and it sounded like a subliminal mesasge XD 4. The Roots - Illadelph Half Life Pharoahe Monch - Internal Affairs. The Pharcyde - Bizarre Ride II Thelonious Monk - Straight, No Chaser J-Rawls - The Liquid Crystal Project

Wow... well it was a pleasure to see him pitch indeed. I kind of agree with the retirement but then I'm sad because I kinda wanted him to stick around for the 5000. But that's just shallow thinking. Anyways i wish him the best of luck and its been great watching him pitch for 10 seasons. (Well i personally did :P). First ballot hall of famer for sure.

With all the stats you listed he has nothing more to accomplish. He's also had some back problems that will make it difficult to continue to pitch, he's also not dominant anymore and may prefer to go out as an all time great as opposed to a great player that struggled the last couple years and didn't know when to hang it up.

He's done it all, he should retire now before something happens to him. Like, he could come out in 2010 and get an injury he will be remembered for or just has a horrible season.

If he hadn't won a world series, then I would say come back for one more season, but he's won one so there's nothing else for him to do.