The Big Lead

Hall of Famer goes on rant against former Mariners CEO during Mariners broadcast

The 61-year-old feels like his contributions to the team were 'swept under the rug' — and he lets fans know who he thinks is responsible.

By J.P. Hoornstra

Randy Johnson and Luis Gonzalez are inducted in to the Arizona Diamondbacks Hall of Fame on July 27, 2024 at Chase Field in Phoenix.
Randy Johnson and Luis Gonzalez are inducted in to the Arizona Diamondbacks Hall of Fame on July 27, 2024 at Chase Field in Phoenix. / Owen Ziliak/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK
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The occasion of the Seattle Mariners announcing this month that Randy Johnson's number 51 will be retired in 2026 invited a perhaps unexpected side effect of having Johnson in the spotlight.

The Mariners traded Johnson to the Houston Astros in 1998. When he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015, his plaque displayed the hat of the Arizona Diamondbacks, whom Johnson helped win the 2001 World Series.

More than two decades later, some hard feelings still linger between Johnson and the franchise that traded him. The 61-year-old Hall of Famer made that abundantly clear during the Root Sports broadcast of the Mariners-Diamondbacks game on Tuesday night.

"I think if they were expecting me to go in as a Seattle Mariner in the Hall of Fame, then why didn't (former Mariners CEO) Howard Lincoln circle back at some point when I retired," Johnson said, "to make me feel like, you know, my 10 years of contribution there — especially in 1995, when I won the Cy Young, 18-2 in the most important year to this point right now — I just feel like under his leadership, the 10 years of my contributions were swept under the carpet."

Lincoln, the former chairman of Nintendo of America, took control of the Mariners after Nintendo executive Hiroshi Yamauchi bought the team during Johnson's tenure with the club.

Lincoln retired as CEO of the Mariners in 2016.

Johnson expressed similar sentiments during an appearance on the Mariners' radio broadcast Tuesday. Whether or not Johnson was expected to dump on one of the Mariners' former executives when the team invited the pitcher into the broadcast booth, it made for an awkward moment. But perhaps it was a necessary moment for the team to fully embrace Johnson's legacy in Seattle.

“Randy is both one of the greatest pitchers in Major League Baseball history, and one of the most important figures in our organization’s history,” Mariners Chairman and Managing Partner John Stanton said in a statement announcing Johnson's number would be retired. “During the 1995 season that changed the future of this franchise, his 18-2 record (in a 145-game season) was properly recognized with his first Cy Young Award.

“More importantly, and somewhat lost to history, the Mariners were an amazing 27-3 in his 30 starts that season, an incredible 24 games over .500, compared to a record of 52-63 when any other starter took to the hill for the club. His domination that year carried the Mariners to our first-ever postseason, which led directly to the construction of T-Mobile Park and the Mariners remaining safely in Seattle forever."

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