Seattle Mariners fans will be seeing double 51s next season.
The team announced Monday it will retire the No. 51 worn by Baseball Hall of Fame member Randy Johnson during his nine-plus seasons with the club in 2026. The news came on the 35th anniversary of the day Johnson threw the first no-hitter in Mariners history.
The Mariners traded Johnson to the Houston Astros at the 1998 trade deadline, and when Japanese star Ichiro Suzuki joined the team in 2001, he took No. 51.
The Ichiro version of No. 51 will be retired by the franchise on Aug. 9, just after his Hall of Fame induction this summer.
“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,” said John Stanton, the Mariners’ chairman and managing partner. “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.
“Randy’s extraordinary accomplishments will forever be remembered and recognized with the retirement of his number 51.”
The date for the Johnson retirement ceremony will not be set until the 2026 schedule is issued.
Ichiro will become the third Mariners player to have his number retired, joining the No. 24 of Ken Griffey Jr. and No. 11 of Edgar Martinez — both Hall of Fame inductees. Johnson, also a Hall of Fame member, will be the fourth. The Mariners, like all MLB teams, also have retired Jackie Robinson’s No. 42.
In his 22-year career, Johnson, now 61, had a record of 303-166, a 3.29 ERA and 4,875 strikeouts, second only to Nolan Ryan (5,714) in major league history. He and Ryan are two of the only four players to record at least 300 wins and 4,000 strikeouts, joining Roger Clemens and Steve Carlton on the short list. He was a 10-time All-Star and won five Cy Young awards, his first with Seattle in 1995.
With the Mariners, he was 130-74 with a 3.42 ERA in 274 appearances (266 starts) with a now unheard of 51 complete games and 19 shutouts.
He also played for the Montreal Expos (1988-89), Astros (1998), Arizona Diamondbacks (1999-2004, 2007-08), New York Yankees (2005-06) and San Francisco Giants (2009). The Diamondbacks retired his number in 2015.
–Field Level Media
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