25 years ago, March 24: Randy Johnson Hits Bird

[Auggie]

Calvin Murray doesn't need a calendar to know when it's March 24.

Once his phone starts buzzing and doesn't stop, the former major league outfielder knows exactly what day it is. It happened again late last month on the 25th anniversary of one of baseball's most iconic moments.

Murray, the uncle of Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray, was at bat for the San Francisco Giants when Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson hit a bird midflight.

SNIP

The infamous collision of ball and bird turned a sleepy Cactus League spring training contest into one of the earliest viral moments in all of sports. A video of Johnson's fastball striking a dove in the seventh inning of a split-squad game at Arizona's former spring training home in Tucson has become synonymous with Johnson, a Hall of Famer, and quite popular: It's been viewed 2.3 million times on YouTube.

Full story: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/48356185/mlb-2026-randy-johnson-pitch-strikes-bird-25-anniversary-arizona-diamondbacks

I remember this as if it was yesterday. Geez ...

[Diamond_Dog]

1. I remember it too!

“Kent considered getting the bird taxidermized with a baseball lodged in its chest and asking Johnson to sign it, but the idea was fleeting.”

What an asshole.

[Auggie]

2. Kent was booed by Giants fans on opening day last week

Not because of that incident ..

I guess just for being an asshole.

[Diamond_Dog]

3. Not that familiar with him, but has he always been an asshole?

Laughing over seeing a bird die a violent death tips me off that he’s always been an asshole…..

[Auggie]

4. Yes

#10 in the list of top 25 most despised teammates, according to the Bleacher Report

The most prolific power-hitting second baseman in big league history, Jeff Kent broke the record previously held by Ryne Sandberg for career home runs by a second baseman. He also took home the 2000 NL MVP Award and was a consistent 20 HR, 100 RBI producer throughout the second half of his career.

However, he was also a player who consistently had trouble getting along with both his teammates and the media, with all of that boiling over into a dugout fight with Barry Bonds back in 2002.

The fact that Kent donated $15,000 to proponents of Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage in the state of California has also been a cause for controversy. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1141348-most-despised-teammates-in-baseball-history

Former teammate Milton Bradley accused Kent of not being able to deal with African-America players or condemn racism

“The problem is, he doesn’t know how to deal with African-American people,” Bradley said. “I think that’s what’s causing everything. It’s a pattern of things that have been said — things said off the cuff that I don’t interpret as funny. It may be funny to him, but it’s not funny to Milton Bradley. But I don’t take offense to that because we all joke about race in here. Race is an issue with everything we do in here.” https://www.sportskeeda.com/baseball/news-when-2023-hof-candidate-jeff-kent-criticized-making-african-american-players-feel-unwelcome

And then there was the Big Lie:

Kent’s relationship with the Giants got strained after the 2002 incident where he claimed to fracture his left wrist after falling off his pickup truck while washing it. However, a 911 call revealed that he was involved in a motorbike accident while trying stunts on a highway. This incident wasn’t well-received by the Giants and by the end of 2002, Kent was a free agent. https://www.essentiallysports.com/mlb-baseball-news-a-battle-of-egos-between-barry-bonds-and-jeff-kent-robbed-the-sf-giants-of-a-world-series-barry-doesnt-care-about-me/

The motorbike accident was in direct violation of his contract.

[Diamond_Dog]

5. Wow, thanks Auggie for all that information!

I’m surprised he hasn’t been installed in the current administration in some b.s. job like Liason to Race Relations in Professional Sports.

[Auggie]

6. Yeah