As MLB’s Spring Training kicks into gear, it seems only fitting to look back at one of the most … unusual? … iconic? … infamous? … moments from Grapefruit or Cactus League action this century.
On March 24, 2001, future Baseball Hall of Famer and then-Arizona Diamondback lefty, Randy Johnson unleashed one of his fastballs in the seventh inning against the San Francisco Giants at Tucson’s Electric Park and – midway to homeplate – it struck a bird that picked the wrong time and wrong path to visit its feathered friends on the other side of the grandstand.
at the explosion.
As we dug into this memory a bit, we discovered this retrospective in the USA Today from a couple years ago. Within, we learn that the batter was a player named Calvin Murray who played 288 career MLB games. He might be better known as the uncle of current Arizona Cardinals’ quarterback, Kyler Murray.
Long-since retired, Johnson now focuses on his photography where – unsuprisingly – he’s co-opted the exploding bird as his logo. Check out his Randy Johnson Photography website here.
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