The surgeons who helped get Hall of Famer Randy Johnson to 300 wins

Orthopedic Sports Medicine

Of course, orthopedic surgeons at all levels of every sport respond to athletes when they get injured. However, it takes another level of care and preparation for professional athletes to meet the demands of their level of competition.

And then, there are those elite players who are even more elite — like pitching powerhouse and newly inducted baseball Hall of Famer Randy Johnson — who require an extra amount of extra care, if only because the hopes and dreams of a team and fan base rely so heavily on these all-stars.

 

Known as "The Big Unit," Mr. Johnson began his long and storied career as an ace pitcher with a two-year stint with the Montreal Expos, from 1988 to 1989. He then hopped to the Seattle Mariners for the longest stretch of his career, from 1989 until 1998.


After a year with the Houston Astros, Mr. Johnson headed to the Arizona Diamondbacks, then to the New York Yankees, then back to the Diamondbacks before his last year pitching in 2009 with the San Francisco Giants.

 

With a knock-out fastball, imposing frame and signature side-arm toss, Mr. Johnson racked up 303 career victories during his 21-year campaign, and his stat line of 4,875 strikeouts puts him only behind Texas Rangers pitching ace Nolan Ryan all-time.


Before winning a Cy Young Award for his 1995 campaign, Mr. Johnson sustained a fairly nagging back injury in 1996, which kept him from the mound for several months and eventually required surgery, though physicians had originally assumed that the issue would straighten itself out with rest.

 

The first major injury was one of many, but Mr. Johnson rebounded majorly in 1997 with a 20-4 record, in no small part to Mariners' team physician Larry Pedegana, MD, and Michael Watkins, MD.

 

In his second season with the Yankees, just before the 2006 playoffs, Johnson's back returned to cause trouble. Yankees physician Stuart Hershon, MD, said that this injury wasn't related to the prior injury.

 

Without the relation, as fate would have it, Dr. Watkins, who had operated on the Big Unit a decade prior, returned to operate on him again, giving him another three years to pursue the elusive 300-win mark, only achieved by 24 pitchers before him.

 

Mr. Johnson reached those 300 wins on June 4, 2009 against the Washington Nationals in Washington, D.C., likely one of the major benchmarks that resulted in his Hall of Fame status.

 

Dr. Pedegana retired from the Mariners in 2006 after 29 seasons as the club's orthopedist after being named as the team's first Medical Director in 1999. He currently works at Orthopedics International in Seattle. Dr. Watkins works in Boston and specializes in vascular surgery. Dr. Hershon currently serves as the team physician for the New York Yankees.


For more sports medicine news:

Dr. Daniel Kokmeyer joins Great Basin Orthopaedics
Sports Medicine South presents $22k in scholarship awards to high school athletes
Shoulder surgery infection project wins AOSSM award

Copyright © 2024 Becker's Healthcare. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy. Cookie Policy. Linking and Reprinting Policy.

 

Featured Webinars

Featured Podcast

Featured Whitepapers

Most Read - Sports Medicine