Randy Johnson was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday and will be honored by the Arizona Diamondbacks. In San Francisco, the Giants will be without Tim Hudson for a little while.
According to beat reporter Jack Magruder of FOX Sports Arizona, the Diamondbacks plan to retire Johnson's No. 51 this upcoming season. The left-hander received 534 votes (97.3%) on Tuesday to become the Diamondbacks' first representative in the Hall of Fame. It was his first year on the ballot.
It was noted back in March of 2013 that the D-Backs wanted to retire Johnson's number and the left-hander was open to it. Team CEO Derrick Hall stayed in contact with Johnson following his retirement after the 2009 season.
"I've talked to Derrick about [retiring my number]," Johnson said in this USA Today article. "When the time comes, yeah, absolutely. I've never not wanted to do it. I've just always thought the timing was more important to me."
The timing couldn't be better. Although Johnson spent the majority of his career with the Seattle Mariners, he's probably going to be wearing a Diamondbacks cap on his Hall of Fame plaque. In eight seasons with Arizona, Johnson was 118-62 in 233 games (232 starts) with a 2.83 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 2,077 strikeouts. He won four consecutive Cy Young Awards from 1999-2002 and helped the D-Backs to their first and only World Series title in 2001 against the New York Yankees.
As for veteran pitchers who played, and are still playing, into their 40s, Tim Hudson of the San Francisco Giants underwent surgery on his ankle, according to Alex Pavlovic of the Mercury News. The surgery, which removed bone spurs from Hudson's right ankle, will force the 39-year-old to get a late start to spring training. The veteran is entering his 17th MLB season and will turn 40 in July.
It was the same ankle Hudson broke in July of 2013 with the Atlanta Braves when he was running to cover first base in a game against the New York Mets. Hudson has already planned to retire after this season as he enters the final year of his two-year, $23 million contract with the Giants. The right-hander went 9-13 with a 3.57 ERA and 1.23 WHIP in 31 starts last season and earned a World Series title for the first time in his career.
The Giants will need Hudson to stay on track in his recovery since the back end of their rotation is a big question mark.
