The Big Unit gets the big honor
On the 35th anniversary of the first no-hitter in franchise history, the Mariners have announced that they will be retiring the number of the man who did it. Randy Johnson, the greatest left-handed pitcher in baseball history, will be honored in a ceremony during the 2026 season, with the exact date to be announced once the 2026 schedule is finalized. It will be the second time the Mariners retire number 51, after they honor Ichiro Suzuki this August 9th.
The Big Unit wore number 51 on his back through innumberable iconic moments in franchise history. He wore it when he threw the no-hitter on June 2, 1990. He wore it through his breakout season in 1993, when he became the only Mariner to ever strike out 300 batters. (Though not on the day he actually struck out his 300th hitter, when he was wearing #34 to honor Nolan Ryan’s retirement earlier that week.) He wore it when he looked to the sky after sealing the Mariners first playoff berth on October 2, 1995, cementing the first time a Mariner won the Cy Young Award. He wore it when he struck out a still-standing franchise-record 19 hitters on June 24, 1997, and when he did it again six weeks later. And he wore it on September 23, 1997, when he sealed the Mariners’ second playoff berth.
Johnson recorded 2,165 of his 4,875 strikeouts as a Mariner. He won 130 games with Seattle, and represented the M’s in the All-Star Game five times. His 3.42 ERA is tied with Felix Hernandez for the best in franchise history among those who’ve pitched at least 1,000 innings. This is an honor befitting Johnson’s place in Mariners history.
Of sharing the number, Ichiro said, “I felt like if number 51 was just an average player, I wouldn’t do Randy Johnson justice. I knew (what it meant) for that number to keep going and for that, I took very seriously. I needed to do well to make sure I performed well in that number. I remember feeling that pressure when I got that number.” For his part, Johnson “had no problem” with Ichiro taking 51, and while working with ownership on his own number retirement, Johnson insisted that the one contingency be that it happen at a different time than Ichiro’s ceremony. “I know the significance of Ichiro and his accomplishments. I didn’t want to take away from his day.”
This will be the fifth time the team retires a number, after Jackie Robinson’s 42, Ken Griffey Jr.’s 24, Edgar Martinez’s 11, and Ichiro’s 51. It will be the eighth time a team has retired the same number twice, and it will make Johnson the 14th player to have his number retired by more than one team, after Arizona honored him in 2015.
Johnson says that despite choosing to have an Arizona cap in his Hall of Fame plaque, he’s always felt that his legacy in Seattle was important to him, saying “It was a difficult choice . . . If we could split the cap, I would.” He confesses to being bothered that his accomplishments in Seattle were not recognized sooner, but is happy they are now, insisting that he never slighted the Mariners. “I was traded. I didn’t walk away.”
As to the number 51 itself, Johnson says, “There was never any significance to number 51. I just wore it.” But as he grew as a pitcher, he started to appreciate what a jersey number can mean in relation to a legacy. He wore 34 on the day of his first 300th strikeout as a way to “pay my respects to someone who meant a lot to the game and is the greatest power pitcher in the game. I have great reverence for him.” He credited Ryan and pitching coach Tom House with helping him make a mechanical change to get more momentum going toward home plate, and that without it, “I would not have had the career I had.”
If Johnson would not have had the career he had without Ryan, it’s certainly safe to say the Mariners would not have the franchise history they do without Johnson. Indeed, they might not even still be in Seattle without Johnson’s efforts in 1995. So, more than 30 years later, the Mariners will finally pay their respects to and show their reverence for Johnson by retiring his own jersey number.