The Big Unit to Retire

[Brew Man Dan]

Per Ken Rosenthal's Tweet

http://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/7416599865

(fixed the link - hawing)

[RockCoCougars]

Thanks for getting my hopes up. I thought you were talking about Bill Michaels.

[Invader3K]

Kind of sad to see the big guy go. One of my most vivid memories was seeing him hit his first (only?) home run of his career at Miller Park a few years ago. I'm sort of glad to see him hang up the cleats before he deteriorated too much.

[JimH5]

One of my favorite players of this era.

 

First ballot, unless something comes out that disturbs the writers.

[crewcrazy]

Being a lefty myself, he was my favorite pitcher of the '90s. Hard to believe he's 46 already, but he managed to change his approach as he got older and managed to stay a productive player past his prime.

 

The question now is which cap he'll wear into the Hall of Fame. Is he the first ever player to go in as a Diamondback?

[1992casey]

Yeah, he'd be the first-ever Diamondback. If--for whatever reason--he went in as a Mariner, he'd be the first ever from that team, too.

[jwaltz]

I think he'd have to go in as a Diamondback. He won a championship and four straight Cy Young awards there.

[Invader3K]

He played about 8.5 seasons with Seattle and 8 with Arizona, so I don't think going in as a D-Back is a big stretch. I believe it's ultimately up to the Hall of Fame to decide though, isn't it?

[1992casey]

It's up to the Hall with the player's opinion given consideration.

[RobDeer 45]

Boy he was amazing in his prime. My favorite memory was him vs Kruk in the Mid Summer Classic. Tremendous!

 

My friends and I would always talk about what it would be like to stand in there on the left side vs his slider and fastball. I think I would have soiled myself.

[Baldkin]

I know it's a stretch considering he played more years as a Phillie and the same number of seasons in Boston, but I could see Schilling going in as a D-Back.

[homer]

What was that product he endorsed a few years back? Some workout thing where you just shook a three foot bar for a while.

[crewcrazy]

I think an Arizona cap is more likely for Johnson, and a Boston cap more likely for Schilling -- when it comes down to baseball history, their most memorable moments came with those teams. Johnson had one of the greatest stretches ever by a pitcher (take a look at those strikeout totals) and a perfect game with the Diamondbacks, and Schilling will be remembered more for the bloody sock and helping the Red Sox win their first title in 80+ years more than anything. I actually think it would be pretty cool to see them go in together, but Schilling strikes me as a guy who might have trouble getting voted in (at least that early) -- he doesn't have gaudy traditional numbers and tended to rub some reporters the wrong way.

[Outlander]

Hopefully he goes in as a Diamondback. Griffey deserves to be the first Mariner.

[Ennder]

Hopefully he goes in as a Diamondback. Griffey deserves to be the first Mariner.

 

Edgar Martinez probably deserves to be the first one.

[TheFyl]

And the Doves rejoice for their fallen comrade. Still my favorite memory of the Big Unit is destroying that poor little bird