Johnson Charters Arizona Takeoff

Maybe things would have been different if the Dodgers had first offered the deluxe package to Randy Johnson.

Johnson rejected the Dodgers’ free-agent contract offer of more than $50 million in November 1998, signing a four-year, $52-million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Kevin Brown then accepted the Dodgers’ $105-million package that included the use of a chartered jet.

“Well, we’re only talking hypothetically, but I suppose if the Dodgers had said something like a $105-million offer, we would have taken that on the spot,” said Johnson’s co-agent, Barry Meister. “Quite frankly, we didn’t think the market would get to that point. But the only reason the Dodgers made that offer was because one of them was already off the board.”

Brown has been great in three seasons at Chavez Ravine--but Johnson has been even better for the National League champion Diamondbacks. The expansion franchise developed quickly once Johnson agreed to work in the desert, and the Dodgers are still wandering in search of success.

Johnson is scheduled to start Sunday night in Game 2 of the World Series against the American League champion New York Yankees at Bank One Ballpark. The Diamondbacks said the signing of “the Big Unit” has been the biggest factor in their success.

“Everything changed when they signed Randy,” said center fielder Steve Finley, who also joined the Diamondbacks as a free agent in the winter of 1998. “It changed the way people looked at the franchise, and it was one of those decisions that paid off.”

Better than Chairman Jerry Colangelo could have hoped.

“There’s always satisfaction when you have a plan and things work out,” Colangelo said. “[The signing of Johnson and other free agents] was aggressive, and I understand that.

“It was a little contrary to what people would expect of an expansion team, but we felt we had no choice. And I’m glad that we took the road that we did.”

Johnson has led the Diamondbacks’ successful march on a road less traveled.

In his first season with Arizona, Johnson led the league with 364 strikeouts, a 2.48 earned-run average, 2712/3 innings and 12 complete games. He went 17-9 despite poor run support, helping the Diamondbacks win 100 games and a division championship in their second season--faster than any franchise.

The 6-foot-10 left-hander became the third pitcher to win Cy Young awards in both leagues, having earned the honor with the Seattle Mariners in 1995.

Johnson’s encore was just as good. He was 19-7 with a 2.64 ERA and 347 strikeouts in 2482/3 innings en route to winning his third Cy Young in 2000. He might get his fourth this season after going 21-6 with a 2.49 ERA and 372 strikeouts--the third most all time--in 2492/3 innings.

The Diamondbacks won the NL West for the second time and reached the World Series in their fourth season, setting another standard for a baseball expansion franchise. Johnson shed his undeserved reputation as an ineffective playoff starter, going 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 16 innings in two stirring performances during the championship series.

“I really want to enjoy the moment,” Johnson said. “We’re going to the World Series. I mean, I’ve never been to the World Series at any level of my career, whether it was Little League or any of that.

“We beat a good team [the Atlanta Braves in the championship series] that has a lot more experience with the postseason than we do. But we had a lot of contributions by people that made this possible. That’s what makes it so special.”

Although Brown has, for the most part, been as good as advertised, the Dodgers have not qualified for the playoffs despite a rapidly escalating payroll that might top $120 million when this season’s accounting is completed.

Brown was 18-9 with a 3.00 ERA in ‘99, but the Dodgers finished third in the West at 77-85 and 23 games behind the first-place Diamondbacks. The right-hander was 13-6 with a league-leading 2.58 ERA last season, but the Dodgers finished 11 games behind the first-place San Francisco Giants.

Brown was sidelined for most of this season because of injuries, undergoing elbow surgery Sept. 27. He was 10-4 with a 2.65 ERA and 104 strikeouts in 1152/3 innings, and the Dodgers (86-76) were six games behind Arizona.

In fairness to Brown, the Diamondbacks have made better baseball decisions than the Dodgers since the clubs signed the premier pitchers in the ’98 free-agent class.

The Dodgers signed center fielder Devon White instead of the productive Finley. The Dodgers released Arizona second baseman Craig Counsell, who was selected the most valuable player of the NL championship series after batting .381 against Atlanta.

“We’ve won a couple of division titles in the last three years, and we’re still within our four-year plan,” Colangelo said. “To get to the World Series ... it’s beyond expectations, to be quite honest about that.

“You hope for that. You hope that you have the people together, you hope that things will break for you, but you never know how that’s going to work out. It’s the character of the guys we put [around Johnson]. There are some great veterans here who have done a great job and come through time and time again.”

The Diamondbacks said Johnson has set the tone.

“I don’t question for a second that he’s been a huge factor in the consistency that I’ve had this year,” said 22-game winner Curt Schilling. “There’s an intensity and a focus that I believe I’ve always had. Until I met him, I believed that no one had more than I did. I was sorely mistaken after watching him pitch a few times, realizing that there’s another level there.

“Our philosophies and our approaches are so drastically different, yet exactly the same in a lot of different areas. I am an extrovert; he is an introvert. It’s almost like when you meet the perfect woman, opposites attract. That’s very much the case with us. He’s definitely rubbed off on me.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

AT THE TOP OF THE CLASS

When Randy Johnson turned down the Dodgers’ offer before the 1999 season, they signed Kevin Brown and then touted Brown’s durability compared to Johnson. A look at how each pitcher has fared since then:

Note--In this time span, Johnson has won two Cy Young Awards (1999, 2000) and Brown none. Johnson has led the league in ERA twice (1999, 2001) and Brown once (2000). Johnson has led the league in strikeouts all three seasons.

Researched by Houston Mitchell