Getty Image / Kevin Abele
You would think the birds would have learned their lesson back in 2001.
No bird is safe around an Arizona Diamondbacks ace.
Despite putting together a legendary pitching career where he won 303 games, struck out the 2nd most batters in MLB history, won 5 Cy Young Awards, and earned a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame, the moment from Randy Johnson’s legendary career that many fans remember is when he hit a bird with a pitch in the middle of a game pitching for the D-Backs.
— Red October (@2022RedOctober) May 17, 2023
Now another bird has been hit by a pitch from a D-Backs ace.
The Diamondbacks played the A’s in Oakland today with Ryne Nelson taking the mound for them.
While he was today’s starter, ace Zac Gallen also decided to get some throws in before the game started and while he was tossing some pitches, he hit a bird with a curveball.
Zac Gallen really hit a bird with a curveball. pic.twitter.com/T6XOZudoMH
— Bally Sports Arizona (@BALLYSPORTSAZ) May 17, 2023
While both times this has happened it has been a Diamondbacks pitcher, neither occurrence actually came at Chase Field. Johnson was pitching during a spring training game in Tucson. Gallen was in Oakland.
Diamondbacks fans appear to be taking this as a sign that Gallen is the replacement for Johnson that they’ve waited to see since Johnson left the team the first time in 2005.
While it doesn’t have anything to do with the bird, fans might not be wrong about Gallen.
Gallen has been awesome for the Diamondbacks. He has a 3.03 ERA over the course of his time in Arizona and has kept it below 3 in 4 of 5 seasons.
This year, he has a ridiculous 2.35 ERA and league-leading 0.855 WHIP.
Randy Johnson set a pretty high bar for Arizona Diamondbacks pitchers, but their pitching rotation is in good hands with Zac Gallen leading the way right now.