#TBT: Big Unit throws Mariners’ first no-hitter

On this date, 26 years ago, Randy Johnson took the mound against the Tigers at Seattle’s Kingdome and proceeded to accomplish something special.

Now, this was not yet the Big Unit most people remember. Sure, he had the skinny, 6-foot-10 frame, the nasty scowl and the whip-like left arm that could unleash bullets, but he had not harnessed the control that eventually would help make him a five-time Cy Young Award winner and 2015 Hall of Fame inductee.

When Johnson fired a no-hitter on June 2, 1990, it was the first of his career and the first in Mariners history. The feat also hinted at Johnson’s Cooperstown-worthy future while still demonstrating the long road he had to travel to make it a reality.

The Expos had selected Johnson out of USC in the second round of the 1985 Draft, brought him to the Majors in September 1988 and then traded him to the Mariners in May ’89, as part of a deal for more established lefty Mark Langston. By June of the following year, when he faced the Tigers at the Kingdome, Johnson owned a career 4.54 ERA over 43 games (42 starts), striking out a modest 7.6 batters per nine innings and walking an alarming 5.0.

The Associated Press described him as “consistently inconsistent and an enigma to his teammates,” during those early days with Seattle.

“‘I’m a very moody person,” Johnson told the AP. ”I like to be in my own little world. I don’t like people talking to me. People have called me another Bill Lee,” referring to the …

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