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 Standing at 6-foot-10 (2.09 meters), Johnson was blessed with an
arm that could fire the ball up to 100 miles per hour (160 kph), but
he was plagued with wildness through his early seasons.
"It was a hindrance at first, it was an uphill battle," Johnson told
a news conference a day after being elected to National Baseball
Hall of Fame. "There were moments I wanted to quit the game."
Young pitchers of all sizes struggle with the moving parts in their
delivery, a challenge made more complex for someone whose arms, legs
and trunk are so long that a miscalculation of a few inches can
yield frustrating results.
"Early on when I started with the Expos, I was a major project for
that organization trying to get me to be consistent with my
delivery," said Johnson,
 Johnson, who made his Major League Baseball debut in 1988 with the
Montreal Expos, was soon traded to Seattle and led the American
League in walks three seasons in a row and twice led in hit batters.
"No one wanted to face me because they were afraid I was going to
hit them and it wasn't on purpose," the big lefty said. "I just
didn't know where it was going."
Johnson showed glimpses of greatness, including a 1990 no-hitter,
and in 1992 began to put it together.
He sought out the Rangers' fire-balling Nolan Ryan, who was nearing
the end of his own Hall of Fame career, and the Texan suggested a
few adjustments to his delivery.
That Christmas, Johnson's father died, which the pitcher said was
another milestone in his 1993 drive to success.
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"It was unfortunate my dad had died. But it put me at a whole other
level of understanding my threshold," said Johnson.
Johnson said he disregarded pitch counts and soreness in going 19-8.
"My pain threshold, I didn't think about that because all I could
think about is what my dad went through.
"So between meeting Nolan that helped me with my mechanics and that
was my determination to not give up, give in."
Johnson went on to win 303 games and five Cy Young Awards, including
four in a row from 1999 with the Arizona Diamondbacks. His 4,875
career strikeouts rank second all-time behind Ryan’s 5,714.
(Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue)
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