Randy Johnson took the mound in the ninth inning with a perfect game on the line, needing just three outs. He leaned hard on his slider, mixing in fastballs with precise control. Through eight innings, he’d barely missed the zone, only once throwing more than three balls in an at-bat. The first out came on a routine ground ball. With two outs to go, the crowd started buzzing, sensing history. Nick Greene stepped in and got a steady diet of sliders and fastballs. Johnson overpowered him. Fastball down the middle for strike three. One out left.
Eddie Perez was the final hurdle. He had battered Johnson the previous year, with five hits in six at-bats. But that didn’t matter now. Johnson attacked with sliders and high heat. He finished the game with a 98 mph fastball, his fastest pitch of the night. Strike three. Perfect game. The bench erupted, but Johnson kept it cool. His catcher played it big, jumping around, and only then did Johnson start to cut loose. He gave the coaches a high-five and a nod, more proud of his catcher’s energy than his own dominance. It was the kind of moment where a pitcher at the peak of his craft lets his work do the talking.