Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zac Gallen did something that only Randy Johnson has done, albeit unintentionally.
Zac Gallen has been everything the Arizona Diamondbacks could have hoped for. The team is exceeding expectations early on this season, sitting near the top of the NL West standings. Gallen is playing a significant role in that, as he leads the National League in wins (six) and WHIP (0.855). Not a bad start to the campaign for the Diamondbacks.
As it turns out, Gallen has done something that Randy Johnson did back in 2001. Albeit, something that will go viral for quite some time.
Ahead of Arizona’s game against the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday, Gallen was throwing a side session. Bally Sports cameras caught Gallen throwing a curveball, and as he threw it to the catcher, it made contact with a bird that was flying in the stadium. Unfortunately, the bird did not survive.
Diamondbacks: Zac Gallen hits a bird with a pitch, much like Randy Johnson did
Talk about deja vu for the Diamondbacks and Gallen.
This is over 22 years since Johnson’s incident in a spring training game. While on the mound, Johnson threw a pitch and a bird flew in front of the batter’s box. With that, the baseball made contact with the bird, and the aftermath saw an explosion of feathers.
On the year, Gallen recorded a 2.35 ERA, 70 strikeouts and eight walks over 57.1 innings of work (NL-high nine starts).
Gallen was not scheduled to pitch in Wednesday’s game against the Athletics. He is, however, set to start in their next game on Friday against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
In the span of 22 years, two Diamondbacks pitchers have unintentionally hit a bird with one of their pitches. Albeit, Johnson did so in an actual game, while Gallen did so while practicing.
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