Randy Johnson reflects on Mariners retiring his No. 51 in 2026

Jun 2, 2025, 1:44 PM | Updated: 2:58 pm

BY ANDREW DESTIN

The Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — Hall of Famer Randy Johnson’s No. 51 will be retired by the Seattle Mariners during a pregame ceremony next season, recognizing the former pitcher who spent a decade as a superstar on the mound in the Kingdome.

“I’m happy that my contributions over the 10 years that I was there are being acknowledged now,” Johnson said via Zoom. “It’s been a long time, that’s for sure.”

Mariners will retire No. 51 – a second time – for Randy Johnson in 2026

The Mariners made the announcement Monday, 35 years to the day that Johnson threw the first no-hitter in Mariners’ history on June 2, 1990.

The exact date of the number retirement ceremony will be announced after the 2026 major league schedule is finalized.

Johnson, 61, went 130-74 with a 3.42 ERA across 10 seasons with the Mariners, and in 1995 became their first Cy Young Award winner. He was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame in 2012 alongside his longtime catcher, current Mariners manager Dan Wilson.

Johnson enjoyed more success with the Arizona Diamondbacks, with whom he won four consecutive Cy Young Awards in addition to a World Series championship in 2001. However, the lanky left-hander nicknamed the “Big Unit” because of his 6-foot-10 frame fondly remembers his Seattle tenure.

A year Johnson looks back on with particular fondness is the 1995 season. The Mariners’ future in Seattle was cast into doubt when in September of that year, King County voters rejected subsidy taxes to build a new stadium.

Simultaneously, the Mariners enjoyed a prosperous season on the field at the Kingdome, which culminated in reaching the AL Championship Series before falling to the Cleveland Indians. Ultimately, the King County Council approved funding for a new stadium.

“Looking back at it now and that story being documented by the Mariners, it worked out,” Johnson said. “I’m just thankful that I was a big part of that and everybody else was a big part of it, and everything just kind of jelled for all the players.”

That season, Johnson went 18-2 with a 2.48 ERA during a 145-game season and won his first of five Cy Young Awards. But Johnson didn’t hang around Seattle much longer; he was traded to the Houston Astros midway through the 1998 season.

Johnson signed with the Diamondbacks as a free agent ahead of the 1999 campaign, and enjoyed some of the most successful seasons of his major league career across eight years in Arizona. As a result, Johnson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame wearing a Diamondbacks cap.

“To me, it was a difficult choice,” Johnson said. “But, it was the right choice because statistically, I did more (in Arizona). Now if I could split the plaque and put a little bit of an M and a little bit of an A.”

Even so, Johnson is grateful for his years in Seattle and looking forward to his moment in the sun. It will be a separate occasion from the No. 51 jersey retirement of right fielder Ichiro Suzuki, which is planned for Aug. 9.

In 2001, three years after Johnson left Seattle, Suzuki arrived and wore jersey No. 51. Johnson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015. Suzuki will be inducted on July 27.

Johnson’s No. 51 will be the fifth number retired in Mariners’ history, joining Ken Griffey Jr. (No. 24), Edgar Martinez (No. 11) and Suzuki. All MLB teams have retired Jackie Robinson’s No. 42.

“I know the significance of Ichiro and his accomplishments, and I didn’t want to interfere with his Hall of Fame induction this year or his number retirement this year,” Johnson said. “And so, the one contingent factor I had was if this was going to happen that I didn’t want to take away anything from his deserving day.”

Seattle Sports staff made minor alterations to this post.