Randy Johnson - Spahn Award Winner

World Champion Arizona Diamondback Randy Johnson has been named the 2001 Warren Spahn Award winner for the third straight year by the Oklahoma Sports Museum (OSM). The award, a 2-foot-2 bronze statue of Spahn, will be presented by Spahn at a gala banquet Jan. 30, 2002, at the Masonic Temple Center in Guthrie, Okla. Johnson, 38, led his team this year to victory as the co-MVP in the World Series. This included pitching a scoreless 1 1/3 innings in relief for the win in the final game with no days rest after winning two games. His three Series wins were punctuated with an amazing 1.04 ERA. This year, he came within 30 strikeouts of the single season strikeout record and started the All-Star game for the National League in his eighth appearance.

Randy Johnson In Action

"The OSM honors the best lefty in baseball each year. This
year we are pleased to remind fans of the legendary
accomplishments of Oklahoman Warren Spahn by honoring the most
dominant pitcher in baseball," said Richard Hendricks, OSM
president. "Spahn pitched some dominant World Series wins against
the Yankees and now Johnson has joined that select club."

The Warren Spahn Award, given by OSM for the first time in
1999, recognizes the best left-handed Major League Baseball (MLB)
pitcher, using the number of wins, lowest earned run average and
total strikeouts as criteria. The award is given to commemorate
Hall of Famer Spahn's career because he had the most wins (363)
in MLB history for a lefty and was the winningest MLB pitcher his
entire career ('42-'65). Johnson has led MLB in strikeouts during
his entire career and had the third most wins in the '90s.

In his third season with the Diamondbacks, the 6-foot-10 ace
had 21 wins with a 2.49 ERA in the regular season. Starting the
season on fire, he notched 202 strikeouts before the All-Star
break, ending with 372 for the third best MLB season total ever.
He led MLB in strikeouts for the fourth consecutive season and
ranks second ever among lefthanders, trailing only Steve Carlton
who notched 4,136. Johnson is one of only three MLB pitchers to
win the Cy Young in both leagues. This year he was the National
League Cy Young winner again, for his fourth time.
The bronze award depicting Spahn in his famous high-kicking
windup was sculpted by noted Oklahoma artist Shan Gray, who
worked closely with Spahn.

Striving to inspire today's youth through Oklahoma's rich
athletic heritage, the OSM is Oklahoma's official sports museum.
The museum displays exhibits honoring athletes with Oklahoma ties
who play professional or Olympic sports.

The gala banquet will be at the Masonic Temple Center in
Historic Guthrie and is open to the public. Tickets are $100 and
may be purchased by contacting OSM at (405) 260-1342 or POB 1342,
Guthrie, Okla., 73044. Sponsorship tables with additional access
to the sports figures and other benefits are available. Event
proceeds are expected to retire the debt on OSM's buildings that
are on the National Register of Historic Places.

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