Strikeout plateau within Unit’s reach

When Pittsburgh’s Orestes Destrade went down swinging against Montreal’s 6-foot-10, raw-boned rookie lefthander on Sept. 15, 1988, he had no idea he was merely victim No. 1 in the kid’s march to baseball immortality.

The kid was Randy Johnson, and he had nary a clue himself as to how his career would progress. In his 17th season, Johnson is only eight strikeouts from the 4,000-strikeout plateau, and pitches again on Tuesday.

The 4,000 mark is sacred ground where only three others — Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens and Steve Carlton — have walked. The significance isn’t lost on Johnson, who’s a student of the game and its lore.

“It represents longevity and consistency and something I’ve done over my career, which is strike out hitters,” said Johnson. “Over my career, I’d say it’s probably my greatest accomplishment. Obviously, there are other individual and team accomplishments that have been done. But over a span of my career, the one thing I’ve been able to do — not trying to do — is strike hitters out at times.”

Considering his accomplishments, that’s a strong statement. The man has thrown two no-hitters, whiffed 20 batters in a game and won five Cy Young Awards, spanning both the American and National leagues. As of Monday, he led the league in strikeouts with 121.

He has a World Series ring and he has led the majors in strikeouts eight times, including five straight before a knee problem limited him to 18 games last season. From 1999-2001, his strikeout total of 1,083 for the Arizona Diamondbacks was the best three-year total in baseball history. In 2002, he won the N.L.’s triple crown of pitching, leading in wins (24 wins), earned run average (2.32) and strikeouts (334). He pitched a perfect game just over a month ago in Atlanta.

“We don’t give ourselves an opportunity to look back and admire too often, because we’re worried about the ballgame today, then tomorrow and the next day,” Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly said. “But when you take the time to look at what he has done in his career and still does, it’s remarkable.

“He’s one of the few pitchers in this game who has been able to maintain a level of excellence this long and continues to get better.”