MLB 2026: Randy Johnson pitch strikes bird, 25 years later

Kelvin Murray doesn’t need a calendar to know when March 24 is.

Once his phone starts ringing and won’t stop, the former major league outfielder knows what day it is. It happened again late last month on the 25th anniversary of one of baseball’s most iconic moments.

Murray, uncle of Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray, was batting san francisco giants When? Arizona Diamondbacks Pitcher Randy Johnson hits a bird in mid-flight.

“I get the annual text message during spring training,” Murray said. “I usually get very upset when people start seeing that highlight.”

The infamous collision of ball and bird turned a Cactus League spring training contest into one of the earliest viral moments in all of sports. A video of Johnson’s fastball dove into the seventh inning of a split-squad game at his former spring training home in Tucson, Arizona, has become synonymous with Johnson, a Hall of Famer, and is quite popular: it has been viewed 2.3 million times on YouTube.

Looking back at the drama 25 years later, those involved still have vivid memories that don’t need the aid of a video. The pitch, the bird and the sights and sounds that followed are forever etched in their memories.

This became a path for then-Diamondbacks catcher Rod Barajas, now a quality control coach. Texas RangersTo connect with his players, some of whom were not born when the game took place.

“They don’t know a lot of players who played in the ’90s or 2000s,” Barajas said. “They’re unaware of who those people are, but they know that video. So, when I tell them I’m in that video, they remember. They’re like, ‘Oh my God, this is huge.’ And it’s a big hit for all the players.”

When Hall of Fame second baseman Jeff Kent, who was standing on the top step of the Giants dugout during that fateful pitch, was asked about some of the unique things that happened during his career, he always told the story.

The trauma of what happened still haunts Barajas.

He called for a fastball from the speedy Johnson, and as the ball was about halfway across the plate, Barajas’ muscle memory activated. He began moving his glove to where he expected Johnson’s pitch to go.

“Obviously, I see the ball,” Barajas said. “It’s coming and then it disappears and then there’s nothing there. So, yeah, the muscle memory was like, ‘Go get that ball.’ But I went to get it and found nothing.”

While Barajas and Murray were waiting for the pitch to come, it happened.

Johnson’s pitch hit the pigeon, which was flying from one side of the guide wires to the netting behind home plate and flying to the other, killing it instantly and turning into a mass of feathers. Former Diamondbacks general manager Joe Garagiola Jr. remembers sitting in his seats a few rows behind home plate that afternoon, flying among the stars during the entire game.

At first Murray thought he was being pranked.

“I just remember, I just know, baseball players are a bunch of practical jokers, especially during spring training,” Murray said. “My initial thought was that he had thrown the ball and I thought it was an exploding baseball. I thought it was some prank baseball, people being goofy like that.

“And I was like, ‘The ball just flew halfway.’ I thought the ball flew, but it was actually the bird that flew. And I said, ‘What is this?’ And I was stunned and I looked back.”

When Murray looked back and saw Barajas equally stunned, he realized it was no prank.

“Then we were both like, ‘What the hell is going on?'” Murray said.

According to Kent, that was the general feeling around the ballpark. No one around the stadium knew what had just happened. Barajas did not even know it was a bird that had been killed because it had essentially disappeared.

“It took a while for those feathers to fall off,” Barajas said.

Barajas and Murray stood there next to each other, not talking.

“I think it was just looking at each other like, ‘Did this really happen?'” Barajas said. “Just shock and awe.

“I know I remember looking at his face and I guess my face was exactly like his, big eyes and I was just amazed at what had happened.”

Former Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly, who hunted the birds “quite a bit” in the offseason, said, to date, he has never seen a bird pluck so many feathers.

“Obviously, we didn’t know what happened at first,” he said. “But because of my hunting experience, I recognized the feathers in the air and I knew what had happened.

“And then trying to figure out how that happens? How in the world does a man collide with a bird flying full speed at a hundred miles an hour? It was absolutely mind boggling.”

Kent stood on the top step of the dugout, having made the two-hour road trip south to Tucson specifically to face the D-backs’ ace, and was watching Johnson intently.

Kent, an avid hunter, started laughing when he saw the bird on the ground. But no one moved.

“Everyone was frozen,” he said.

Kent walked into the field, picked up the bird by its wing and witnessed the disaster at close range for the first time.

“The bird’s chest was blown off,” Kent said.

After Kent picked up the bird, he turned to Johnson, who was still on the mound, and showed him the animal, appreciating him for what he had done.

“I looked at Randy like, ‘Hey, you did an amazing job,'” Kent remembered. “And he looked at me and he was trying to tear me apart. I could see it in his eyes. There was no smile. He was on his game face, and he didn’t react in the slightest.

“And I thought it was funny, but it shows how competitive … it was spring training. Randy is there with his game face on and he doesn’t tell whether he hit a bird or not. I’m laughing. I’m like, ‘This is an amazing moment.’ I know one bird is dead, but I said, ‘You can never repeat that. You’ll probably win the lottery before you do that again.

“And this is how my laugh was also [face] Because I’m a hunter. I am a bird hunter and a deer hunter. So, I appreciate animals, but to be a part of that moment was incredible. And I looked at Randy and he said, ‘Get off my field look.’ And I just said, ‘Oh, okay.’ And I caught the bird and turned around and walked toward the dugout.”

Kent then threw the bird in the trash.

Soon after, Murray turned to the umpire and pleaded for the ball to be called. However, the umpire immediately rejected Murray’s plea because baseball rules state that if a pitched ball hits a bird in flight or an animal on the field, the pitch is replayed.

“He’s like, ‘No pitch, Kelvin,'” Murray recalled with a laugh. “I’m like, ‘Damn.’

It’s a story that has followed the people involved over the years.

Kent considered getting the bird taxidermized by sticking a baseball in its chest and asking Johnson to sign it, but the idea was fleeting. However, he still has a photo of him holding the bird in the newspaper.

Although Johnson was reluctant to relive the incident, he chose a dead bird. logo To the photography studio later in his career.

Murray still enjoys seeing the reaction when people he has known over the years find out he was batting that day. Some wonder why he never told them about the play, to which Murray typically replies: “When that man hit the bird I don’t announce that I was hitting.”

“I’m like, ‘Bro, I’ve played too,'” Murray said. “When that guy shot the bird I did more than play.

“It’s good, though. I mean, my girls, they get mad when someone finds out and tells them. So, I must say it’s a good conversation starter.”

The Diamondbacks won one of the most thrilling World Series ever played 25 years ago, but without modern technology, the bizarre spring incident that preceded their title run might have been more an urban legend than a part of baseball history.

“If it weren’t for this video, no one would believe us if we said, ‘Hey, Randy Johnson knocked a bird out in mid-air with a fastball today,'” Brainly said. “If there wasn’t video no one would believe it.”

The next day, the Diamondbacks took the field again for another spring training game.

Something was different, however, when Barajas looked at those guide wires on either side of the net.

“You look at the wire holding the net behind home plate, and instead of four birds, there were three birds,” Barajas said. “So, we thought these were three friends of that person who couldn’t make it.”