Baseball's Randy Johnson Showcases Rock Photography From Ozzfest 2010

Posted on Aug 20th 2010 2:00PM by Steve Baltin Comments

Christian Petersen, Getty Images

A five-time Cy Young Award winner with one of the most feared fastballs in baseball history, Randy Johnson has stood 60 feet from the likes of Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr. and more of baseball's most prolific hitters. He's pitched under the spotlight of the World Series, faced the New York media as part of the Yankees and formed one of the most dominant pitching duos in decades with Arizona Diamondback teammate Curt Schilling.

In short, he's handled every kind of pressure and obstacle thrown at him on his way to the Hall of Fame, which is a virtual certainty. But he's never been in the pit at Ozzfest.

"Watch out, it's brutal out there," a sweaty Johnson says as he greets Noisecreep in the offices of the Hyundai Pavilion in San Bernardino, where Ozzfest is kicking off its summer tour. At 6'-10" the lanky Johnson, looking every bit the part of a rocker dressed in T-shirt and jeans shorts, has a distinct advantage over other would-be rock cameramen, namely being able to see over the top of everybody.

But he also has the advantage of having been one of the most prominent athletes in sports for two decades, he got a chance to be friends with a lot of musicians. "I was lucky coming up in Seattle," he says of where he pitched for years with the Mariners. "I met Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, all of those guys." It was through a friendship with Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil that Johnson became the world's likely biggest and most well-known rock photographer, as he began by shooting Soundgarden at Lollapalooza (he also saw Wolfmother, who he was impressed with).

Johnson, never comfortable in the media spotlight during his playing days, is equally non-plussed by all the attention being given what he calls his new hobby. "I had my 10, 15 minutes of fame," he says. "Everybody is making way too much of this." But after spending more than 22 years in the major leagues, a sport that goes from April to October, he is having a blast just getting to go to rock shows after more than two decades of being on the road whenever bands would hit his town. The week he shot Ozzfest for Noisecreep, he had seen Rush twice in Southern California. And while he views this as just a hobby for the minute, as you can see from our exclusive pictorial he was willing to brave the mosh pits and San Bernardino heat to get the best pics he could.



Filed under: Interview, Festival

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8 Comments

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bill

One of the all time ugliest of male sports icons ever.
EVER E-V-E-R.

August 29 2010 at 9:01 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Victor

6' 10" Standing on top of the mound was probably pretty intimidating. Randy is his own man and I admire him for that. He calls it his new "hobby", so quit hating people. JC!

August 29 2010 at 7:58 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
wildbillieb

I have pictures of Randy Johnson with his arms around 4 of my grandkids shoulders. I would like to share them with him but don't know how.

August 22 2010 at 6:48 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Nekima

thats a FAR cry from photography, more like snapshots that anyone can take with a point and shoot camera. Nothing to call yourself a photographer about.

August 22 2010 at 2:36 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Nekima's comment
david marks

Have to agree with Nekima on this one!

August 22 2010 at 5:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
dirtybirdindc@aol.com

HOW FAST WILL ESPN LET JAY MARIOTTI GO FOR HIS RAPE OR ATTEMPT RAPE OR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HAROLD REYNOLDS DID NOTHING AND WAS CANNED SO FAST YOU FORGOT HE WAS THERE,(BLACK OR WHITE) YOU ?

August 22 2010 at 9:07 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to dirtybirdindc@aol.com's comment
shangrenaaa

I have pictures of Randy Johnson with his arms around 4 of my grandkids shoulders. I would like to share them with him but don't know how.My boyfriend thinks the same with me. He is eight years older than me, lol. We met online at ag elov er. c om a nice and free place for younger women and older men, or older women and younger men, to interact with each other. Maybe you wanna check out or tell your friends.

August 22 2010 at 8:09 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Scott Douglas

I gave a photo of randy taking photos at ozzFest

August 22 2010 at 2:28 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply