25 years ago, March 24: Randy Johnson Hits Bird [View all]

Calvin Murray doesn't need a calendar to know when it's March 24.

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

Murray, the uncle of Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray, was at bat for the San Francisco Giants when Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson hit a bird midflight.

SNIP

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

Full story: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/48356185/mlb-2026-randy-johnson-pitch-strikes-bird-25-anniversary-arizona-diamondbacks