PHOENIX — To this day, it remains one of the most unique plays in Major League Baseball history.
It was March 24, 2001 and the Arizona Diamondbacks were playing the San Francisco Giants in a Spring Training game in Tucson.
Randy Johnson tossed a fastball that struck and killed a dove somehow flying between the mound and home plate at the perfect (worst possible) time.
So was it a strike? Ball? Fowl (sorry) ball? The umpire actually called it a "no pitch."
MLB's chief umpire said under Rule 8.01(c), umpires can make calls in situations not covered by the rules using "common sense and fair play."
The D-backs actually went on to win the 2001 World Series seven months later. And The Big Unit would go on to win the NL Cy Young Award for the league's best pitcher.
But what you probably didn't know is the connection the Giants batter would have to Arizona sports 20 years later.
As Arizona Cardinals Senior Vice President of Media Relations Mark Dalton points out, the batter is Calvin Murray, the uncle of Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray.
