TOKYO -- More than a quarter-century ago, a 27-year-old Randy Johnson stood atop the mound at the nascent Tokyo Dome to finish off a combined no-hitter for a team of traveling MLB All-Stars. On Wednesday night, the recently inducted Hall of Famer climbed back up on that same mound to deliver a ceremonial first pitch to his catcher, Luis Gonzalez, capping a whirlwind week-long visit that saw the D-backs plant their flag on the other side of the world.
"This trip has been incredibly successful on a number of fronts," said D-backs president and CEO Derrick Hall. "We made a promise on our first visit back in 2012 to continue to come back regularly and spend time in this country and now that we have, we see that our friendships have grown stronger, as has our brand exposure.