Johnson v. Moyer: In Their First Meeting Since the Berlin Wall Came Down, Mariner Greats Face Off Today in Arizona

The two winningest Mariner pitchers ever, Jamie Moyer and Randy Johnson, start against each other today. Moyer had 145 wins as a Mariner, Johnson had 130. Combined, the two pitched 3932 innings as Mariners.

They've faced each other once before--in Texas, 18 years ago.

On Thursday, September 21, 1989, while the Berlin Wall was still up, Ed Koch was mayor of New York, and Samuel Beckett was alive, 26-year-old Moyer, then a back-of-the-rotation starter for the Texas Rangers, started against 26-year-old Randy Johnson, making his 15th start for the Mariners after coming over midseason in the Mark Langston deal.

Here's how it went down:

The Rangers touched Johnson for two runs in the 1st on run-scoring hits by Pete Incaviglia and Ruben Sierra (who finished 2nd in the MVP voting that year). They went up 3-0 on a Chad Krueter home run in the third.

But the M's chased Moyer with a 5-run fourth, capped off by a Scott Bradley single that scored Darnell Coles, rookie Ken Griffey, Jr., and Edgar Martinez (on a throwing error). Johnson held Texas scoreless through the eighth, striking out 10, and Mike Schooler pitched a perfect ninth. The M's won, 8-3, running their record to 67-85, 25 games back of first place Oakland.

Here's the original P-I story.

Today's Johnson/Moyer battle is at 3:30 PST, you can listen to it at MLB.com.