Haddix, in particular, became part of baseball legend, even though neither he nor Martinez received credit for a perfect game. Johnson's performance will be remembered just as fondly. Twenty over nine equals 20 over nine. The other debate is whether Johnson should have come back out for the 10th inning. No, even though he had thrown only 124 pitches, a total that he had exceeded in three of his previous seven starts.
Baseball is a team sport.
Johnson turns 38 on Sept. 10. The last thing the Diamondbacks needed was for him to overexert himself and risk injury in pursuit of individual glory. After his 20th strikeout, he pointed to the sky, then to his family, as he walked off the mound. True, Johnson was celebrating an individual achievement while the score was still tied. But he's a human being, not a robot, and everyone in the ballpark was caught up in the moment.