Major League Baseball

Diamondbacks ace Zac Gallen echoes Randy Johnson, kills bird with pitch

Updated May. 17, 2023 7:19 p.m. ET

It must be an Arizona Diamondbacks thing.

Over 22 years after Hall of Famer Randy Johnson accidentally hit and killed a bird with a fastball during a 2001 Spring Training game, current Arizona ace Zac Gallen did something very similar during an off-day pitching session before the D-Backs' game against the Athletics in Oakland on Wednesday.

Cameras caught Gallen striking a bird with what the broadcast crew said was a curveball, altering the trajectory of the pitch. Unlike Johnson's victim, which died in an explosion of feathers, this bird seemed to meet a more peaceful end, simply falling to the ground near the right-field foul line at the Oakland Coliseum.

Still, social media had plenty to say about the incident, with some fans saying that it only proves that the 27-year-old Gallen is the heir to Johnson's throne as legendary Diamondbacks ace. Others pointed out that Johnson's bird incident preceded the best season in franchise history, which ended in a 2001 World Series championship. Johnson also won the National League Cy Young award that year.

Gallen is having another strong season so far in 2023, going 6-1 over 57.1 innings across nine starts with a 2.35 ERA, 70 strikeouts and eight walks. He is one of the faces of a young Diamondbacks core aiming to compete with the loaded Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres in the NL West.