JOHNSON CONTINUES TO AMAZE IN VINTAGE FORM.

Byline: TONY JACKSON 

The stare is as menacing as ever, whether the person on the receiving end is an opposing hitter or an intrusive reporter. For 17 seasons, Randy Johnson has allowed his dour countenance to take care of the intimidation factor, leaving his left arm, seemingly a mile long to someone standing in the batter's box, to take care of the rest.

Johnson, whose Arizona Diamondbacks are in town this weekend for a three-game series with the Dodgers, is back.

Not that he ever really went anywhere.

Oh, there was last year, when an injury limited him to 18 starts and he went 6-8, the first time he finished less than .500 for an entire season since 1992. But it amounted to nothing more than a blip on the screen of Johnson's Hall of Fame career, which has been rejuvenated once again this season.

Twelve days ago, Johnson became the oldest man in history to throw a perfect game, retiring 27 consecutive Atlanta Braves hitters at the age of 40. He was three years older than Cy Young was when Young threw one in 1904, several decades before having the annual award for pitching excellence named after him and 84 years before Johnson would reach the majors.

Johnson earned the victory in Friday night's series opener, allowing three runs on six hits over 6 1/3 innings in the Diamondbacks' victory.

The perfect game was merely the latest in a dizzying array of Johnson's accomplishments, starting with the no-hitter he pitched for the Seattle Mariners in 1990. Additionally, he has the five Cy Youngs, has led the American League in strikeouts four times, has led the National League in strikeouts four times, is leading the majors in strikeouts this year, has led one or the other league in ERA four times and complete games three times and has led the NL in innings twice.

Presently, in addition to the strikeout lead, he leads the NL in shutouts and opponents' batting average. He is among the leaders in ERA and innings pitched.

But Johnson impacts the game in countless other ways, ways that never appear in the box score.

For one, he routinely gets into the opposing manager's head, sometimes days ahead of time.

Former Colorado manager Don Baylor once announced, almost a week before the Rockies were to face Johnson in an interleague series in Seattle, that Larry Walker, his left-handed-hitting cleanup hitter and defensive wizard of a right field, wouldn't play. That was in 1997, the year Walker was the NL Most Valuable Player.

The most remarkable achievement of Johnson's career came in October 2001, when he finally got that elusive World Series championship. Johnson and teammate Curt Schilling shared the MVP award, but Johnson was credited with three of the Diamondbacks' four victories. Throughout history, a handful of pitchers have done that by winning Games 1, 4 and 7 of a World Series. Johnson did it unconventionally, winning Games 2, 6 and 7.

Schilling was masterful in Game 7 but left with the Diamondbacks trailing the New York Yankees 2-1. In came Johnson in the eighth inning, this after dominating the Yankees in Games 2 and 6, to pitch on less than 24 hours' rest. He held the score where it was, and the Diamondbacks rallied with two runs in the bottom of the ninth to claim the crown.

Johnson has never been known for his pleasant demeanor, and he recently suggested Arizona fans could get more value for their money by going to a movie instead of attending a Diamondbacks game. Owner Jerry Colangelo wasn't happy, but even he could admit the obvious.

``This is a frustrated, proud guy who vented a little bit,'' Colangelo said at the time. ``Things are said ... you wish hadn't been said, but that's part of the territory.''

And a small price for the chance to watch, every fifth day, a true immortal at work.

CAPTION(S):

box

Box:

Daily News/CBS 2/KCAL 9 SPORTS CENTRAL POWER RANKINGS

- Matt McHale