6-foot-11 ‘Little Unit’ to face Stars tonight

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, May 16, 2000 | 9:18 a.m.

He stands 6 feet, 11 inches tall.

He throws close to 100 miles per hour.

He's left-handed.

No, we're not talking about Arizona Diamondbacks star Randy "Big Unit" Johnson, but rather Tacoma's 20-year-old Ryan "Little Unit" Anderson.

Anderson, who is scheduled to pitch tonight for the Rainiers against the Las Vegas Stars at Cashman Field, quite naturally has drawn comparisons to Johnson. And with a Pacific Coast League-leading 59 strikeouts in just 37 innings, Johnson has lived up to the huge buildup he received when he was the 19th pick overall in the June 1997 free agent draft.

"Obviously, he's a marquee guy," Stars manager Duane Espy said. "I'm looking forward to (tonight's game) and I hope the guys in the other room are looking forward to it, too. There's no doubt that this guy is an absolute top-flight pitcher who has great stuff. To me, if you're a good hitter -- a big league hitter -- you want to go out and prove it against a guy like this."

Tacoma manager Dave Myers is well aware of the Randy Johnson comparison for Anderson.

"I think it says a lot to be compared to someone of Randy's stature," Myers said. "Of course you have the height comparison. They're both almost 7-0. Ryan also throws very hard. And when we signed him (out of Divine Child High School in Dearborn, Mich.), Randy was still with the Mariners. So it was only natural to make those comparisons."

About the only difference between the two is the hair. Johnson has stringy shoulder-length hair while Anderson, who bears a slight resemblance to another hard-throwing lefty, John Rocker, has more of a GQ look.

Here's the scary part. There are many in the baseball world who believe that Anderson is ahead of Johnson so far in his career development.

For one thing, Johnson was almost 23 when he was drafted out of USC by the Montreal Expos. He didn't throw a pitch in the big leagues until he was 25 and didn't become a dominant major league pitcher until 1993 at the age of 30.

Anderson, who doesn't turn 21 until July 12, figures to be starting for Seattle before the end of the season.

"In all honesty, (Anderson) is very similar to Johnson, but at the same age he's further along," Myers said. "The sky is the limit for Ryan. I think one day everybody will be appreciative that they got to see him pitch here."

That was news to Espy, who is planning to start Cunnane on Wednesday afternoon here against Tacoma.

"As far as I know, it's still on," Espy said of Cunnane's scheduled start. "I'm counting on it."

Infielder Jed Hansen and outfielder Shane Monahan were released before Monday's game and reliever Eric Moody was put on the disabled list with a contusion.

That made room for outfielder Ryan Radmanovich, who was activated from the disabled list, utilityman John Roskos, who was demoted by San Diego to make room for Tony Gwynn, and pitchers Vicente Palacios and Rodrigo Lopez, both of whom were sent down by the Padres over the weekend.

Other new faces included infielder David Newhan and recently promoted double-A pitchers Domingo Guzman and Dave Maurer, all of whom joined the Stars during their recent eight-game road trip.