Randy Johnson likens himself to Nuke Laloosh at Hall of Fame press conference

Randy Johnson humbly accepted the praise lobbed his way Wednesday as he sat at the dais in New York with fellow Hall-of-Fame inductees Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz and Craig Biggio.

The decorated left-hander, however, also took a moment to reminisce about the nascent stages of his baseball career, when his pronounced control problems evoked memories of Ebby "Nuke" Laloosh, the erratic hurler from "Bull Durham."

In the iconic film, Laloosh – famously portrayed by Tim Robbins – is a brash, cocky pitching prospect whose talents and control are only harnessed when "Crash" Davis, a grizzled, veteran catcher, shows him the path of the righteous. 

Though Johnson didn't identify any specific mentor, his career followed a similar path. Over his first four seasons in the minor leagues, Johnson proved unable to consistently throw strikes, issuing 318 walks over 400 1/3 innings (7.15 per nine). 

His talent, however, was undeniable and once Johnson got some experience at the major league level – and, through consultations with numerous pitching coaches, rectified his control problems – the towering southpaw realized the potential that fueled a 22-year career in the majors. 

The anecdotal details were a little scarce, but hopefully Johnson didn't share any of Laloosh's more memorable blips:

Despite the similarities with Laloosh, Johnson clearly didn't agree with opinion espoused by Davis about strikeouts, as only one pitcher in history – Nolan Ryan – notched more strikeouts than Johnson.