Big Unit Says Leaving Was Joke

That Randy Johnson. What a kidder.

Johnson says he was just joking when he told a sportswriter that he’d like to play for the Arizona Diamondbacks when the expansion baseball team begins games in 1998.

“Didn’t the writer realize that’s my personality?” asked Johnson, whose contract with Seattle expires in 1997.

“I’ve got two years left here and then I’ll be coming down, playing with the Diamondbacks,” Johnson was quoted in The Arizona Republic.

Manager Lou Piniella didn’t seem to take the remark too seriously.

“That’s Randy,” he said, smiling. “At least we don’t have to worry about it for two years.”