Big Unit Fires A Vocal Mr. Snappy At M’S Management For Lack Of Loyalty

The most dominating pitcher in baseball is strong again. There are moments when Randy Johnson still feels twinges of pain, but then it has only been nine months since the doctors cut open his back.

But there is another twinge, a gnawing question that won’t go away: Why haven’t the Mariners renewed his option?

“The only thing that bothers me is that the Mariners seem to be waiting for me to fall apart,” he said Tuesday, the day the American League named him Pitcher of the Month. “I don’t see why they haven’t renewed my option yet.”

A smile quickly trickled across his lips. “I’m only joking,” he said.

But then his eyes darkened and it didn’t look like he was joking.

He is in the final season of a four-year $20 million contract. The team has an option for next year at $6 million. It is now July and Johnson is dominating baseball the way he did back in 1995 when he won the Cy Young Award and won two postseason games, once coming out of the bullpen to beat the New York Yankees.

But Johnson’s numbers this season - 11-2, 2.18 earned-run average and 164 strikeouts - make $6 million seem like a bargain.

“You know, fans talk about loyalty. Where’s (the Mariners) loyalty?” he said. “I pitched hurt. I put in a lot of hard work and dedication on coming back. I pitched out of the bullpen in the postseason. I’ve done everything I could.”

Asked about Johnson, Mariner President Chuck Armstrong said he has an agreement with the pitcher’s agent not to talk publicly about his contract.

The doubt of April and May when the surgery was still fresh seem gone. He says his back is stronger than it has ever been. The recovery from the surgery to remove a herniated disk, did that. But the rehabilitation made everything else stronger too, especially his legs. Yes, there is still pain, pain that didn’t exist in 1995, but Johnson actually thinks he’s a better pitcher.

“I couldn’t guarantee I would ever pitch in the majors again,” he said. “I threw what, 50-60 innings last year? When you haven’t been out there, it’s uncharted waters. This year, when I got to May it was uncharted waters.”

After the operation on Sept. 12, he worked every day. His rehabilitation program would sometimes take five hours. There was never a question of stopping, he said. He wanted to be ready for the season.

“It was the biggest challenge I’ve had to face in my career,” he said. “It wasn’t pitching with the bases loaded and nobody out. If I didn’t meet it, it could be my career.”

One thing he worried about was not coming back as good as before. If he didn’t pitch the way he did in 1995, he could almost hear the voices that would say he hadn’t been able to recover from the surgery, that he wouldn’t be the same pitcher.

“I know I’m not out of the woods yet, but I feel like I’m fine right now,” he said. “I’m going on as if there’s not a problem.”

And so far, he hasn’t looked as if there is one. He went 4-1 with a 0.92 ERA in June. Just two starts ago, he struck out 19 Oakland Athletics, an American League record for a left-hander. No problems at all.

Except, maybe now, he seems to be wondering if there is one with the Mariners.