One on one with ... Randy Johnson, LHP, D-Backs.(Baseball)(Interview)

The Diamondbacks ace enters 2004 in an unusual situation--coming off a rare poor season in which he battled a knee injury. For the first time since 2000, Johnson will not be paired with Curt Schilling in a powerful 1-2 tandem in the Diamondbacks rotation.

TSN: If you, A-Rod and Griffey had all stayed together in Seattle, what do you think the team would have been like?

RJ: A big headache (laugh) ... probably a lot of expectations. Obviously there were when the three of us were there. It's hard to say if the three of us would have continued to do what we're doing now. Who knows what would have happened? It would have been extremely exciting.

TSN: The big question everyone has right now is your knee. How is it getting ready for the season?

RJ: I've not had any setbacks in the four months of offseason training, and I was on it pretty good to test it quite a bit. I'm very confident about my knee, my back, my shoulder. I actually feel revitalized, if you will, because of the time I did miss last year.

TSN: Right now steroids are obviously a hot topic in the game. How much does it bother you that some hitters and pitchers have used performance-enhancing drugs to their advantage where other players have not?

RJ: I think at this point athletes in all sports are going to try to get as much advantage as they can, and those players will probably eventually get weeded out in the game. It's an unfortunate situation. ...