D'backs' Johnson out for season

Posted July 27, 2007 11:00 pm

Associated Press

PHOENIX -- Randy Johnson will have season-ending back surgery and intends to be back for the Arizona Diamondbacks at spring training next year.

"I have no intention at this time of retiring," he said at a news conference Friday. "I'll cross the bridge of surgery and be willing to go through the process of rehabilitation again because I know I can still pitch. And I love pitching. It's what I've been doing since I was 7 years old."

It marks the second year in a row that the Big Unit will have an operation on his troublesome back. It will be the third back operation of his career.

"He tried to work his way through it," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said, "but it just didn't get any better."

The 43-year-old left-hander was traded to the Diamondbacks from the New York Yankees in the off-season, signing a $26 million, two-year contract with Arizona, the franchise where he experienced his greatest success in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Johnson ranks third in all-time career strikeouts with 4,661, behind Roger Clemens (4,641) and Nolan Ryan (5,714).

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