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'Love child', mother lambaste Big Unit

Heather, 16, says star Yankees pitcher refused to meet with her

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New York Yankees pitcher Randy Johnson is involved in a legal fight with his ex-girlfriend over a daughter he fathered 16 years ago.

The 16-year-old "love child" of New York Yankees pitcher Randy Johnson said her star father coldly responded to letters she sent to him and that she cannot bear to watch him pitch on TV anymore, the New York Post reported Wednesday.

"I would get cards back from him with just his signature — 'Randy,' " said Heather Renee Roszell, who sent the letters in an effort to meet Johnson.

Johnson broke off his relationship with the girl's mother, Laurel Roszell, 46, while she was pregnant, and he has seen Heather only once, shortly after she was born. He does have "reasonable visitation rights" from a custody agreement, Roszell told the Post.

Heather, who lives with her mother in Langley, Wash., told the Post that she stopped writing letters because "I never got [more of] a response, so it got to the point where I didn't want to deal with not getting the response.

"I don't have a relationship with him."

Johnson is suing Laurel Roszell for $97,000 for child-care payments he made for Heather, according to court documents revealed by the New York Daily News and New York Post on Tuesday.

According to the documents, Johnson first agreed in 1997 to pay Roszell $5,000 per month in child support for Heather, and another $750 in monthly day care expenses, the Daily News said.

Laurel said Johnson balked last year after she asked the 3-time Cy Young Award winner to buy a truck and computer for Heather and pay for her community college classes, the Daily News said.

Johnson then demanded that Laurel return $71,000 in day-care payments and $26,000 in interest because the teen was too old to be in day care, according to legal papers.

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"My daughter is 16 and has not been in day care for at least five years," Johnson said in a Feb. 3 affidavit. "[Roszell] should not receive a windfall for expenses she did not incur."

Johnson fathered Heather with Laurel Roszell, whom he started dating in 1988 when she was working at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in northern California, the Daily News said.

"I do acknowledge that I have a daughter from a previous relationship, which ended years before my marriage," Johnson, 42, said in a statement. "I have fully financially supported her and have made every effort to protect her privacy."

"The only thing Randy can do is step up and do what's required," Laurel Roszell said. "He needs to be an adult and take a big step. It's about Randy and Heather, not Randy and Laurel. How can he not [meet her]? She's his biological daughter. That's the connection, and she needs it."

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The nation grieved for those hurt, killed and affected by the Boston Marathon bombings. After one of the suspects was caught on Friday — following a day-long lockdown and manhunt — sports returned to Boston over the weekend.

Laurel Roszell told the Post she sought child support from Johnson in 1998, but that he demanded a paternity test. She said it " was still a struggle" even after the DNA test proved Heather was Johnson's daughter, the Post said.

"It's a situation my family knew the whole time. It's a family matter. I want to keep it private," Johnson told the Post.

Johnson is married to his wife Lisa, and they have four children.

© 2011 NBC Sports.com

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