Skip to main content

Will to Win

This whole Willie Randolph contract "dispute" turned out to be much ado about nothing, eh? While some newspaper columnists were panicking or taking issue with the pace of the negotiations, I never had any worries about Randolph's future status.

This is the best job that Randolph might ever have and I couldn't see a scenario in which he chose to walk away from running a team in the city in which he grew up.

Besides, Willie has only "walked off" the job once in his career, and I couldn't see him doing that now.

I'm referring to the Yankees-Red Sox clash of August 16, 1985. Boston carried a 4-3 lead into the last of the 9th, but the Red Sox of that time lacked an established closer (as does the current squad) and couldn't finish this one out.

Ron Hassey led off the final regulation frame for the Yankees with a single. Randolph, batting in the 7th spot in the lineup, did his job, bunting pinch-runner Billy Sample to second base. Mike Pagliarulo followed with a game-tying RBI single, and after Rickey Henderson struck out to close the inning, we were headed for bonus baseball.

There was only one scenario in which Randolph could bat in the last of the 10th and things unfolded just the right way for him. With two outs and nobody on base, Dave Winfield doubled, and Crawford decided to voluntarily bypass Dan Pasqua to pitch to Butch Wynegar. That didn't work out well though. Wynegar walked to load the bases.

Irritated with Crawford's lack of control, Red Sox manager John McNamara replaced him at that moment with Bob Stanley, but that move failed to muster success.

Patience is one of Randolph's virtues and just as he didn't get frustrated by the alleged slow pace of negotiations with the Mets, he showed plenty of good qualities in his at-bat against Stanley. Four pitches later, Randolph had a bases-loaded walk and the Yankees had a 5-4 "walk-off" victory.

True Metdolphs know...That I'd like to wish a belated happy 53rd birthday to my favorite Met Neil Allen. Though I didn't forge a press pass to meet him (like one recently-punished Mets fan), I did have an encounter with Allen during my childhood. You can read about it here:

http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/08/favorite-of-mine.html

Comments

Rickey said…
Nice blog. Rickey likes. Check out mine:

http://ridingwithricky.blogspot.com/
2:53 PM
Anonymous said…
Pags is the greatest Yankee wearing 13 of all time.
11:40 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The best Mets ejections I know

When you think of the Mets and famous ejections, I'm guessing you first think of the famous Bobby Valentine mustache game, when after Valentine got tossed, he returned to the dugout in disguise. You know it. You love it. I remember being amused when I asked Bobby V about it while we were working on Baseball Tonight, how he simply said "It worked. We won the game." (true) But the Bobby V mustache game of June 9, 1999 is one of many, many memorable Mets ejection stories. And now thanks to Retrosheet and the magic of Newspapers.com , we have a convenient means for being able to share them. Ever since Retrosheet's David Smith recently announced that the Retrosheet ejection database was posted online , I've been a kid in a candy store. I've organized the data and done some lookups of media coverage around the games that interested me post. Those newspaper accounts fill in a lot of blanks. Without further ado (and with more work to do), here are some of my findings ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The 'Duca of Earl (and walk-offs)

If I told you that the Mets had just obtained a guy who is a career .316 hitter with runners in scoring position? How about if I told you that the Mets just traded for a hitter who has consistently ranked among the toughest in baseball to strike out? Or if I mentioned that the Mets just dealt for a player who was selected to the NL All-Star team the last three seasons, with the last honor coming via a vote by his peers? So, although he's on the down side age wise, his throwing arm isn't as good as it used to be, and he doesn't provide much power, there are a lot of good things that Paul Lo Duca brings to the New York Mets. For example: He'll sacrifice his body for the good of the team The Dodgers and Braves squared off on August 23, 2002 and Lo Duca made an impact both on the start and finish of this game. Three pitches after being dusted by Greg Maddux, Lo Duca made him pay with a first-inning home run. The Braves rallied to tie the game, 3-3 in the ninth, but their bu...
8 comments
Read more

Been There, Won That

The Dodgers had 19 hits in their loss to the Mets on Thursday night in a game that, no offense (pardon the ironic pun), was excruciating to watch for many, many reasons, none of which I feel like getting into at this hour. Willie Randolph summed it up in his press conference afterwards, saying simply "It's not fun!" I wonder if Tom Hanks, Alyssa Milano, Ray Romano and Kareeem Abdul-Jabaar (all in attendance) stuck around for the finish? I do wish to note briefly, again with the aid of Baseball-Reference, that the last time the Dodgers had 19 hits and lost a game, it was to the Mets. The difference between that game and this one was that this contest, of May 24, 1973, lasted an interminable 19 innings., with the Mets winning, 7-3. Rusty Staub's fifth hit of the game drove in the go-ahead run. Ken Boswell added an RBI single and Ed Kranepool salted the game away with a two-run double. Some other noteworthy anecdotes from a quick box score gleaning: * Like Thursday's...
9 comments
Read more