It was a dream come true when Willie Randolph became manager of the New York Mets. For four seasons, Randolph guided the team to their first division title in 18 years and one win away from a World Series appearance.
An alum of Tilden High School and a Brooklyn, NY native, Randolph saw the opportunity and seized it. Appearing on today’s episode of the Scoop B Radio podcast, Randolph acknowledged it’s significance.
“I waited a long time to get the opportunity,” Randolph told Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson. “I was honored and blessed to get the opportunity to manage the Mets, the team I grew up rooting for. That’s another thing to convey to the kids: I grew up a Mets fan and then twenty years later I wound up the manager of the team. So again dreams do come true and it could happen to you.”
Randolph played in the 70s and 80s and won 6 World Series titles as both a player and a coach with the New York Yankees and posted a 302-253 record.
The first African-American to manage a baseball team in New York, Randolph was fired by the Mets in June 2008 after a rough start. After his firing Randolph would have stints as a coach with the Milwaukee Brewers and the Baltimore Orioles, he also wrote a book, The Yankee Way: Playing Coaching and My Life In Baseball, Randolph’s story of his life playing and coaching for the most storied professional sports franchise in the world, The New York Yankees.
Click here to check Out Willie Randolph On Scoop B Radio
“So after I got fired from the Mets after doing the job I wrote, The Yankee Way: Playing, Coaching and My Life In Baseball,” he said.
“And being one pitch from the World Series, turning the organization around from a second tier team to winning the division in my second year and then almost getting to the World Series in my third year. So I’m successful. I feel like I’m proud of that because I feel like I am part of a legacy. Jackie Robinson was my hero he was the one that inspired me to be a baseball player. So for me just growing up and feeling that bond.”
Randolph says about his time with the Mets:
“So really why I got fired in a tough spot, we are hired to be fired and I understand that I was successful and I did a good job and I want to continue,” he told Scoop B Radio.
“Even though I got knocked off the perch or got knocked down I want to get back on that wheel and hopefully get another opportunity and show everyone what I am capable of doing. So you know it doesn’t consume me. I would love the opportunity, God willing, I am prepared and ready for it. But right now, it’s been a little bit frustrating that I haven’t had the opportunity yet. But I am going to stay positive and I am going to stay strong and like I said, stay prepared so if the phone does ring; I will be ready to take on the next challenge.”
