An unusual incident defined the career of versatile Major League Baseball player Lenny Randle. He once hit a grounder into foul territory, once assaulted his manager, and was at bat for the Mets when the power went out in New York City. — Died. Sunday at his home in Murrieta, California. He was 75 years old.
His wife, Linda Randle, confirmed the death but did not give a specific cause.
Randle was playing third base for the Seattle Mariners at the Kingdome in Seattle on May 27, 1981, when Amos Ortiz of the Kansas City Royals knocked out a grounder to third base. As the ball continued to roll in a fair area on the artificial turf, Randle got down on his hands and knees and blew on the ball until it turned foul. Home referee Larry McCoy called it a foul ball.
But Royals manager Jim Frey complained to the umpires, and McCoy overturned his call, sending Otis to first base.
Randle insisted he was just talking to the ball.
“I said, ‘Please foul, foul.’” He later said, “I didn’t blow it. I was just using the power of suggestion.”
By then, Randle was nearing the end of a touring career that began with the Washington Senators in 1971. (He remained with the team when they moved to Texas, becoming the Texas Rangers.) He also played for the Mets, Yankees, and Chicago Cubs. He was known for his speed and reliability whether at second base, third base, shortstop or center field. A switch hitter, he recorded a career batting average of 0.257, 27 home runs, and 322 RBI.
He had his best season with the Mets in 1977, hitting .304 with 5 home runs, 27 RBI, and 33 stolen bases. But in baseball, these statistics were in many ways overshadowed by the massive power outages that occurred in New York City that year.
On July 13, the Mets were trailing the Cubs 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning at Shea Stadium when Randle came to the plate. Cubs pitcher Ray Burris went into the windup, and suddenly, like a giant switch, the lights went out.
Randle told The New York Times: “I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’m gone now.’ “I thought he must have called me. “I thought it was my last at-bat,” he said.
Ten years later, he told Newsday: “I couldn’t tell if he threw the ball or not, so I just swung it. “Then I left because I didn’t know whether I hit the ball or not.” When he got to second base, he added, the Cubs’ Manny Trillo was “waiting for me to hug him and kiss him.”
In 2015, Rolling Stone magazine called Randle Baseball “the most interesting man in the world.” A few months later, MLB Network premiered the documentary “Lenny Randle: The Most Interesting Man in Baseball.”
Leonard Schenoff Randle was born February 12, 1949, in Long Beach, California, and grew up in nearby Compton. His father, Isaac, was a longshoreman, and his mother, Ethel Lee (Smith) Randle, worked in the garment industry.
After playing baseball and football at Centennial High School in Compton, Randle went on to Arizona State University, where he played in the Sun Devils’ 1969 NCAA Championship. He also played varsity soccer. He was selected 10th overall by the Senators in the second round of the 1970 Major League Baseball Draft. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1973.
Randle continued to do strange things. In 1974, he was at bat for the Rangers when Cleveland Indians pitcher Milt Wilcox threw a ball behind him, nearly hitting Randle. Randle then retaliated by launching a drag bunt along the first base line and then intentionally going off the base path, tripping Wilcox, sparking a fight.
And during spring training with the Rangers in 1977, Randle lost his starting second base job to Bump Wills and was so angry that he punched the team’s manager, Frank Lucchesi, three times, causing a triple fracture to his right cheekbone and other injuries.
Randle later said: “I never thought something like this would happen. “I am not that kind of person.”
He was suspended 30 days and fined $10,000 by the league. In court, he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery, was fined $1,050, and settled a civil lawsuit filed by Lucchesi. Randle was traded to the Mets one month into the 1977 season.
The Mets were going through a particularly dark time in their history. They won 64 games that year and finished last in the National League East. But Randle was outstanding that year. When the Mets played the Montreal Expos on July 9, he had hit in 13 of his last 14 games and was batting .310.
During one game, he made two diving catches, one of which prevented a run. Then, in the bottom of the 17th inning, Will McEnany hit a two-run home run off Shay’s left field bullpen to win the game.
After struggling in 1978, Randle was released by the Mets during spring training the following year. He played in the minor leagues in the San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates systems before the Yankees acquired him on August 3, 1979. It was the day after Yankees All-Star catcher Thurman Munson died in a plane crash. Control.
Randle played sparingly for the Yankees but had a good season for the Cubs in 1980. He finished his MLB career in 1982 with Seattle.
In addition to his wife, Linda Bradley, whom he met in elementary school, Mr. Randle is survived by his sons Bradley, Kumasi, and Ahmad. three grandchildren; four sisters, Becky Osborne, Ruthie Downs, Barbara Edney and Theresa Price; two brothers, Ronald Randle and Clyde Williams.
Randle continued to play baseball for several years in the Italian Baseball League (Serie A1). He was the first former major leaguer to play professionally in Italy, leading the league in batting average with a .477 average while playing for the Nettuno team in 1983, which he later managed. According to Rolling Stone, fans nicknamed him “Cappuccino” for his “intense play, charismatic swagger, and mischievous sense of humor.”
He also ran a baseball academy, ran training clinics, spoke five languages, performed stand-up comedy and recorded music with his band, the Ballplayers.
“He was like a wind that could never be harnessed,” Mr. Randle said in an interview. “He was never angry, angry or mean, and he always had something positive to give you.”
