After 11 years as a Yankees coach, Willie Randolph finally got his chance to manage in 2005 for the Mets. In his second season, he has taken his team to Game 7 of the NLCS, and possibly a World Series appearance.
As he prepared for Game 7 last night, Randolph reflected on the journey to get there – the job interviews that went nowhere, the teams that talked to him just because of his skin color. Now, those teams are home watching.
“It’s been a lot of, I don’t know, I wouldn’t say frustration, but just a lot of years of trying to convince an organization that I’m the right guy for the job,” Randolph said. “You know, you go into those interviews and you kind of spill your heart and soul to these people that you really don’t know, and maybe that was part of the reason.
“They didn’t know me and where I’ve come from, where I’ve been and what I’ve been a part of. That was probably the most frustrating part of it.” Some thought Randolph would eventually succeed Joe Torre in the Bronx. Randolph was not content to wait it out, though. He interviewed in Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Even though he had helped build the Yankee teams of the late 1990s into champions, each team passed.
Finally, Omar Minaya gave him the reins of his own team.
“It’s been a long journey, but I really feel like it’s the right time,” Randolph said. “This is where I deserve to be and should be. It’s my hometown, and a special part of being here is being able to look up in the stands and see your family and friends and your old high school teachers and all that kind of stuff, which is kind of weird.” Despite the success he’s had in his second year, which may result in him winning NL Manager of the Year, Randolph is not looking to rub it in the faces of those who passed on him.
“There’s no redemption or anything like that,” he said.
“There’s nothing – I don’t have a feeling of, you know, I told you so or I knew this would happen. It’s just that I’ve been a part of a legacy of winning and I’m just happy the Met organization gave me the opportunity to come here and give it up to these players, and we’re on the cusp of a Game 7, National League championship, and it feels good.”
