THERE are three framed photographs above Willie Randolph’s desk at Shea Stadium: Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige and Cool Papa Bell.
“They inspire me, I feel their spirit in a way,” Randolph said last night in a quiet moment before the NL East champion Mets won their 92nd game, beating the Marlins, 3-2. “I feel the legacy. In some ways, me accomplishing what I’ve accomplished, it makes them proud because of what they struggled through.”
This is a proud time for Randolph, the first African-American major-league manager in New York.
“It’s always cool for me when I see the old Negro Leaguers at different ballparks and they come up to me and shake my hand and say, ‘Willie, I’m so proud of you.’
“I’m saying to myself, wow, you’re proud of me. I read about you. I don’t want to get on my soapbox or anything, but you do feel that responsibility to be as good as you can be. Years from now, maybe I will have inspired someone to be a manager.”
Randolph is a winner. Always has been. He came here to teach the Mets how to win. Omar Minaya and Fred Wilpon gave him his shot when no one else would, and Randolph is eternally grateful.
Step 1 is complete. The Mets have won the NL East for the first time since 1988. Step 2 is to get past the first round of the playoffs.
“There’s still a long ways to go,” Randolph said.
The congratulatory calls have been pouring in, and Randolph genuinely was touched when he received one from Joan Hodges, Gil’s wife.
“That was really special,” Randolph said. “She thought she was bothering me. I said, you can call me anytime.”
Randolph also was thrilled Joe Torre got through Monday night. This was no sandwich commercial. This was one winner calling another, a Subway Series on the horizon.
Through the years, Randolph said he has participated in about 40 champagne celebrations, so he knows the drill. Randolph did not get any congratulatory calls from those many interviewers who did not hire him. And he wasn’t being cocky when he reiterated that he dealt with those disappointments by telling himself, “Those teams missed out.”
He spoke of one particular interview when he went to dinner with two executives from a team. When one exec went to the restroom, the other told Randolph, “You know, I was just sitting here talking to so and so, and I said, ‘Willie’s a pretty good guy, a pretty sharp guy, he’s got a good sense of humor.’
At that moment, Randolph said that comment, “Gave me chills. I was saying to myself, why is all that surprising to you?”
Some executives who interviewed Randolph later admitted they missed out on hiring an excellent manager.
“Dean Taylor told me he felt like he made the wrong decision,” Randolph said of the former Milwaukee GM. “Jim Bowden (Cincinnati) kind of said that, too, but he was kind of just making it sound good.”
Randolph also knew which interviews were sham interviews, like the one in Philadelphia when a sportswriter told him beforehand to not even bother going because Larry Bowa already had the job locked up.
“If I didn’t go, people would have said I was arrogant,” Randolph said of his reason for going anyway. “It gave me the opportunity to tell them, I’m your guy, you may not know that, but I’m your guy. I went in there and tried to blow them away.”
In the end, managing in his home city has worked out for the best.
“It’s perfect,” Randolph said. “Growing up in this town, I’m privileged and happy to have the opportunity here. This was meant to be.”
After the on-field celebration Monday, the first person Randolph looked for was his wife, Gretchen.
“I gave her a hug,” he said. “She’s my rock, since my high school days. She knows all my struggles and my pain, and she’s still there hanging with me.”
Hanging with a winner.
