Former Mets supervisor Willie Randolph was shocked after he was let go in 2008.
Seventeen years later, these emotions stay.
“I used to stay up at night thinking about that and it gave me agita many times,” Randolph, 71, mentioned on WFAN’s “BT and Sal” on Thursday. “To at the present time, I can’t work out why as a result of once you’re profitable on this city… I assumed you had a bit extra home cash to play with. However I’ve no clue how or why that went down.
“It’s a tough game for everyone… I understand that. For me, it was the fact that I wasn’t able to continue to grow and get better. As a young manager you make your mistakes, you go through your ups and downs, but you get better, how to use your bullpen, how to deal with your players, all that stuff. I felt I was climbing. When I got fired, I was shocked — I can’t believe it to this day. And not getting another shot is even crazier.”
Randolph, a five-time All-Star for the Yankees from 1976-1988, was named supervisor of the crosstown Mets in 2005, one thing he stays happy with.
“I grew up a Met fan, I grew up in the city,” he mentioned. “For me to get the opportunity after all those years of laboring through the interviews and all the stuff that you went through with that, which wasn’t always real, I finally got a shot. For me, I was very proud to be the first Black American to be named a manger in New York History. That was special to me.”
He led the Mets to an 83-79 mark in his first season, their first end above .500 since 2001. The following yr, they gained the NL East with a 97-65 report, falling to the Cardinals within the NLCS in seven video games.
The great occasions didn’t final — in 2007, the Mets had been primed to win the NL East, main by seven video games with 17 to go earlier than a collapse left them on the surface of the postseason, trying in.
A 34-35 begin to the 2008 season spelled the tip for Randolph’s tenure in Queens — and seemingly in every single place else.
He interviewed for a managerial job with the Brewers in 2009 that went to Ken Macha and ultimately caught on with that employees for 2 seasons earlier than becoming a member of Buck Showalter’s Orioles employees in 2011.
“It still sticks in my craw a little bit to be honest, I felt like I could have been inspiration to a lot of Black Americans who don’t get that opportunity, who don’t that second chance,” Randolph mentioned of his incapability to land one other managerial gig.
“I felt like I built up enough clout to at least get enough house money to play with to move a little bit further.”
