9 Questions with Willie Randolph

In tribute to Black History Month, former Yankees World Series Champion Willie Randolph sat down with the Somerset Patriots to address nine questions in reference to Minor League Baseball's The Nine program.

The Nine, which pays homage to the number that Jackie Robinson wore when he broke the color barrier in MiLB, is a Black-community focused outreach platform specifically designed to honor and celebrate the historic impact numerous Black baseball pioneers made on the sport, provide new opportunities for youth baseball and softball participation, further diversify the business of baseball and embrace millions of passionate fans throughout MiLB's 120 communities nationwide.

As part of The Nine program, beginning in 2023, the Patriots announced plans to pay tribute to the New York Black Yankees of the Negro Leagues beginning with a tribute game later that season. In 2024, the Patriots for the first time, suited up as the New York Black Yankees, and will do the same again this season on Saturday, August 2nd.

Willie Randolph, who played 18 Major League seasons, including nine for the Yankees, was a six-time Major League All-Star who helped lead the team to back-to-back World Series Championships in 1977 and 1978. He also became the first Black manager in New York baseball history, when he was selected to manage the Mets from 2005-2008.

Randolph, who grew up in the same Brooklyn streets where Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball when he played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, began the first of nine questions by reminiscing about his earliest baseball memories.

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Q: How did growing up in Brooklyn shape your love for the game of baseball?

Willie Randolph: Well, you know, that's interesting because I didn't come from a family of players. I mean, they loved the game. I grew up around a lot of aunts and uncles in Brownsville, Brooklyn. So I was too young to really know what the Brooklyn Dodgers were all about. But as I got a little older, to six, seven, eight years old, that was when I started really, for some reason, embracing the game. My uncles and aunts told me stories about going to Ebbets Field and how they used to watch all these great players, how they watched Jackie, how proud there were of Jackie and the whole thing. And I really didn't embrace obviously everything they were saying about it because again, I was just a little guy. But it just kind of really got me interested in the history of what was going on there and they talked so glowingly about Jackie and then when I got to really do some research on him, I was like, wow, this is like a hero. This guy is someone that I could look up to and all that stuff. So I heard it from my aunts and uncles when we grew up as kids in the city. You know, tough area, tough background, but we were always outside playing some kind of ball. You know, kids play baseball. That's great, but we made up ball--stick ball, stoop ball, punch ball. We would make up fields where we would take over the whole playground and make bases out of chalk and stuff. So we were always playing ball. I just remember as a youngster, always being outside--ripping and running, my mother used to say, "You always ripping and running!" You know, I was always running around, playing some kind of ball, would come inside, eat a sandwich and then go right back out. From sunup to sundown, I can always remember playing baseball. I grew up around a lot of Latin players, a lot of Latin people. It was a melting pot, but they really, really loved the game. A lot of the bodegas and Spanish restaurants used to sponsor our uniforms and sponsor teams. So, you know, the "Danny Meal Perez Baseball League" or the 14 Brothers, which was a restaurant, they used to sponsor uniforms for us. So, I grew up around a lot of the Latino players and a lot of my early coaches were these grisly, old, Spanish men who just loved the game and just said, "You guys want to stay out of trouble and get off the streets? Meet me down at the field on Saturday or Sunday and we'll just play baseball." So that's my early remembrance of a lot of my early days. It's interesting to me because I just had this love for it. I guess it's something that I was born with in a way, because when I think back on some of my aunts and uncles, even though they loved the game, they never talked about playing. They never talked about what they did as a Black player. I mean, back then it was different. It was a different environment. People had to work hard. They didn't have time to do all that stuff, but that was my early remembrance of baseball. Again, growing up in Brooklyn, just knowing that, you know, Jackie Robinson played like, I don't know, a mile and a half from where I grew up was pretty special and I always kind of wish that I was able to literally walk to Ebbets Field from my house. That would have been really cool.

Q: Thinking about how much things have progressed since the time you grew up, how different do you think it would be growing up and pursuing baseball in this generation right now, with all of the different resources and role models that kids have to look up to?

Willie Randolph: Totally different. I mean, it's changed a lot obviously. We had neighborhood teams, we didn't travel like they do nowadays. I mean, obviously it wasn't anywhere as expensive. I just feel like it's a huge difference, because the kids that I played with back in the day--African American kids and Spanish kids, we had some white kids in the area that played with us also--we probably wouldn't be able to really play today, because, again, it's so expensive. To be seen by scouts and bird dogs, you have to have the money to travel a little bit or go outside the neighborhood to be exposed to some of these scouts and stuff. That's one of the biggest differences I see and that's why I think that in some cases we're losing a whole generation of African American kids to other sports. They're not playing baseball, because they're just kind of priced out of the game. That's sad for me, because there's really so much talent there that's not being tapped into. You see it on the basketball court on the football field and that's one thing, but that athleticism is there and when I go back to the old neighborhood, you don't see kids playing ball like that. If they do, it's small clubs and even then, they need a lot of funding to be able to compete on a grander scale.

Willie Randolph is eagerly in attendance for tonight's tribute game to the Negro Leagues' New York Black Yankees! pic.twitter.com/64Mheh1G0d

— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) August 30, 2024

Q: Who were some of your big baseball role models when you were coming up?

Willie Randolph: I was a shortstop as a kid. I loved playing shortstop. I didn't switch over to second base until I signed my first professional contract, but I could play a little bit of everything. I remember being inspired--I was a Mets fan as a kid. A lot of people say "What do you mean you're a Mets fan!" No, we were National League fans, which kind of spun off the whole Jackie Robinson National League thing. So most of the heroes that we rooted for were in the National League. It goes back to the fact that there were more people of color in the National League back then, when Roberto Clemente came up, Hank Aaron and all those other guys that popped up. But I was a Mets fan. I was really a huge Mets fan and I was a shortstop, so I loved Buddy Harrelson and Ken Boswell. When I mention Ken Boswell, that's a name you have to Google for some kids, because they're like "Who's Ken Boswell?" And he's not a guy that was a great player, but I loved his style. I love the way he played. So Ken Boswell and the late Bud Harrelson were my favorite guys. But then you had Cleon Jones and Tommy Agee and obviously Willie Mays at the end of his career. I didn't get the chance to see him in his heyday, but I would love to have seen Willie Mays play in his heyday. Also Hank Aaron. I actually was honored enough to be on the same field with the great Hank Aaron. My rookie year, Hank Aaron was still hanging on as a DH and he was with the Milwaukee Brewers on Opening Day at Yankee Stadium in 1976. Hank Aaron was the DH for the Milwaukee Brewers and I was on the field with the great Hank Aaron. It was unbelievable. But those were the guys that kind of inspired me. I can name a few other the guys like Luis Aparicio--he was a slick feeling in shortstop for the White Sox. I loved little Luis. I just love the game. I just love baseball. So because I was a National League guy and I watched more National League games, I was a Mets fan. I didn't miss a Mets game. Tom Seaver, Jon Matlack... I can name every Mets player back in the day, but my main guys were Buddy Harrelson and middle infielders, those kind of guys.

Q: Now flipping it back again to the kids growing up right now looking at you as a role model... Have you ever reflected on your place in baseball history as a Black success story that they can look at?

Willie Randolph: Great question. You know, that's very important to me. I'm very proud to have been the first African American manager, Black manager, in New York's history when I managed the Mets and Omar Minaya was the first Dominican (general manager). I took that very, very seriously because I love history and because I was inspired by some of the forefathers. I felt like I was kind of indoctrinated into this kind of legacy where I felt like, okay obviously I have to perform, but also, I can be an inspiration to a lot of young kids coming behind me. One of the most disappointing parts, and I've had not too many disappointments in the game, but one of the most disappointing things is that I didn't get a chance to manage again. I felt like I was successful. I was so proud to get a chance to manage my childhood team and we got to within one game of going to the World Series. Then obviously, you're hired to be fired and I get all that. But I never got another chance to manage again, so that always kind of hit me in a weird kind of way. Well, stuck in my craw a little bit, because like I said, as you manage from year to year, you obviously get better. You make mistakes, you learn to grow, learn to lead, different leaderships and stuff for different teams and I felt like I was really growing towards that. When they let me go, I was able to hang in there for a few more years of coaching a few other teams in some great organizations like the Brewers and the Orioles, who my career ended with as a coach. But I really feel a sense of pride, really serious pride, that I was able to have the privilege, first of all, to manage in the big leagues is very rare and also to be successful. Just like Jackie inspired me, hopefully I was able to inspire guys like Bo Porter, Ron Washington came up with me, but these are guys that I played with who were managers and we would always share notes and keep up with each other. I'll always be really, really proud of my opportunity in the privilege of managing a Major League Baseball team. Even if I didn't have that longevity, I still feel like there were a lot of young managers that hopefully got inspired and to this day, I still speak with a lot of these young coaches around the league who call me for advice and I try to encourage them and I try to give them inspiration too, about questions they might have or things they might want to do in the future, whether it's on the field or in the front office. But yeah, when I talk about my managing career, as much of a blessing as it was to have that opportunity, there's still a little bit of me inside that feels like, wow, I wish I could have gotten another opportunity or two, because I really feel that the fact that we don't have many Black managers in the game today, I wanted to be someone who set an example and really kind of grew in the game and could be a real inspiration to some of the guys that are coming behind me.

Q: You've told us before that you kind of consider yourself a Negro Leagues historian. What is it that excites you about the Negro Leagues?

Willie Randolph: Just their whole being. I mean, I think about these guys who played for the love of the game, sometimes played triple headers, just the story behind it. The way they went out and played for the love of the game. Discrimination was big back then, obviously, but that didn't hold them back. There's something to be said for the purity of it and and the love of going out and playing the game for nothing, if you will. But the joy... I see some of the old videos of them. They had fun. They were entertainers. The fans came out and there was just this love. These guys just went out there and didn't care that they weren't playing in front of 30,000 people or whatever. That really kind of just inspired me also to dig deeper into what made these guys tick. You can love something and love it with a passion, but these guys... I mean, come on. That's just unbelievable when you think about them having to be discriminated against, but still get out there and play. To me, I just wanted to read up on them, try to find out who they were, where they came from, some of the characters, some of the names and some of the stories. I'm sitting and looking in my office right now and I think I've got a pretty cool library in here. I read most of these books and when I managed the Mets, I got a chance to to meet a lot of these guys. I mean, there's this one cat named "Double Duty" Ratcliffe, okay? He's a character, he's a great guy, man. He's in a wheelchair, we're at the ceremony before the game, right? And I'm on cloud nine. I'm walking up to these people and introducing myself and it's so cute. I went up to him and said "How you doing, I'm Willie Randolph," and he goes "I know you are! What you talking about! You're Willie Randolph, I'm so proud of you!" I was like "I'm sorry, I didn't know if you knew me!" He had to be in his 80s or whatever, so I went in with a lot of respect. I just kind of went, "Hi, I'm Willie Randolph," and they were like "Man we're so proud of you boy! I know who you are! I watch your games all the time!" So I met him and then I found out why he was named "Double Duty," because like I said earlier, these guys played double headers like it was nothing! Sometimes they played triple headers or whatever, barnstorming and just not even taking a shower, in and out. So I met a few other guys and then Buck O'Neill came up. You know, Buck O'Neill. I don't know if you've ever met Buck before, but he's an ambassador, man. Every time we went to Kansas City, I was always looking forward to seeing Buck O'Neill. When I got the manager job with the Mets, he was one of the first guys to call me. It gives me goosebumps just to talk about it right now. In the same kind of dialect he said "Willie Randolph. I'm so proud. I'm so proud of you boy!" and I'm sitting there going "Are you kidding me?" I'm shaking or whatever, you know? But I got a chance on that day to meet a lot of these guys and they were like looking at me, glowing at me and I was glowing back at them. But those are the guys that I just love that we're starting to really honor them and give them their props, because these were real historic ballplayers, guys who just can't be forgotten. To this day, I don't just honor the Black Yankees or Black players, but the Tuskegee Airmen. I've got a beautiful hat that I wear throughout Black History Month where I honor the Tuskegee Airmen. A lot of kids don't know about these great, great, great heroes that have been forgotten for World War II. They were on the front line doing amazing things for this country. So I'm a big historian on a lot of different things and baseball, obviously is at the top of the top list.

Q: As you said, I feel like in terms of immortalizing their names, a big breakthrough for that cause was the fact that Major League Baseball now recognizes the Negro Leagues' statistics. How valuable do you feel that is in giving these guys their just due?

Willie Randolph: Yes, just due. That's so true. It's never too late man. Again, these guys, if they were in the big leagues, they would have excelled, so that hard work and love for the the game didn't go in vain. The fact that there were guys that even the big league players like Babe Ruth gave props to--saying "This guy named Josh Gibson over here plays in the Negro Leagues and he hit a ball out of Yankee Stadium." Game recognizes game, as you know, and even back then, even though there was segregation, baseball players know who can play and who's out there. So, I just think that it's fair. I think it's never too late to rectify some of the past injustices. More than anything, when you bring up these names like "Cool Papa" Bell, Josh Gibson and all of these guys, the kids go "Wow, okay, let me check this out," and all of a sudden they open up another world for them and they see... You know, because they all love the game, but you always have to entrench yourself in history, because then you really have a better feeling on where we are today and how far we've come. I just think that Major League Baseball did a great thing by acknowledging that. At least it'll go down in the record books, so their kids and their grandchildren, and their great-grandchildren can feel really proud of grandpa for really being a true pioneer of the game, but also doing something very special to contribute to the game.

Honor the Negro Leagues as the Somerset Patriots suit up as the New York Black Yankees for the second time in franchise history on Saturday, August 2nd!
🎟 | https://t.co/grZY0cJc20 pic.twitter.com/QHbzOu9Kwa

— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) February 1, 2025

Q: Going from the record books, to physically on the field with seeing the Somerset Patriots suiting up as the New York Black Yankees this year and last year... How special is that and how valuable is that for people physically at a baseball game today to see the New York Black Yankees take the field?

Willie Randolph: Just a very proud moment and I thank you guys for having me there. I was able to represent and also see how you can almost feel the people in the stands really kind of feel involved in what what was going on that day. It goes back to what I was saying about the history of the game, because if anything, you'll come away kind of having this feeling of "I want to know more," you know, "I'm curious. I want to see what these guys were really about." So again, it goes back to that whole idea of history, being curious about history and wanting to learn about history. That's what I love about the Black Yankees and those types of days and ceremonies. It opens up another world for people that want to be receptive to it. There's some young kids who probably just want to play the game, but there are a lot of people in the stands that are really curious about it. I think that's the way you develop and the way you move forward with finding out about some of these great players, because if you love the game and its rich history, you've got to love the whole game. Because you think you know it, but then you dig a little deeper, you find out like, "Wow, this really went on and we've come a long way." It's just a good part of educating yourself on the totality of the great game of baseball.

Q: Who are some black players in the sport right now that you've been proud to see impacting the game for the next generation?

Willie Randolph: I mean, I wish there were a few more, but of the guys who are there, I'm a big Mookie Betts fan. I love Mookie. The way he carries himself on and off the field. What I look to more than anything is what they do off the field--their charitable endeavors and doing a lot of things that people really don't know about. That's what I'm really more interested in, is that we're giving back to the neighborhood. What are you doing for kids? Are you putting your resources into helping these kids achieve their dreams? Aaron Judge too, I love Aaron. I know what he's doing. He does his foundation every year. He's just a born leader, another guy that I really think that baseball is in good hands with when you look at him. I can name a few other guys too, I just wish that, again they would step up more, and not that you have to toot your own horn or pat yourself on the back about what you do, but I think people need to know. I think they need to know that you love the game, that it means a lot to you and that the youth of the game means a lot to them too by giving it back. That's just to name a few, but there are a lot of players. Most players do a good job of giving back to the game. For me, those two guys are pretty much at the top of the list.

Q: Thinking about all the contributions that today's players make and obviously the fact that there is still progress to be had, what excites you going forward, looking toward the future of Black players in baseball and what kind of progress also do you think needs to be made?

Willie Randolph: I'm optimistic. Even though I think that we can all do more, I wish that Major League Baseball would start to build some of the academies that they have abroad in the Dominic Republic and Puerto Rico. We have RBI and RBI has done a great job from the beginning. There are new programs that Major League Baseball is in concert with like the Player's Alliance that CC Sabathia and Curtis Granderson involved in, the Hank Aaron Invitational, which I was proud to be a part of a few years back in its inception. You get kids from all over the country going to these unbelievable showcases. They have these tournaments during the All-Star Games, which I think is very important. There's a lot of talent out there. Again, college is something that I think they have to really focus a little bit more on, because a lot of kids are getting signed through college and a lot of kids can't afford to go to college. So I'd like to see more kids coming through that pipeline, but for me, it's just everybody continuing to roll their sleeves up and do their part in giving back to the community, pooling their resources to make it affordable for kids to play the game and just continuing to push forward with that together. Again, RBI has been around for a long time. There's been different programs that have done great things with Major League Baseball and other programs, but I still think that we can do better. I think we all can do better to get these guys interested and really giving them the facilities to hone their skills. Baseball is a very skilled game, even when I played, these kids are just so athletic nowadays. So you can see the difference in where the game has evolved and I think a lot of these kids need to be taught the fundamentals of the game and also have the facilities where they can go and really hone their skills and and really make it easier for them to kind of love the game. When you have the equipment, when you have the teaching, when you have the opportunity to get better, that's when I think that things really take off for these young kids. Sometimes our attention spans with our youth today are not there, so if you keep them engaged, you keep them interested, teach them from a young age, the love of the game, I think that's another big key. Getting young kids and young girls involved. These girls are unbelievable. I'm predicting that in the future there's going to be a league for women just like the WNBA. There's no doubt, when you watch these girls play college softball, they are phenomenal. I love watching college softball. These kids are very fundamental, very skilled, they're stronger than they used to be with the workouts they go through. So I just think that we all need to make sure we continue to make baseball America's pastime, keep it that way and just make sure that these kids involved at a young age, that's the key... Once you embrace the love of the game, then you've got something. It'd be like a Willie Randolph who was ripping and running everyday and didn't stop enough just to grab a tuna fish sandwich and keep going. It had to be something that I really fell in love with, because like I said, it wasn't like when I was a kid, I never had a catch with my dad. I never had a catch with my dad. My dad was a hard worker. I think one of the biggest thing my dad gave me wasn't just how to turn a double play or how to hit a fastball, it was work ethic. That's another big point. Going back to work ethic and loving the game and practicing. Practice, practice, practice. Okay? When you when you practice a lot, you learn to love the game. So I encourage kids also: don't be afraid of hard work and be the best you could be.