Former New York Yankee Willie Randolph acknowledges the crowd at Yankee Stadium. Photo Credit: NY Daily News
Former New York Yankees player and former New York Mets manager, Willie Randolph checks in with Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on episode #55 of Scoop B Radio. Press Play below to listen!
Yesterday Joe Girardi and the Yankees parted ways. The narrative shifted from the Yanks almost making it to the World Series to goodbye to Joe Girardi.
Immediately, I started thinking: well, who would be next as skipper.
Willie Randolph came to mind because, well, he’s from Brooklyn, he managed the Mets and well, he played for the Yankees and was very successful.
I penned the article in my column at RESPECT Magazine yesterday and to my surprise and honor, it was mentioned on the Michael Kay Show.
Also check out my rebuttal on Scoop B Radio
RESPECT Magazine Managing Editor & Columnist Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson weighs in on the New York Yankees potentially hiring Willie Randolph
While mentioning the article, Don La Greca, an admitted New York Mets fan also said a few things that didn’t sit well with me about the notion of why the Yankees would not hire Randolph:
“Change your thinking.”
“Get your old school thinking out. It’s a new world. Willie Randolph does not have a managerial job because he wants to manage by his gut, he doesn’t want to go by the analytics.”
I don’t know about you, but I’m 6’5 and built like Charles Barkley and when it comes to food, you’re going to trust me or Charles Barkley’s gut when it comes to the most tasteful foods to eat on a road trip.
By the way, if you’re in New York and want Italian, head to Carmine’s and if you want southern head uptown to Harlem and go to Amy Ruth’s.
But I digress.
How am I wrong? I would hire Willie in a second. The question is would the Yankees? The answer is no. They want a middle manager. https://t.co/T2TUuexQU7
— Don La Greca (@DonLagreca) October 27, 2017
Albert Einstein once said: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Willie Randolph standing in front of his Yankees Monument Park plaque. Photo Credit: New York Daily News
As to the point of changing your way of thinking, I take that and raise you this: before taking over as Yankees manager in 2008, Joe Girardi had a 78-84 managerial record with the Florida Marlins.
Two years later he went 89-73 as Yankees skipper and went on to have a tremendous career, even guiding the Bronx Bombers in winning number 27 in 2009, a magical year.
Yeah, perhaps the Yankees changing their way of thinking, in fact would be a grand idea. The Yankees hiring someone with a track record would make sense.
Let’s see:
- 302-253 record managing the Mets.
- Guiding the Mets to being one pitch away from appearing in the World Series.
- Turning the organization around from being a second tier team and winning their division.
Being fired after a rough start and then saying the right things to make it right, too. That’s signs of a leader with humility.
“I got fired in a tough spot,” Willie Randolph told me on Scoop B Radio. “We are hired to be fired and I understand that I was successful and I did a good job and I want to continue.”
Then telling the world that he’d like an opportunity to make it right with another team? That’s bold.
“I would love the opportunity, God willing,” Randolph also said on Scoop B Radio.
Randolph then added:
“I am prepared and ready for it. But right now, it’s been a little bit frustrating that I haven’t had the opportunity yet. But I am going to stay positive and I am going to stay strong and like I said, stay prepared so if the phone does ring; I will be ready to take on the next challenge.”
A former Yankee with more of a winning record than Girardi did when he started with the Yankees? Then you add him being in Queens managing the Mets? He’s also from Brooklyn.
How more New York storybook can that be?
Oh and by the way: I also don’t buy the whole Yankees wanting a middle manager, crap!
I also don’t buy characterization such as:
- Willie is “old school.”
- The game has “passed him by.”
- We need an “analytics guy”
- We don’t need someone who “manages from the gut.”
That’s all coded language and I will leave that there for the very intelligent to dissect.
I don’t know about you, if it wasn’t for old school people who taught me the ropes in life, I wouldn’t be alive today. If it weren’t for old school talented folks in sports like Michael Kay and Don La Greca, I wouldn’t have a model for journalism.
By the same token, Peter Rosenberg genuinely made the intersection between wrestling, mainstream sports and hip hop seamless and he doesn’t get enough credit.
But those are stories for a different day.
The bottom line and the top line too, as my grandmother would say (someone who leads from her gut) is this: trusting your gut and experience are your best teacher.
That’s why your Mom and Dad can teach about the birds and the bees.
Joe Torre led from his gut and so did Joe Girardi That’s also why Willie Randolph should be the next manager of the New York Yankees.
I’m Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson and I approve this message.
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