Thursday, January 25, 2007

GO WILLIE

I like Willie Randolph.

I liked Willie when I first started venturing out to Shea in 2005. We used to drive out to Shea most times that year, and TBF would always ask leave to listen to the pre-game Manager’s Report as we headed out to Flushing. I didn’t understand much of the baseball talk, but I know enough about marketing and spin and positioning and PR to appreciate his careful responses and his measured tone. And you just need to understand people to appreciate his professionalism and his intelligence.

In 2005, this was our call and response:
MG: “Willie doesn’t look happy.”
TBF: “Willie never looks happy.”

It started as a serious observation, and then turned into a joke. However, in 2006, we had far less occasions to break that particular bit out.

Heck, even my father, who we’ll refer to as Dodgers Fan Dad (DFD for short - and, yo, we’re talking about the o.g. Dodgers, not the Brooklyn Dodgers of Los Angeles) likes Willie. DFD and TBF had a spirited discussion over dinner during the holidays about Mets Managers We Have Known. DFD, of course, maintains that he doesn’t really like baseball much these days, and that he is not a fan of any team—but buttonholes TBF every single time we go to visit to discuss the Mets’ running game, Jose Reyes, or Mr. Willie Randolph. “The players seem to respect him,” DFD declared. 

Speaking as a novice, now that I’ve gotten to know him better, I like Willie Randolph for all the same reasons I originally liked him, but I continue to admire him for his demeanor, his equanimity, his attitude of telling the truth when it needs to be told, for elegantly putting down a dumb question from the media without anyone realizing that’s what he’s doing, for defending his players when he thinks they deserve it - and for putting them in their place firmly, without grandstanding, when they deserve that, too. He’s not a jerk. He’s not a blowhard. He’s not a loudmouth.  I am never embarassed by the manager of my favorite baseball team.

Well, except maybe when TBF is standing up in the mezzanine at Shea yelling, “WILLIE! WHAT ARE YOU *DOING*? WHERE’S THE PINCH RUNNER?!”

Congratulations, WR.