By Richard Sandomir
Lenny Randle, an adaptable major league player whose career was marked by extraordinary incidents — including once blowing a ground ball foul, physically confronting his manager on another occasion, and being at bat for the New York Mets during a power outage in New York City — passed away on Sunday at his residence in Murrieta, California. He was 75 years old.
His spouse, Linda Randle, verified his passing but did not specify the cause.
On May 27, 1981, while playing third base for the Seattle Mariners at the Kingdome in Seattle, Randle experienced a memorable moment when Amos Otis of the Kansas City Royals tapped a ground ball that began to roll toward third. As it crawled along in fair territory on artificial turf, Randle, in a surprising act, dropped to all fours and blew on the ball, huffing and puffing until it shifted foul. Home plate umpire Larry McCoy deemed it a foul ball.
However, Jim Frey, the manager of the Royals, protested to the umpires, resulting in McCoy overturning his decision and allowing Otis to advance to first base.
Randle maintained he was merely conversing with the ball.
“I said, ‘Please go foul, go foul,’” he recounted later. “I did not blow on it. I just relied on the power of suggestion.”
By that time, Randle was nearing the conclusion of a winding career that commenced in 1971 with the Washington Senators. (He stayed with the team when it transitioned to Texas, becoming the Texas Rangers.) His career also included stints with the Mets and New York Yankees as well as the Chicago Cubs. Known for his speed and dependability, Randle showcased his skills across second base, third base, shortstop, or center field. As a switch-hitter, he concluded his career with a batting average of .257, hitting 27 home runs and driving in 322 RBIs.
His most productive season came in 1977 with the Mets, where he posted a batting average of .304, alongside five home runs, 27 RBIs, and 33 stolen bases. However, those achievements became overshadowed in baseball history, particularly due to the infamous New York City blackout that year.
On July 13, as the Mets found themselves down 2-1 to the Cubs in the sixth inning at Shea Stadium, Randle stepped up to bat. Just as Cubs pitcher Ray Burris began his windup, the lights abruptly extinguished, leading to chaos.
“I thought, ‘God, I’m done,’” Randle shared with The New York Times. “I seriously believed he was calling me. I thought it would be my final at-bat.”
A decade later, reflecting on the incident, he told Newsday: “I couldn’t discern if he had thrown the ball, so I swung. Then, unsure if I made contact, I dashed off.” When he reached second base, he recalled, Manny Trillo of the Cubs “was there waiting for a hug and kiss.”
In 2015, Rolling Stone magazine labeled Randle as baseball’s version of the “most interesting man in the world.” Several months following, the MLB Network debuted the documentary “Lenny Randle: The Most Interesting Man in Baseball.”
Leonard Schenoff Randle was born on February 12, 1949, in Long Beach, California, and spent his childhood in nearby Compton. His father, Isaac, worked as a longshoreman, while his mother, Ethel Lee (Smith) Randle, was employed in the textile industry.
Randle participated in baseball and football at Centennial High School in Compton before moving on to Arizona State University, where he contributed to the Sun Devils’ 1969 NCAA championship. He also played on the varsity football team. In 1970, he was selected 10th overall by the Senators in the secondary phase of the Major League Baseball draft. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1973.
Randle’s career was marked by continued bizarre occurrences. In 1974, he found himself at bat for the Rangers when Milt Wilcox, a pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, threw the ball behind him, nearly hitting Randle. Following that, after a successful drag bunt down the first base line, Randle retaliated by intentionally running off the base path to collide with Wilcox, igniting a brawl.
During spring training with the Rangers in 1977, after losing the starting second base position to Bump Wills, Randle became enraged, leading him to punch the team’s manager, Frank Lucchesi, three times, which resulted in a triple fracture to his right cheekbone and additional injuries.
“I never anticipated it would escalate to this,” Randle reflected afterward. “I don’t consider myself that type of person.”
The league suspended him for 30 days and imposed a $10,000 fine. In court, he pled no contest to misdemeanor battery, incurred a $1,050 fine, and settled a lawsuit initiated by Lucchesi. Subsequently, Randle was traded to the Mets early in the 1977 season.
The Mets were entering a notably bleak period, concluding the year with only 64 wins and a last-place finish in the National League East. However, Randle distinguished himself that year, with a stellar performance; on July 9, in a matchup against the Montreal Expos, he achieved hits in 13 of his preceding 14 games, boasting a batting average of .310.
In one notable game, he executed two diving catches, one of which prevented a run. In a dramatic moment during the 17th inning, he hit a two-run homer off Will McEnaney into the left field bullpen at Shea, clinching the victory for his team.
Following a difficult 1978, Randle was let go by the Mets during spring training the following season. He spent time in the minor leagues with the San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates before being acquired by the Yankees on August 3, 1979, the day after the tragic death of their All-Star catcher, Thurman Munson, in a plane crash.
Randle played limited games for the Yankees but had a successful tenure with the Cubs in 1980. He concluded his MLB journey with Seattle in 1982.
In addition to his wife, whom he met in elementary school when she was Linda Bradley, Randle is also survived by their sons Bradley, Kumasi, and Ahmad; three grandchildren; four sisters, Becky Osborne, Ruthie Downs, Barbara Edney, and Theresa Price; and two brothers, Ronald Randle and Clyde Williams.
Following his MLB career, Randle continued to pursue baseball in the Italian Baseball League, known as Serie A1. He became the first former major leaguer to play professionally in Italy, leading the league in batting with an impressive .477 average in 1983 while competing for the Nettuno team, which he later managed. Fans affectionately dubbed him “Cappuccino” due to his “hard-hustling play, charismatic swagger, and playful sense of humor,” according to Rolling Stone.
Randle also established a baseball academy, led instructional clinics, spoke five languages, performed stand-up comedy, and produced music with his band, Ballplayers.
“He was like an untamable wind,” said Linda Randle in an interview. “He never exhibited anger, resentment, or malice, always offering something uplifting to you.”
