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Baseball Primer Newsblog— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Newberg-Old Story…Lenny Randle.
Randle threatened to walk out of camp. Generally easygoing manager Frank Lucchesi was incensed. “It’s just too damn bad somebody stopped him from leaving,” he told a group of reporters. “I’m tired of these punks saying play me or trade me. Anyone who makes $80,000 a year and gripes and moans all spring is not going to get a tear out of me.”
Lucchesi insisted that the writers print what he said. They complied.
Randle was already upset about losing his job to an unproven rookie. Being called out like that by his skipper was more than he could take.
On March 28, 1977—the day that the new issue of Sports Illustrated featured Wills on the cover—Texas had traveled to Orlando for a spring training game against the Twins. An hour before the first pitch, Randle walked up to Lucchesi during Rangers batting practice and said he wanted to talk to the 49-year-old, who was still in street clothes. After a few words were exchanged, Randle punched Lucchesi in the face, landing several more blows as the manager fell to the ground.
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1. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: April 26, 2007 at 03:54 PM (#2346339)Wow, that has to rank up there with the Clint Hurdle cover in terms of pure awesomeness.
Also, they had an Italian baseball league in the early 80s?
Yes. My boss played for Milan in this league.
Did Lucchesi have to pay his own hospital bill?
I remember that SI issue, specifically how the photo showed his glove with:
WILLS
BUMP
written that way in marker on the pinky. I wrote my name on my glove the same way.
(and vice-versa)
likewise Candy Maldonado and Carmello Martinez
(and Ron Hansen and Russ Snyder)
Retrosheet says no. Three way tie for third, four games behind Chicago. They won their first four games of the year, lost their next four, and were never more than three games above or below .500 until July. Very consistent team until they got hot in late July.
I don't recall a huge uproar over Randall -- likely because there were no 24/7 cable outlets to stoke outrage.
Sprewell probably would have been lynched if he had put PJ in the hospital for a week.
So did I, I also remembered thinking that what Sprewell did wasn't half as bad as what Randle did...
They still do. I think it's the best league in europe after the Netherlands.
I had not thought of Hughes Stadium in years. I attended a couple of Solons games in the mid-70's (I was in the USAF then, stationed at Travis AFB). I don't know about being the worst stadium in the history of AAA baseball, but I do remember that any batter was a threat to hit one into or over the net. Visiting managers probably hated the place most of all because it likely turned all of their RHBs into dead pull hitters. Not a good place to play baseball at all.
Damned dirty Retrosheet! Actually, I have Jmac66's Disease: I get Pat Corrales and Frank Lucchesi mixed up because they were both Phillies managers and Lucchesi was in a situation with a similar outcome to Corrales's. Corrales was fired 7/17/83 with the Phils in a virtual tie for first. Paul Owens then took the flag for them.
And it led me to wonder if there wasn't already bad blood between Luchessi and him before the beatdown. What Luchessi said was so foolishly out of character that it seemed like he was hoping to provoke Randle. 99% of managers would say something like "well, it's a long season and you never know what's gonna happen so I'm glad Lenny wants to play..." kind of thing instead of that nonsense. When the civil suit settlement was so small I figured the bad blood was exposed.
The funniest part of it all was that Bump Wills was such a bust and Randle outlasted him by years.
Why exactly was Randle not immediately banned for life? Having players beating up their managers is a bad thing, yes?
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