1987 Profile: Willie Randolph

1987 AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STAR
"Co-captain with Ron Guidry. Randolph became the club's all-time leader at games played at second base with 1,447. With 232 stolen bases, he needs one to tie Roy White for second on the all-time Yankee list.
He finished strong after an unusually shaky first half. Guilty of a team high 15 errors in the first 81 games, the four-time All-Star still turns the double play better than anyone.
Willie netted nine game-winning RBI, including one in each of his last two starts, and his 50 RBI represented his best total since he had 61 in 1979. He enjoyed 33 multiple-hit games.
Born in Holly Hill, South Carolina, Randolph grew up in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York. A seventh round draft choice of Pittsburgh in 1972, the Yankees acquired him from Pittsburgh with pitchers Ken Brett and Dock Ellis for pitcher Doc Medich in December 1975.
Willie received the James P. Dawson Award as the top rookie in Yankee camp in 1976."

-Tom Pedulla, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1987 Edition

"In their long, rich history, the Yankees have had their share of outstanding second basemen: Tony Lazzeri, Joe Gordon, Snuffy Stirnweiss, Billy Martin, Bobby Richardson- and currently, eleven-year veteran Willie Randolph.
In 1986, Randolph became the Yankees' all-time leader in games played at second base, surpassing former leader Tony Lazzeri. On his way to surpassing that record, however, Randolph has battled nagging injuries. Since joining the Yankees in 1976, Willie has sustained speed-sapping injuries to both knees, several pulled muscles in his legs, and injuries to his right shoulder and left hip. Nevertheless, he has carried on courageously, attending to the keystone in spite of physical adversity. Now Randolph not only ranks first in games played among Bomber second sackers, but 14th on the Yankees' all-time list in games played with 1,464.
Actually, Randolph is steadily moving higher on several all-time Yankee lists. He has 232 stolen bases, owing largely to four 30-plus seasons, putting him just behind Hal Chase (248) and Roy White (233). And while teammate Rickey Henderson is also closing in quickly on Chase's mark, Randolph might, at least for a time, become the club record holder during the 1987 campaign.
Randolph in 1986 passed Wally Pipp- the guy who got beaned and took the aspirin, thus losing his job to Lou Gehrig- and Phil Rizzuto, the inimitable Scooter, in runs scored with 888, moving into 13th place on the all-time club list. Willie also moved into 14th place in at-bats (5,450), 15th in hits (1,501) and 17th in doubles (215). His triples (55) broke a 20th place tie with Roger Peckinpaugh. Along the way, Randolph also passed such former Yankee greats as Gil McDougald, Hank Bauer, Bobby Richardson, Thurman Munson, Earle Combs, Red Rolfe, Graig Nettles and Elston Howard.
Longevity has helped, but it has been consistency, primarily, that has allowed Randolph to climb over these stars. So consistent he has been that his contributions have gone virtually unnoticed, taken for granted. While the Yankees have undergone wholesale changes over the past decade, Willie Randolph, who avoids controversy like the plague, has been the one constant among Pinstriped variables.
Randolph, born in the sleepy town of Holly Hill, South Carolina and reared in the rough-and-tumble Brownsville section of Brooklyn, where he played ball at Tilden High School, broke into professional baseball in the Pittsburgh organization in 1972. In 1975, after hitting .339 for Charleston to lead the International League, he was called up to the Pirates for the final weeks of the season.
Then on December 11, 1975, a glorious day in Yankees history, Randolph and pitchers Dock Ellis and Ken Brett were traded to New York for pitcher Doc Medich. Deal of deals! Ellis won 17 games in 1976 and Randolph filled a hole on the right side of the Yankee infield that had been unpatched since the heyday of Bobby Richardson.
The Yankees who gathered for spring training in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1976 were under pressure. Things had finally brightened for the club that hadn't won an American League championship since 1964 and the appetite for top dog status had been whetted. The pressure was perhaps hottest for twenty-one-year-old Willie Randolph. Sure the scouts had raved about his superior speed and slick fielding, but could he cut the mustard on the most scrutinized team in America?
Randolph won the James P. Dawson Award as the most promising rookie in camp and beat out veteran Sandy Alomar to earn the starting job at second base. He won the job; it wasn't given to him.
'I've always had a strong mental capacity,' Willie says, 'so I just learned to deal with the pressure of being the promising newcomer. I didn't feel like I had to produce, but I worked hard. Right from spring training I had to work to win the position from Alomar. The Yankees gave me confidence when they traded for me. I figured they traded for me because they wanted me to be their second baseman, but I never took anything for granted.'
The 1976 Yankees DID win the pennant, and largely because Willie Randolph was stationed at second base. Over the next decade- and though several more Yankees championships- Randolph remained the glue of the Yankees infield. Willie is linked with Kansas City's Frank White and Detroit's Lou Whitaker as the cream of all-around second basemen in the American League.
He has great range. He has quick hands and feet. He makes all the smart plays. And he turns the double play beautifully, although the since the departure of shortstop Bucky Dent- and shortstop has been a Yankees problem position ever since Dent was traded- Willie has had to work with a number of shortstops, most of them mediocre.
But Randolph still makes the pivot at second with the best of them. 'He played like his usual self at second base,' Yankees manager Lou Piniella said of Willie's 1986 performance. 'He turned the double play better than anyone in baseball as far as I'm concerned.'
Offensively, Randolph is a versatile threat who can ably fit into several slots of the batting order. In fact, prior to the acquisition of Rickey Henderson- who is now considered the ultimate leadoff man in baseball- Randolph proved to be an excellent leadoff hitter. Willie, who has good power to right-center, has always been consistent at the plate; just twice in his eleven Yankee seasons has he failed to bat at least .270, and his only real off year was the strike-curtailed 1981 season when he slumped to .232.
And while Randolph's batting average has never been superb- he has never hit better than .294- he always ends up among the league leaders in on-base average. His strike zone judgement is unparalleled in the game. Randolph consistently walks far more than he strikes out, and he is usually among the league leaders in drawing bases on balls. In 1980 he walked 119 times to lead the American League, and though he is not the Mickey Mantle-type power hitter that pitchers fear, he has drawn the most Yankee walks in a season since Mantle's 122 in 1962.
In the Yankees' 1977 World Championship season, Mickey Rivers was the leadoff man, and a fine one, hitting .326. But Rivers, who had 184 hits in 585 at-bats, drew only 18 walks. Randolph hit .274 (151-for-551), yet he drew 64 free passes. In essence, Willie was just as valuable a table setter as Marvelous Mickey. Randolph got on base, by hit or by walk, more often than Mick the Quick, 215 times to 202.
Every true Yankees fan knows that it was Willie's sacrifice fly that drove in the winning run in the Yanks' dramatic ninth inning rally against Kansas City in the finale of the American League Championship Series of 1977. And every true Yankees fan remembers Randolph's game-winning home run against Oakland in the finale of the 1981 playoffs. Randolph gets the big hit when it really counts.
Snuffy Stirnweiss and Billy Martin were great Yankee second basemen, but the best three Yankee second sackers prior to Randolph were Tony Lazzeri, Joe Gordon and Bobby Richardson. The Yankees were badly in need of a second baseman in 1926 when Lazzeri hooked up with them. Just the previous year Lazzeri had made 222 RBI in a 200-game Pacific Coast League season.
Tough-as-nails Tony played between two less confident men (at the time at least), first baseman Lou Gehrig and shortstop Mark Koenig, and commanded the infield. No one in baseball ever had better instincts for the game than Tony Lazzeri.
Lazzeri was a leader, a solid fielder and the best right-handed hitter in the famed Murderers Row. He hit .292 lifetime, with a high of .354 in 1929. He produced seven seasons of 100-plus RBI, and in a 1936 game he drove in 11 runs! Lazzeri was undoubtedly one of the greatest second basemen, if not the greatest, next to Rogers Hornsby, of all time- and why he isn't in the Hall of Fame is one of baseball's intriguing mysteries.
Joe Gordon succeeded Lazzeri at the position in 1938. Gordon was acrobatic and a wizard at turning the double play. He had lightning-quick hands, and he put a blanket over the whole right side of the Yankees infield.
Gordon, who came to the Yankees out of the University of Oregon, left after the 1946 season when the Yankees traded him to Cleveland for pitcher Allie Reynolds. It was a trade that helped both teams. Gordon continued as the premier second baseman in the league for some time, finishing his career with 253 home runs (153 with the Yankees, 100 with Cleveland), the most ever for an American League second baseman. He hit 30 homers for the Yankees in 1940, and two years later, when he batted .322, was the league's Most Valuable Player.
Bobby Richardson, 5'9", boyish-looking and exceedingly religious, had the heart of a lion when the chips were down. Brooks Robinson once said that Richardson was the best clutch hitter he ever saw. Take, for example, Richardson's performance in the 1960 World Series when he set a record with 12 RBI, or his exploits in the 1964 World Series when he made 13 hits.
Richardson, a Yankee from 1955 through 1966, was a solid hitter who twice batted over .300 and who in 1962 gathered 209 hits. But his career average of .266 isn't in Randolph's league, and he never drew the walks that Willie draws.
Where Richardson really helped the Yankees was in the field. He won five consecutive Gold Gloves from 1961 though 1965. One of the most beautiful things to witness in sports was to watch Richardson turning a double play with Tony Kubek. Bobby would field a grounder, his feet planted, then shift to his right, his right knee grazing the ground as he'd fire a perfect throw to Kubek, who would cross the bag, accepting the throw, and snap it to first to complete the twin killing.
Ten years after South Carolinian Richardson left the Yankee scene, another South Carolina native, Willie Randolph, took over at second. Like Lazzeri, Gordon and Richardson before him, Randolph became a leader. Not in words, but in actions. He has great concentration. He leads in a quiet, businesslike way. He has always handled himself- and his fame- well.
In 1986 Willie Randolph and Ron Guidry became co-captains of the Yankees, only the seventh and eighth captains in Yankees history. Randolph, who has worn the Pinstripes through almost his entire big league career, is now the sole survivor of that inspirational collection of 1976 Yankees, the team that put the franchise back on the map. The key to that pennant was Randolph; the Yankees were waiting for a top-flight second baseman- for a top-flight professional. Willie filled the bill.
Randolph was a quiet kid back in 1976. He was almost invisible among the big guys- Munson, Nettles, Chambliss, Lyle, Hunter, White and Rivers. 'I've become a little more vocal over the years,' said Randolph in 1986. 'But,' he added characteristically, 'I try to do most of my talking on the field.'
On the field, Randolph has proven that he is in the same league as all the great Yankee second basemen before him. Randolph will be thirty-three this season; let's hope that he will get the chance to savor yet another Yankees World Championship."

-The New York Yankees Official 1987 Yearbook

"1986 was a typical Randolph season in some regards, atypical in others. Typical in that he was third in the American League with 94 walks and 313 putouts (among second basemen) and sixth with a .393 on-base percentage; atypical in that he had a career high 20 errors.
On the all-time Yankee lists, Randolph moved from 19th to 14th with 1,464 games played; 18th to 14th with 5,450 at-bats; 15th to 13th with 888 runs; 19th to 15th with 1,501 hits; and is now 17th on the doubles list with 215 and 20th on the triples list with 55. 15 stolen bases in '86 runs his career total to 232, needing one to tie Roy White for second on that Yankee list.
Willie was named co-captain with Ron Guidry on March 4. He opened the season by hitting safely in his first 15 games (20-for-61, .328 batting average) and reached base safely in his first 28 games, a string broken on May 11 at Texas. He recorded his 5,000th at-bat as a Yankee on April 20 at Milwaukee and ended April hitting .319. Willie had an eight-game hitting streak May 18-26 (13-for-29, .448 BA), raising his overall batting average from .296 to .325, and ended May hitting .310.
He hit his first home run on June 22 at Toronto off Jimmy Key. He slumped at the plate in June, going 21-for-99 (.212 BA), lowering his overall average to .273 by month's end. He went 20 games, June 29-July 21, without an extra-base hit, yet had his third career four-walk game on July 3 against Detroit.
Willie's mid-season slide continued into July (19-for-87, .218 BA), with his overall average at .260 on July 31. His season average bottomed out on July 20, having dropped to .256.
From July 21 through the end of the season, Willie hit .317 (52-for-164), raising his overall average to .276. He hit one home run in his first 108 games, then hit four in his last 33. On September 13 Willie played in his 1,447th game at second base for the Yankees, breaking Tony Lazzeri's record of 1,446. He recorded his 1,500th career hit on September 22 at Baltimore, homering off Scott McGregor.
Willie had one at-bat as a designated hitter in '86 and was 1-for-2 with a triple as a pinch hitter. He led all Yankee infielders with 381 assists. He hit .259 with runners in scoring position, his nine game winning RBI were a career high, and his 50 RBI were the most since his career high of 61 in 1979.
One of the most sought after infield prospects of the mid-70s, Willie is able to swing a good bat, draw walks and steal bases. He impressed the Yankees during spring training of 1975 when the Yankees and Pirates played six games. He was leading the International league in hitting that year when he was recalled by the Pirates in July. Willie saw little action with Pittsburgh as Rennie Stennett was having a fine year, but played winter ball in Venezuela.
In 1976 Willie was named the James P. Dawson Award winner as the outstanding Yankee rookie in the spring training. The first rookie ever listed on an All-Star ballot, he was named to the AL All-Star team (although replaced due to injury) and to the Topps Rookie All-Star team. His 37 stolen bases were just four shy of the Yankee record for a rookie set by Bert Daniels in 1910. Willie had minor surgery during the off-season due to an injury to his right knee, first suffered on July 6, and was also bothered by a sore right shoulder.
Willie was voted to the American League All-Star team in 1977, playing all nine innings, and set the record for most assists by a second baseman with six. He had two nine-game hitting streaks. Willie's best effort came on May 19 against Baltimore, going 4-for-4 and scoring four runs. He missed a few games with a bruised right thumb and a sore right knee.
He was second in the league in putouts, chances and double plays and third in assists for a second baseman. He tied for sixth in the AL with 11 triples and hit .305 with runners on base. Willie was voted to the 1977 AP, UPI and Sporting News postseason All-Star teams.
Bothered by injuries in 1978, mainly a bruised right knee and a pulled left hamstring, Willie finished fifth in the AL with a .385 on-base percentage and led the Yankees with 82 walks. He went 8-for-16 with six runs scored during New York's four-game sweep of Boston in September, including a five-RBI game on September 7. He went 4-for-4 at Cleveland on September 23. He pulled his left hamstring beating out an infield single on September 29 against the Indians, ending his '78 season and keeping him out of the playoffs and World Series. He hit .320 with runners on base that year and made both the AP and UPI postseason all-star teams.
1979 was an injury-free year for Willie. He led the club in games, at-bats, runs, triples, walks and stolen bases while tying for the club lead in hits, and had three four-hit games. He tied for third in the AL with 13 triples, the most by a Yankee since Tommy Henrich hit 14 in 1948, was fourth in the AL with 95 walks, 10th with 32 stolen bases, 13th with 98 runs and 15th with a .376 on-base percentage. Willie led AL second basemen with 355 putouts, 478 assists, 846 total chances and 128 double plays.
Willie led the American League with 119 walks in 1980, the most by a Yankee since Mickey Mantle's 122 in 1962, and his .429 on-base percentage was second in the AL. He led the Yankees, and was eighth in the league, with 30 stolen bases.
He started slowly that year, hitting .128 on April 19, but hit .300 the rest of the way. Willie had a 13-game hitting streak, May 14-28, matching Reggie Jackson for the longest by a Yankee, and had two four-hit games. He stole three bases on June 11 at California, and finished the season by walking in his last 15 games. He hit .385 in the ALCS, second to Bob Watson, and was named to the UPI and Sporting News All-Star teams and won the Sporting News Silver Bat award for AL second basemen.
Willie's 59 runs in 1981 were eighth in the AL, his 57 walks were ninth and his 14 stolen bases were 15th. He was voted to his fourth AL All-Star team. He missed eight games in late August and additional games in September with a groin pull. His solo home run in the third game of the ALCS was the game winner, clinching the American League pennant.
He had a good start in 1982, hitting in his first nine games and ending April with a .348 batting average. He kept his average over .300 through June 9 and ended the season strongly, hitting .398 in his last 23 games. Willie led the Yankees in games, at-bats, runs, hits and walks.
Hampered by injuries in 1983, Willie played in his lowest number of games since joining the Yankees (excluding the strike season). He was on the disabled list from June 27 to July 12 with a pulled hamstring and reinjured himself, going back on the DL from July 13 to August 5. Willie had his 1,000th hit as a Yankee on August 5 against Detroit and had a 16-game hitting streak from September 6 to September 23, the longest of the year by a Yankee.
Willie hit a two-run homer in the 1984 Yankee Stadium opener. He had a pair of nine-game hitting streaks, May 9-19 and June 13-21, and flirted with a .300 batting average all season. Consistent, he kept his average between .290 and .310 from June 11 to September 25. Willie stole the 200th base of his Yankee career on July 16 at Texas. He tied for sixth with Rickey Henderson in the AL with 86 walks and had an impressive .377 on-base percentage.
Among AL second basemen in 1985, Willie was second with 739 total chances and 104 double plays and third with 425 assists. He had a 10-game hitting streak, June 30-July 11. He scored four runs on July 27 at Texas, had three doubles on July 30 at Cleveland and had first career two-home run game on September 5 at Oakland, going 4-for-4. He had his 5,000th career at-bat on September 29 against Baltimore and hit his 200th career double on October 3 off Milwaukee's Tim Leary. His .382 on-base percentage was sixth in the AL, 14th in the majors, and his 85 walks tied for seventh in the AL, 13th in the majors. Willie received the Good Guy Award from the New York Press Photographers Association.
Although born in South Carolina, Willie's family moved to the Brownsville section of Brooklyn when he was an infant. He played stickball in the streets and fields of Canarsie and baseball at Tilden High School. The oldest of five children, Willie has three brothers and a sister. His brother Terry was an 11th round draft choice of the Green Bay Packers in 1977, and also played for the Jets."

-1987 New York Yankees Information Guide