PORT ST. LUCIE – Willie Randolph may not always push the right buttons, no manager does, but I am certain of one thing after watching Randolph manage the Mets the last three years. He cares about the development of his young players.
He cares enough to tell them when they are wrong.
He cares enough to hold them accountable.
He communicates with them, usually face to face.
It is true that Randolph did not pick up the phone when Lastings Milledge was traded to the Nationals, as Milledge told me Sunday, but neither did Milledge. I remember Jack McKeon, months after winning the World Series championship with the Marlins, showing me a handwritten note from Pudge Rodriguez. The All-Star catcher told the oldest manager to ever win a World Series that he wanted to just say thanks for help making him a better ballplayer.
Randolph did not want to talk directly about Milledge and the comment from the ex-Met when he said of Randolph: “We just never communicated.”
Coaches and Mets officials tell me that Milledge was often called into Randolph’s office for talks. Randolph did tell me that he likes Milledge and was hurt by those comments.
Explained Randolph, “I was a young player once, I’ve worked with young players like Derek Jeter, I love the fact that you could hopefully kick-start what could be a very promising and prosperous career.
“As a coach, we feel our work is really about trying to teach the game on and off the field, and hopefully the players will grasp what it means to play the game with respect and to play the game right so to become a winner the right way,” Randolph said. “That’s what it’s all about.
“Players don’t always like to hear what you’ve got to say, but you hope they absorb it,” he added. “But, you still get excited about the prospects of what you give them and if they are open and receptive to them, you pass the game along to the next generation.”
As a young player with the Pirates that’s exactly how Randolph learned. He was taught by one of the greatest team leaders in the history of the game, Willie Stargell. That’s the “We Are Family” Stargell, the player other players affectionately called, “Pops.” He was their baseball father.
“Willie taught me the ropes, and then when I went to the Yankees it was guys like Thurman Munson and Roy White,” Randolph said. “I remember one of the first things Willie said to me when I was traded to the Yankees was, ‘Hey man, when you go over there, teach those guys how to win, the way you carry yourself, the way you play.’
“I was like 22 years old, and said, ‘What are you talking about?’ And Willie told me, ‘You’re from winning.’
“You just hope the kids are receptive to it,” Randolph said. One of those players he helped show how to play the game the right way was Don Mattingly.
“Don Mattingly wanted to learn, he wanted to be the best, so he was open to a lot of what I said to him,” Randolph said. “Whether it’s Derek Jeter or Bernie Williams, those guys want to be winners so they are all ears.”
Now with the Mets he has the chance to develop Jose Reyes, David Wright and other young Mets while trying to win a championship, a delicate balancing act.
“You have to nurture that talent, and that’s exciting to me,” Randolph said, also pointing to the fact that VP of development Tony Bernazard has instituted such a program for Mets minor leaguers. “I love to make an early impression on a young player and you hope those lessons learned early will help springboard them to be part of a champion.
“The early years is when you have to grab them,” Randolph added. “You got to get them before they get caught up in themselves, reading the hype and get into the bad habits. It’s tough love.”
In this Season After the Collapse, it will be fascinating to see how these young Mets develop.