As expected, Randolph does the right thing
Posted: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 3:47 PM
If there were any doubts about what kind of man Willie Randolph is, they were laid to rest this afternoon when he began his weekly report on New York’s WFAN radio by apologizing for “the the unnecessary distraction I caused the last couple of days.”
“I shouldn’t have said the things that I said,” he told Mike Francesa and Chris Russo, hosts of the drive-time “Mike & the Mad Dog Show.” (To listen to the segment, go here.) Randolph didn’t wait to be asked for comment. He simply went straight to the point.
No excuses. No finger-pointing. No mitigating factors. Just, “I shouldn’t have said the things that I said. It was a mistake.”
Earlier today, I had written the same thing in my previous post. I said Randolph should never have brought up racism or the firings of former Jets coach Herm Edwards and Knicks coach Isiah Thomas. This afternoon, Randolph said the same thing.
Francesa offered him an out, asking Randolph if he thought he was off the record when he talked to the columnist who reported the manager’s words. Randolph said he did, but then quickly added that he was mistaken in making any assumptions without first making sure whether the conversation was for publication. In any event, he said, he shouldn’t have said any of it to start with.
“It was frustration,” he said, explaining that the frustration was with the team’s uneven performance and now with how he’s been portrayed in the media.
And as for Al Sharpton’s favorite buzzword – racism – Randolph said: “I never played the race card. Does racism exist? Of course it does. It’s part of society. Do I think it had anything to do with this? No, not at all.”
The segment is just a few minutes, but it’s a handbook on how someone who’s made a mistake should handle the fallout. Just as Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte had come clean earlier this year after his former trainer revealed he had taken HGH, Randolph came clean. He apologized to the team, the fans, the organization, the television network that carries Mets games. And he blamed no one but himself.
He wasn’t trying to save his job. Randolph said that will be determined by how well the team plays and how well he manages it. Instead, he said he had spent two sleepless nights after the column appeared and, after talking to family, friends and his pastor, he knew what he had to do.
And in truth, if Randolph had gone to no one for advice, he still would have done the same thing – the right thing.
That’s the kind of man I always thought he was. That’s the kind of man he is.
