Lenny Randle, perhaps best known on the field for trying to blow a baseball into foul territory, passed away last week at the age of 75. (He was also notorious for punching out Texas manager Frank Lucchesi in 1974.)
Randle, who played just about ever position except for pitcher and catcher, made his debut with the Washington Senators in 1971, spending most of his 12-year career with the franchise, which moved to Texas the following season. He also played for the Mets, Yankees, Cubs, and Mariners, with whom he had his famous moment in 1981. Overall he hit . 257 with 27 home runs and 322 RBI in 1,138 games.
I was kind of surprised to see there was no book by or about him, since the title of a 2015 MLB documentary was Lenny Randle: The Most Interesting Man in Baseball. According to his bio on the SABR Bio Project site, Randle “learned to speak five languages; wrote, published, and performed a hip-hop song; worked as a stand-up comic for free steaks; was principally responsible for the popularity of baseball in Italy; and ran a baseball academy in California, Italy, and other locales in Europe.” Here he is on the MBL Network discussing his best moments in the game.
Nothing yet in The New York Times obits section but here’s one from the Sports Illustrated website.
is available on Amazon.com,
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