Leonard Shenoff Randle (born February 12, 1949) is a former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player. He was the first-round pick of the Washington Senators in the secondary phase of the June

1970 Major League Baseball draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1970 Major League Baseball draft. ''*'' Did not sign Other notable Selections ''*'' Did not sign References External links Complete draft list from ''The Basebal ...

, tenth overall.

Early years

Born in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, Randle was captain of both the baseball and football teams at Centennial High School in Los Angeles. He was drafted by the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

in the

1967 Major League Baseball draft The 1967 Major League Baseball draft (or "first-year player draft") recruits amateur baseball players into the American Major League Baseball league. The players selected in 1967 included many talented prospects who later had careers in the prof ...

, but chose instead to attend Arizona State University. Along with playing football and second base for the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

championship

Arizona State Sun Devils baseball The Arizona State Sun Devils baseball program at the Arizona State University (ASU) is part of the Pac-12 Conference. Since it became a member of the Pac-12, it had the highest winning percentage, at .681, of all schools that participate in Di ...

team, Randle graduated with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree.

Washington Senators and Texas Rangers

After a little more than one season in the minors, Randle debuted as a second baseman with the Washington Senators in . He split time between the minors and with the newly renamed and relocated Texas Rangers his first three seasons, spending most of in triple A with the

Spokane Indians The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Color ...

. He had a breakthrough season, when he batted .302 with 26 stolen bases and 65 runs scored splitting time at second base, third base and in the

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball a ...

. He split time in all three positions in as well before being returned to second base in .

1977 punching incident

During spring training in 1977, first round draft choice

Bump Wills Elliott Taylor "Bump" Wills (born July 27, 1952) is an American former professional baseball player, a second baseman in the major leagues for the Texas Rangers (1977–1981) and Chicago Cubs ( 1982). He also played two seasons in Japan for t ...

earned the starting second base job over Randle. On March 28, the Rangers were in Orlando for an exhibition game with the Minnesota Twins. During batting practice an hour before the first pitch, Randle approached Rangers manager

Frank Lucchesi Frank Joseph Lucchesi ( ; April 24, 1927 – June 8, 2019) was an American professional baseball player, manager, and coach. He was the manager of three Major League Baseball (MLB) teams: the Philadelphia Phillies (–); Texas Rangers (–); ...

. Randle claimed that Lucchesi called him a "punk", which Lucchesi denies. Randle punched Lucchesi in the face three times before the altercation was stopped by bystanders. Lucchesi was hospitalized for a week, needing plastic surgery to repair his fractured cheekbone which Randle had broken in three places. He also received bruises to his kidney and back. The Rangers suspended Randle for 30 days without pay and fined him $10,000. On April 26, before the suspension was complete, Texas traded him to the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

for cash and a

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

; Texas later received

Rick Auerbach Frederick Steven Auerbach (born February 15, 1950) is a former Major League Baseball shortstop. Early years Auerbach was born in Woodland Hills, California, to Esther and Jack Auerbach. He was drafted by the California Angels in the 13th round ...

. Randle was charged with assault, and pleaded

no contest ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant neith ...

to battery charges in a Florida court, receiving a $1,050 fine. The Texas Rangers fired Lucchesi on June 21. Lucchesi sued Randle for $200,000. They settled for $20,000.

New York Mets

Randle began his tenure with the Mets playing second base. With opening day

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

Roy Staiger Roy Joseph Staiger (born January 6, 1950) is a former Major League Baseball third baseman. He was part of the first player trade between the New York Mets and New York Yankees that did not also involve a third team. Draft Staiger was born & rais ...

batting only .236 with one

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

and eight

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

, Randle was shifted to third base by

Joe Torre Joseph Paul Torre (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball executive, serving as a special assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball since 2020. He previously served in the capacity of Major League Baseball's (MLB) chief baseb ...

when he replaced Joe Frazier as manager of the team. Randle ended an

extra innings Extra innings is the extension of a baseball or softball game in order to break a tie. Ordinarily, a baseball game consists of nine regulation innings (in softball and high school baseball games there are typically seven innings; in Little Lea ...

marathon with the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

on July 9 at

Shea Stadium Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.

in the seventeenth inning with a

walk off home run In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. For a home run to end the game, it must be hit in the bottom of the final inning of the game and generate enough runs to exceed the opponent's score. Because the opponent will not ...

off

Will McEnaney William Henry McEnaney (February 14, 1952) is a former professional baseball player. He was a left-handed pitcher over parts of six seasons in Major League Baseball (1974–79) with the Cincinnati Reds, Montreal Expos, Pittsburgh Pirates and St. ...

. Four days later, he was at bat for the Mets when the power went out at

Shea Stadium Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.

during the

New York City blackout of 1977 The New York City blackout of 1977 was an electricity blackout that affected most of New York City on July 13–14, 1977. The only unaffected neighborhoods in the city were in southern Queens (including neighborhoods of the Rockaways), which ...

. He commented, "I thought, 'God, I'm gone.' I thought for sure He was calling me. I thought it was my last at‐bat." For the season, Randle batted .304, stole 33 bases and scored 78 runs for the last place Mets. His stats fell off considerably in , when he batted .233 with fourteen stolen bases and 53 runs.

1979 season

The Mets released Randle during spring training in 1979. Shortly afterwards, he signed with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

and was assigned to their triple A Pacific Coast League affiliate in

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

. He was traded along with

Bill Madlock Bill "Mad Dog" Madlock, Jr. (born January 12, 1951) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from 1973 to 1987. Madlock is notable for being a four-time National League b ...

and Dave Roberts from the Giants to the Pittsburgh Pirates for

Al Holland Alfred Willis Holland (born August 16, 1952) is a former professional baseball relief pitcher, who played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, California Angels, and New York Yankees ...

, Ed Whitson and

Fred Breining Fred Lawrence Breining (born November 15, 1955) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1980 through 1985 for the San Francisco Giants and the Montreal Expos. He had been traded along with Ed Whitson and Al Holland from the ...

on June 28, but again was assigned to their triple A affiliate. After 24 games with the

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams ...

, he saw his first major league experience of the season when his contract was purchased by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

. He batted .179 in twenty games as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

with the Yankees.

Seattle Mariners

Randle signed with the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

during spring training in 1980. By the end of spring training, he was dealt to the Chicago Cubs. He batted .276 and tied his career high five home runs as the Cubs' regular third baseman. Following the season, he returned to the Mariners as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. In two seasons with the Mariners, he batted .223 with four home runs backing up second and third base. With the Kansas City Royals visiting the Kingdome on May 27, , Royals

centerfielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...

Amos Otis Amos Joseph Otis (born April 26, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a center fielder from to , most prominently as an integral member of the Kansas City Royals team that won t ...

hit a slow roller down the third base line in the sixth inning. Randle got on his hands and knees and blew the ball foul; the umpires disallowed his action, and ruled it fair. Afterwards, Randle said that there was a "no-blow rule" implemented. He jokingly said, "They won the game, we won the protest." In a 12-year, 1138 game major league career, Randle batted .257 (1016-for-3950) with 27 home runs, 488 runs scored and 322 RBI.

Italian baseball

In , he became the first American major league player to play baseball in Italy. He holds the record for the longest home run in the Italian Serie-A1 league, most home runs and singles hit in a three-game series and the most hits in a three-game series. He won a batting title in Italy with a .477

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

. Following his stint in Italy, he played with the St. Petersburg Pelicans in the

Senior Professional Baseball Association The Senior Professional Baseball Association, referred to commonly as the ''Senior League'', was a winter baseball league based in Florida for players age 35 and over, with a minimum age of 32 for catchers. The league began play in 1989 and had ei ...