Willie Randolph - The Yankee Way: Playing, Coaching, and My Life in Baseball

My life has been blessed by so many loving and supportive people who helped me along the way and without whom this book would not have been possible. I dont know how I wouldve made it without my first coaches and mentors. My very first coach, Gallieo Gally Gonzalez, pushed me to my limits no matter what and taught me how to love the game even more. Frank Tepedino, the groundskeeper at Tilden Houses, gave me my first shot to play on a real field against tough competition. Gordon Williams Sr., my old basketball coach and mentor, helped orchestrate my first contract with the Pirates. Thank you to my high school coach, Herb Abramowicz, who was always there to protect me and never stopped believing I could make it.

When I joined the Pirates and had to change positions to second baseman, Gene Baker, a former Negro League player and my first coach in rookie ball and pro ball, Eddie Napoleon, and Chuck Cartier were all there to help me make the transition. My early mentors on the Yankees, Chris Chambliss, Roy White, and Elston Howard, took me under their wings and taught me what being a Yankee really means. Thanks to Roy Guirdy, my teammate, my cocaptain, and my close friend. Thank you to all the players and coaches I was lucky enough to work with over the years. I would never have made it this far without your support on and off the field.

George Steinbrenner took a chance on me as an inexperienced third-base coach. He always treated me with respect and made me feel a part of this great Yankee family. I wouldnt have been a part of the organization if it hadnt been for George. Gene Michael was instrumental in helping me in the Yankee organization as well. Yogi Berra really welcomed me into the family. He taught me so much about the Yankee tradition and connected me to the great legacy of the team. Joe Torre stood up for me and trusted me as the last holdover from Bucks coaching team. I thank them all and the entire Yankee family for their kindness and support throughout my career.

I want to thank Wayne Coffee for helping me get started on this book. To Ray Negrone and Robert Scholar for all their help on this project. To Gary Brozek, my talented writer, for pulling all the pieces together and putting words to my story. I thank Tom Hopke at HarperCollins for getting me started on this project. Thank you to my editor, Matt Harper, for keeping us all on track and helping me craft my story into a book that I am truly proud of. Thanks also to my agents Ron Schapiro and Michael Moss who looked after me for so long.

I thank my parents for helping me follow my dreams, no matter how unlikely they were. From day one, my mother was there packing up my sandwiches for little league and supporting this kid from Brooklyn who just wanted to play ball. Even when I was homesick in Canada and about ready to retire as a minor leaguer, she never let me quit. My brothers were all athletes in their own right, and they always pushed me, helping me compete at the highest level. To my brother Terry, whos always been a levelheaded confidant whenever I needed one. My little brother Timmy has always been my biggest fan. My sister, Debbie, is the smartest of all of us and Im very proud of the path shes chosen as a schoolteacher. My brother Lamont (Shorty), who supported me in his own way by, among other things, letting me use his head for a whiffle ball batting tee and ended up with seven stitches in the back of his head. Thank you to Gretchen, my beautiful wife, and our four wonderful children, Taniesha, Chantre, Andre, and Ciara, for never giving up on meall of you have been with me throughout this incredible journey and I couldnt have made it without your love and support.

I f you were around during the late 1970safter 1978 to be a little more preciseand you were a baseball fan and a lover of comedy, you no doubt remember these immortal words: Besebol been berry, berry good to me.

Those words were uttered by the legendary Dominican player Chico Escuelaa product not of that island nation but of Saturday Night Live s writers and the comedian Garrett Morris. His character might not have passed the test of later political correctness mandates, but he did get a lot of laughs. As you know, I spent a lot of time around Latin people and ballplayers in all my years in the game, and theres no shortage of a sense of humor there.

I dont know if Mr. Escuela could take two and go to right, or go to his right and come up throwing, but he did speak a truth about my life as well. As I mentioned earlier, I probably would never have left my neighborhood, much less my borough, if it hadnt been for sports, and baseball in particular. Baseball gave me opportunities to go places, do things, and meet people in a way that I could not have dreamed of back then. As a kid, my dreams were confined to what I would do out on the field, but as time passed and those on-field dreams were realized, the off-field adventures made themselves known.

One dream I never had was to be on a television situation comedy. But when the offer came, how could I resist? Ill admit to having a bit of the ham in me. I like attention as much as the next guy, but I normally did my acting-out in front of close friends and my teammates. Being in New York for so much of my career, I had the opportunity to meet a lot of people inside and outside the game, and through a series of connections, I got to meet Kelly Ripa and her husband, Mark Consuelos. Theyre a wonderful couple, and Gretchen and I have become friends with Kelly and Mark.

In 2004 I got a chance to be a guest star on Kellys TV show, Hope and Faith. The plot involved an autographed baseball that went missing and the womens attempt to replace it. Roger Clemens was the one who signed it, and he also appeared in the episode. I admit that putting on makeupor more correctly, having makeup put on meand having other people fuss about my hair and wardrobe was a bit strange, but we were playing ourselves so it wasnt that big of a deal. The good thing was that the show wasnt live or in front of all the people who would eventually see it on TV. I sometimes wish baseball came with the kinds of do-overs, or takes, as they call them in film and TV, that allow you to make up for mistakes really easily. It was a good experience, and I later did another TV show.

I cant say that I was really shy as a kid, and I do like talking with people, so I cant say that baseball allowed me to get out of my shell, since I didnt really have one. That doesnt apply, though, when it comes to another baseball has been good to me moment. Let me clarify a bit here. Life has been good to me as well. One of the proudest moments Ive experienced was watching my daughter Ciara graduate from Fordham University at Rose Hill on May 19, 2007. What made it even more special was that Id been asked to deliver the commencement address at the ceremony. When I was first approached, I was like, Sure, that will be fun. Well, as the time drew nearer for me to get up in front of a group of people and talk about something other than baseball, butterflies the size of baseballs began fluttering in my gut.

I knew that I wanted to say some things about hard work and dedication and all the lessons that my mom and dad had imparted to me, so thats basically what I did. What I didnt know was how much hard work it was going to take not to have my heart jump out of my chest when I looked out at all those people looking back at me. Knowing that Ciara was out there along with Gretchen, my mom, and my dad (who was celebrating his seventy-fifth birthday that day) made things easier and more gratifying. I never went to college, obviously, but the University of Baseball was a pretty good alma mater, I thought. That Fordham was going to confer an honorary degree on me that same day was, well, an honor.