Lenny Randle

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Lenny Randle (b. February 12, 1949 in Long Beach, California^[1]) is a retired professional baseball player.

In 1971, Randle played for the Washington Senators, in 1972 through 1976, he played for the Texas Rangers, the New York Mets from 1977 to 1978, the New York Yankees in 1979, the Chicago Cubs in 1980, and finally the Seattle Mariners from 1981 to 1982.

Randle's career average was .257,^[2] and he played 7 different positions.

Known as a versatile player, Randle's legacy was mostly highlighted for several controversial events in his long baseball career, such as punching his Rangers manager, Frank Lucchesi, in 1977, after Lucchesi gave the second base position on the team to rookie Bump Wills. ^[3] Randle was charged with assault, and during the interim of this incident, Lucchesi lost his job.^[4] Lucchesi blamed Randle for the firing, and sued him for $200,000.^[5]

Randle was at bat for the Mets when the power went out at Shea Stadium as part of the New York City blackout of 1977.

In a humorous situation, in the Kingdome in Seattle in 1981 (while playing third base for the Mariners), Randle got down on all fours to try to huff and puff a slow-rolling ball into foul territory.^[6]