Card-by-Yankees Card: The 1977 Topps Set, Card #196, Len Randle (Article 38)

by Paul Semendinger

Yes. Lenny Randle was a Yankee. He was a Yankees for all of 20-games in 1979.

In 1979, Lenny Randle played in a grand total of just 20 games.

And it wasn’t all that pretty. He had a -0.5 bWAR. He batted just .179. His slugging percentage that year was .179. (No, that’s not a typo.)

In 1979, Lenny Randle had seven hits. They were all singles.

And, because these types of things are too much fun. These were the pitchers Lenny Randle singled off of in 1979:

1. 
   

Rich Wortham (White Sox) – August 9

1. 
   

Darrell Jackson (Twins) – August 19

1. 
   

Larry Gura (Royals) – August 22

1. 
   

Geoff Zahn (Twins) – August 24

1. 
   

Geoff Zahn (Twins) – August 24 (yes, he had two hits that day)

1. 
   

John Henry Johnson (Rangers) – August 28

1. 
   

Larry Gura (Royals) – August 30

And that was it. Four of his hits came off pitchers who were considered “Yankee killers” in that era (Geoff Zahn and Larry Gura).

After the 1979 season, he was signed by the Seattle Mariners, but he was sold to the Chicago Cubs. He did well that year – batting .276 and appearing in 130 games. He then went to the Mariners where he finished out his career as an American big leaguer in 1982.

Lenny Randle then went to Italy where he became a superstar winning a batting title with a .477 batting average. But that’s not my story. My story was above. For the rest of the Lenny Randle story, you do not want to miss the following: Lenny Randle: SABR Biography Project