The old feelings die hard, so when Willie Randolph is talking about perhaps the most famous takeout slide in baseball history — the one where Hal McRae crashed into him at second base with a rolling body block that further inflamed an already white-hot rivalry — Randolph gets animated at the memory.
“I was so pissed I threw the ball into their dugout,” Randolph says. “I was livid. I was fired up. I was pissed that (Fred) Patek was able to scoot home with a run.
“I’m not sure I hit anybody. I hope I did. But that was a long time ago.