First, this week’s Pop Quiz question came to us courtesy of Gary Mintz of South Huntington:
In the 2005 film “Fever Pitch,” Lindsay (Drew Barrymore) gets hit by a ball in the stands. Name the Orioles hitter who accidentally injures Lindsay.
On Thursday, I spoke with the great Willie Randolph on the phone. Willie is promoting his new book, “The Yankee Way,” which officially arrives in stores on Tuesday.
I received an advance copy and read through it, and much of our conversation centers on content from the book.
KD: I know you’ve been thinking about a book for a long time. Why did you release one now?
WR: I first came up with the idea when I was managing the Mets, after 2006. I thought I’d be there for 10 years, and I wanted to celebrate and share my life. I always think about wanting to touch people and inspire people.
I’m thinking about more about where I come from, the neighborhood. When I go back to the neighborhood, they don’t see [getting out] as reality. I see it in their faces, like they don’t believe my story. It breaks my heart. It might be a longshot, but it can happen. If you dream it, if you want it, if you aspire to get an education, it can happen.
KD: The book has many funny and touching stories. The first one that struck me is when you got pulled over for speeding in South Carolina, just as you were getting called up to the major leagues by the Pirates.
WR: That was nerve-wracking. I can count on one hand the times I was really afraid, when that cop was taking us to this makeshift jail. I thought, ‘For speeding, don’t they give you a ticket and let you go on your way?’ I was not understanding why they were taking me in [to a station house]. I thought about putting on the brakes, going in reverse and getting out of there.
We were driving through this narrow road, with branches hitting the side of my windshield wipers. I said to [wife] Gretchen, ‘Shouldn’t we be somewhere like a municipal building?’ My wife was six or seven months pregnant. [Randolph paid $30 cash for the ticket, and the police let him and his wife go.] I probably could’ve gotten another ticket leaving that place.
KD: There’s a lot in the book about your admiration for, and appreciation of, Thurman Munson.
WR: Yeah. With the Yankees. Roy White was a guy who took me under his wing right away. Chris Chambliss was my first roommate. Chris taught me a lot. And the one that really made me feel I arrived as a Yankee was Thurman. I didn’t realize how much he liked me and wanted to embrace me into the group.
I was 21 years old, a rookie [in 1976]. I wanted to survive. I didn’t know how good I was going to be. I was a little tight, a little intense. [Munson] wanted to loosen me up. The way we did things back in the day, there was a lot of needling each other. It was unmerciful. I didn’t realize what he was trying to do.
It was rookie stuff. He was on me a lot. He used to run me out of the [batting] cage all of the time. I’d be counting my swings, and I’d say, “I’ve still got two more!”
When I stood up to him, I thought he was going to kill me. He said, “You little S.O.B., if I didn’t like you, I wouldn’t mess with you.”
I thought, “Oh, really? OK.” I finally realized, “He does like you.” I knew right then I was part of the team.
Even to this day, I can’t believe he’s gone. I feel like I want to pick up the phone and call Canton, Ohio [Munson’s hometown], like I do with Mickey [Rivers] and Sparky [Lyle] and Roy.
KD: You mentioned Mickey. I was cracking up over your memory of a fight Mickey had with his wife, Cookie. [In the players’ parking lot at the old Yankee Stadium, Cookie Rivers repeatedly rammed her Mercedes into Mickey’s Cadillac.]
WR: The demolition derby! The games started later back then, so some of the fans saw it as they were filtering in. Nowadays, if that happened, nobody would know. That was happening right in the middle of rush hour. When I got there [before the incident started, he saw an agitated Cookie Rivers] — it was a very volatile relationship — I felt, “Something’s not good.” My boy Chris Chambliss left me hanging. He took off. He said, “I’m not hanging around for this.”
Their relationship was that love-hate kind of thing. I grabbed Mickey and finally pulled him out of the car. I said, “Let’s get out of here!”
KD: You mention George Steinbrenner quite often, and you offer both positive and negative memories of him. What’s your overall takeaway of George?
WR: I think about George a lot. I really miss him. When I played for him, he wasn’t the nicest boss. But I actually miss him. I wish he was still here.
Nowadays, athletes need to know that with the responsibility of what they have monetarily, they need to be more accountable. George was one of those owners who always held his players accountable. I wasn’t quite into that group of [Lou] Piniella, [Graig] Nettles and Thurman who were really close to him. We had more of an unspoken thing.
I think George appreciated the fact that I played hard. He was one of the guys who really touted me for the third-base coaching job. He didn’t have to do that. He understood who I was and what I meant. There was a little tit for tat here and there, but I think there was a real solid mutual respect. Now that I’ve had a chance to sit back and reflect, there was a method to his madness.
KD: Regarding your years managing the Mets, I thought you really took the high road in the book. You took full accountability for the collapse in 2007, and you didn’t get into some of the politics that cost you there. It was an admirable decision.
WR: That [season] was tough. I don’t think people realize how devastated I was when we didn’t close the deal at the end of the season. That’s still with me today. I was there for one reason, and that was to win a championship.
I felt it was an honor and a privilege to get that opportunity. It had extra zip to it because I grew up rooting for the Mets.
When I got fired, we were there. We were at the cusp in the fourth year. It really hurt me when everything went down at the end. I might have been the only person on Earth who didn’t know I was getting fired. I thought (when I met with Omar Minaya), I was saving my coaches, [Rick] Peterson and [Tom] Nieto.
I didn’t want to focus on how it went down because to me, that’s not the important thing. I waited a long time for a chance to prove myself. I paid my dues, and I proved to myself that I could do it.
I wanted to be part of a legacy for minorities who come behind me. I wanted to be able to push that forward, to be an example for the Bo Porters [manager of the Houston Astros] and people who come behind me. I didn’t get a chance to see this whole thing come to fruition. We were one pitch from going to the World Series [in 2006].
At the end of the day, there are a lot managers who get hired and fired. It’s never really pleasant. I wanted to talk about what a privilege and honor, how I gave my heart and soul, how it was a learning process for me. You know I went through a lot of stuff behind the scenes, but I didn’t want to mention it. That wasn’t what it was about for me. I wanted to stay real positive.
KD: You divulge in the book that, while you were managing the Mets, you were interviewed by George Mitchell’s investigators about Roger Clemens, Jason Giambi, Chuck Knoblauch and Brian McNamee. How unnerving was that?
WR: It was uncomfortable. These guys come in looking like FBI. I just answered questions honestly. I didn’t know what was behind closed doors. I talked about what I saw and what I knew of. Even though you knew things were going on, you couldn’t say with certainty what was going on. I was OK.
KD: So were you aware of anything that was going on with those guys?
WR: No, not at all. You see guys come back from year to year, and they come back stronger, and you’re thinking, “Hmmm … what kind of vitamin were you taking?” Guys were going oppo, easy oppo. You think, “Wait a second…” With most guys, it was the eye test. A majority of guys did it away from the field.
KD: One last story from the book: You heckled Derek Jeter from the Yankee Stadium seats?
WR: That was so cool. I can die and go to heaven. I would’ve given anything to be a Bleacher Creature. I was always very envious of them. I couldn’t sit in the stands because people would hassle me the whole game, but sitting in the booth or the suite isn’t much fun. So my buddy Mitch Modell let us borrow his tickets [a few rows behind the Yankees dugout]. At first, I yelled at him, “Hey, Jet!” I always called him “Jet.” He didn’t respond, so I thought, “Is he ignoring me? I’m going to find out.”
So I started shouting, “Hey Jeter, you suck!” I blew my cover. Derek turns around, sees me and laughs. He says, “Will-o, you son of a gun.” Then in typical Jeter fashion, he goes up and hits a line-drive double. I’m one of the only Yankees fans who’s heckled Derek Jeter at Yankee Stadium.
KD: You’ve had quite a remarkable career, but it’s clear you’re hoping that it’s not over yet. How much do you still burn to manage again?
WR: It’s been a burning desire to manage since the day I got fired from the Mets. I’m in my third year out of the game, and I have not had any managerial sniffs. Bo Porter wanted me to be his bench coach [in Houston], but that didn’t work out. I did the WBC with Joe [Torre] last year, and this year, the Yankees invited me to camp [as a guest instructor].
I’m just waiting and trying to keep my name and face out there. I would love to take all my experience and pass it on and get a team to the promised land. I would like another shot. Sometimes that will gets big and sometimes it gets small. I just stay positive. Maybe when I’m not expecting it, something will happen.
KD: We’ve got the Subway Series coming up last week. They didn’t have that yet when you played — you had the Mayor’s Trophy Game — but you experienced it as a Yankees coach and Mets manager. What’s your take on it?
WR: I think it’s great. I wish they would stagger it a little bit. Every other year would be nice.
Out of all the rings that I wear, the one that I wear the most is from the 2000 World Series. To me, that was the ultimate World Series, because it was between the crosstown rivals.
I root for both teams. I love David Wright, one of the few guys that are still there.
Growing up as a Mets fan, being a Yankee, being captain of the team, I’m stuck there in the middle. I think it’s great for the fans, but it’s different today. These new players, they don’t get the sense of it. When guys were on the teams consistently, they understood how important it was to be the top dog in town.
The Pop Quiz answer is Miguel Tejada. If you have a tidbit that correlates baseball with popular culture, please send it to me at kdavidoff@nypost.com.