Randy Tate: Mid Seventies Mets Pitcher (1975)

Randall Lee Tate was born October 23, 1952, in Florence, Alabama. Randy was a star athlete in his hometown high school, later attending Calhoun Community College in Decatur, Georgia. The tall six-foot three right hander was drafted by the New York Mets in the fifth round of the 1972 draft.

His first season with the Marion Mets was tough, as the 19-year-old went 0-9 having control issues which plagued his career. In 1973 at A ball Pompano Beach, he went 4-10, following up in 1974 going 9-11 between A ball & AA. 

Teammate Mike Bruhert taught him how to throw his fast ball differently than the way he was throwing & things got better for him. Tate even threw a seven inning no hitter at AA that season.

He was promoted to AAA Tidewater &did well enough to join the Mets on a 1974 winter tour of Japan. During that series he impressed Manager Yogi Berra so much that he was added to the Mets 1975 pitching staff.

 Tate was expected to do a lot for the Mets and was thrown into the 1975 starting rotation as an inexperienced rookie.

Mets Career: Tate debuted on April 14th, 1975, at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia in the fifth game of the season. In his first start he pitched eight innings against the Phillies, allowing three runs on three hits earning no decision. 

On April 20th in his first start at Shea, got his first victory, beating the Chicago Cubs 4-3 led by a Dave Kingman two run HR.

Tate lost his next three decisions & six of his next seven by the end of June. On June 28th he had his best day, allowing two runs on four hits as he pitched a complete game victory against Philadelphia at Shea Stadium.

No Hit Bid: On August 4th, at Shea Stadium, Tate had a no hitter going into the 8th inning with a 3-0 lead over the Montreal Expos. After striking out Jose Morales, pinch hitter Jim Lyttle spoiled the bid with a base hit to left field. 

Tate then walked Pepe Mangual. Manager Yogi Berra came to the mound but stayed with Tate. He then struck out Jum Dwyer. With two outs, rookie Gary Carter singled to drive in the first run. Former Met Mike Jorgensen then blasted a three run HR & Tate wound end up with a 4-3 loss. 

Quotes- Yogi Berra: "I was gonna give him one more batter. What are the odds of a guy hitting a HR like that? Ah, dont blame the kid for the HR, blame me if you're gonna blame someone".

Tates biggest problem was his control & getting his curve ball over for strikes. He received support from young catcher John Stearns & his manager Berra, but it didn't work out. Berra was fired after the August 4th game & interim manager Roy McMillan put him in the bullpen.

In his next start he pitched well allowing two runs, but the Dodgers Doug Rau beat the Mets 4-2 with Tate getting no decision. He lost his next starts falling to 4-12.

On August 26th he earned his final career victory, pitching a two-run complete game win at San
Diego.

After the big leagues: In 1976 he was back at AAA Tidewater but fell to 7-14 with a 6.20 ERA. He was demoted down to A ball where he improved to 11-8 with a 3.57 ERA at Lynchburg. 

In 1978 he had one last shot in the Pittsburgh Pirate organization but tore his rotator cuff which ended his career at age 26. Overall, in 23 career games he went 5-13 with 99 strikeouts 86 walks and a 4.45 ERA.

Trivia: Randy goes down in history as being the only player to ever record 47 plate appearances and never get a hit. He is one of the worst hitting pitchers ever, going 0-41 with one walk. 

The one time he got on base he tried to steal a base, getting thrown out at second.

Retirement: Tate worked as a welder after his baseball career. At first, he wanted nothing to do with baseball when his career ended, but his attitude changed later in life.

Family: Randy & his wife Evelyn had one daughter.

Passing: In March of 2021, Tate passed away in Muscle Shoals, Alabama due to complications of Covid-19. He was 68 years old.