Joseph Gregory Randa (; born December 18, 1969) is an American former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player. He was primarily a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

during his career. His nickname is " the Joker" due to his resemblance to the

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

character in ''

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

'' and his ever-present smile, especially during his

plate appearance In baseball, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner. This ha ...

s. It was given to him by Tony Muser, the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

during Randa's second tour with the ballclub. This had resulted from Muser having to constantly answer questions about why Randa was always smiling. "I'd tell them that's not a smile, it's his normal look", Muser explained.Spencer, Lyle
"Padres acquire Randa from Reds"
MLB.com, Saturday, July 23, 2005

Early life

Randa attended

Kettle Moraine High School Kettle Moraine High School (KMHS) is a secondary school located in Wales, Wisconsin. It is a part of the Kettle Moraine School District. It is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA CASI). Kettle Moraine was na ...

in Wales, Wisconsin, lettering in football, basketball, baseball, and tennis. Randa's #12 was retired by the Lasers. He is also a member of the Kettle Moraine Laser Trailblazer Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Randa played minor league for the Eugene Emeralds. He made his major league debut in with the

, playing in 34 games. He played the next three seasons as a competitive third baseman with three different teams, hitting .303, .302, and .254 for the Royals,

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

, and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

, respectively. The Royals reacquired Randa prior to the season. Installed as a full-time

for the first time in his career, Randa hit .314 with 16

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 84 RBIs, establishing himself as a run producer in the middle of the order and a steady fielder at third base. In 2003, Randa set the

' team record for the most consecutive errorless games by a third baseman, going 75 games without an error. After the season ended, Randa signed with the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

as a free agent. On

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

, Randa hit the game-winning home run in the bottom of the 9th for Cincinnati in a 7–6 victory. On July 23, , Randa was traded to the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

for pitchers

Justin Germano Justin William Germano (born August 6, 1982) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians. Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Ja ...

and Travis Chick. He was then signed by the Pirates on December 28, 2005, for a one-year contract worth between $3.5 and $4 million. On September 22, Randa broke up Padres pitcher Chris Young's no-hit bid with a pinch-hit home run in the 9th inning. On November 2, , Randa announced his retirement. He batted .284/.339/.426 with 123 HRs and 739 RBIs in 1,522 games over 12 seasons. Randa is one of only three players in Kansas City Royal history to collect six hits in a nine-inning game, which he did on September 9, in the first game of a doubleheader against the

Comerica Park Comerica Park is a baseball stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It has been the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Detroit Tigers since 2000, when the team left Tiger Stadium (Detroit), Tiger Stadium. History Construction Founded in 1894, t ...

; he went 6-for-7 in a 26–5 Royal blowout win. Bob Oliver had collected six hits in a (the franchise's inaugural season) game and Kevin Seitzer in . Randa also scored six runs in that game; as of 2019, he is the most recent Major Leaguer to do so. Randa made his first and only playoff appearance in 2005 with the Padres, hitting .364 in three games.

Post pro career

Randa works with the Royals' minor league teams as a special assistant.

References

External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Randa, Joe 1969 births Living people Major League Baseball third basemen Baseball players from Milwaukee Kansas City Royals players Pittsburgh Pirates players Detroit Tigers players Cincinnati Reds players San Diego Padres players Memphis Chicks players Omaha Royals players Indian River State Pioneers baseball players Tennessee Volunteers baseball players 20th-century American sportsmen

Early life

Professional career

Post pro career

See also

References

External links