Willie races to retreat

Willie Randolph backtracked from his accusations of racism yesterday but didn't back down from his feud with the Mets' own TV network.Under siege for his passive ways as the Mets struggled this season, Randolph suggested in an interview published Monday in the Bergen Record that racism might be fueling the animosity. Randolph also criticized SNY in the interview, saying the network - whose majority owner is the Mets organization - intentionally feeds the perception he is too unemotional by not showing him interacting with players in the dugout.

Randolph addressed the racism angle first with reporters here yesterday morning, changing his story to say he was merely being "tongue in cheek" when talking with the Bergen reporter."I think I mentioned to him about it feeling almost racial or whatever, but that was pretty much . . . a tongue-in-cheek kind of reaction to what I've been feeling," Randolph said. "That's not to say anybody is racist or that this is racial. [The reporter] and I were just chit-chatting." Continue