Who's feeling Randy?

[Edgy MD]

Lena Dunham, the creator and star of Girls, has released a book of essays. I had no intention of reading it, but then I stumbled into a Sunday Telegraph review, which included this excerpted paragraph.

�Randy is my gynecologist. I have had a number of gynecologists over the years, all talented in their own ways, but Randy is the best. He is an older Jewish man who, before deciding to inspect ladies down there for a living, played for the Mets. He still has the can-do determination of a pitcher on an underdog team and, to my mind, that is exactly the kind of man you want delivering babies or rooting around in your vagina.�

So, this is non-fiction, and therefore, assuming Randy isn't actually "Randy," this should be an easily findable OB/GYN. A visit to the UMDB suggests our good doctor is either Randy Jones, Randy Milligan, Randy Myers, Randy Niemann, Randy Sterling, or Randy Tate. The "older" label points us generally toward the first and the last two. But we know Randy Jones went on to become a baseball executive.

Has Randy Sterling (sounds more likely to be Jewish than Tate) joined Ron Taylor in the small club of Mets-righthanders-turned-physicians?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

That's insane. I'm sure the deets won't add up tho

[Frayed Knot]

I suspect 'Randy' isn't really named Randy

I also suspect, assuming elements of this story are true in the first place, that the OB/GYN is more likely a former minor league player and she either doesn't know the difference or is purposely slanting the facts so as to punch up the story.

I also wonder why people might possibly be interested in reading about Lena Dunham's gynecologist. But seeing as Dunham has become the spokeswoman for an entire generation of American women (or so I've heard) I suppose there's no shortage of people who want to know and that, if this guy's real name ever gets out, he's going to have more business than he could ever possible hope to handle to the point where Fred will have to [crossout:kw9mrbu5]lend[/crossout:kw9mrbu5] sell him one or two of the old turnstiles from Shea just to regulate crowd control in his office.

Edited October 10, 2014 by Guest

[Ceetar]

I suspect the book is fictionalized, as that's sorta her style. A kind of millennial-satire filtered through Brooklyn hipster. I dunno.

So yeah, perhaps it's simply a failed minor leaguer. Perhaps he was just a college pitcher but is always talking about it. who knows.

You'd think it wouldn't be hard to find if it is a 'Randy' though. there are databases of doctors after all.

[Edgy MD]

She's made the claim before apparently.

[seawolf17]

So close, yet not so much.

http://www.texashealth.org/body_secure.cfm?id=2311&action=detail&ref=6277

Me thinks there's a missing detail somewhere.

[Edgy MD]

Former Mets who I wouldn't put it past to masquerade as a gynecologist:

[list:3sg3dsvu][*:3sg3dsvu]Paul LoDuca[/*:m:3sg3dsvu][/list:u:3sg3dsvu]

[Guest d'Kong76]

He still has the can-do determination of a pitcher on an underdog team and, to my mind, that is exactly the kind of man you want ----- rooting around in your vagina.�

Whoomp!! There It Is!

[Ceetar]

shouldn't this thread title be "Who's Randy feeling?"

[Edgy MD]

A quick review helped me find a few former ballplayers who became gynos, including one former big-leaguer, two from the affiliated minors, and one who spent three years in the indy leagues, but none with Mets pedigree that I could find.

Dunham has made the claim a few select times over the years, getting enough mileage out of it that I imagine somebody would have sussed out the identity of the doctor if it was true, but she's used it selectively enough that nobody has bothered exploding the claim if it's untrue.

I imagine somebody will now, though, as her book is on the NYT bestseller list.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Is this a thing on Mets twitter yet?

[Edgy MD]

Just here so far, baby.

For I will decide what is and isn't a thing.

[G-Fafif]

Times picked up on the quote, though not with the investigative zeal (or Zeile) shown here.

If we accept Randy is an adjective/nom-de-plume, then we must turn to Dunham's other clue, Mets of Jewish faith, heritage or at least partial identity.

Since 1962, that group encompasses Joe Ginsberg, Norm Sherry, Greg Goossen, Art Shamsky, Elliott Maddox, Dave Roberts, Shawn Green, David Newhan, Scott Schoeneweis, Ike Davis, Josh Satin.

Ginsberg, Goossen and Roberts are no longer with us (meaning if one of those was the guy, the author needs a new gyno). Nothing in the bio of the 83-year-old Sherry suggests he took up medicine. Have seen and heard enough of and from Shamsky and Maddox post-baseball to discern they didn't become doctors. Nobody else -- even from the perspective of young Lena -- would qualify as "an older Jewish man".

Guessing, as suggested upthread, that if the whole thing isn't a clever fictionalization (or fabrication), the doctor might have said something to her once about going to a tryout camp or being drafted in the 43rd round and that became "my gynecologist played for the Mets."

If by chance it's Schoeneweis, then Ms. Dunham should check her insurance to make sure it covers catastrophic events.

[Ceetar]

G-Fafif wrote: Times picked up on the quote, though not with the investigative zeal (or Zeile) shown here. If we accept Randy is an adjective/nom-de-plume, then we must turn to Dunham's other clue, Mets of Jewish faith, heritage or at least partial identity. Since 1962, that group encompasses Joe Ginsberg, Norm Sherry, Greg Goossen, Art Shamsky, Elliott Maddox, Dave Roberts, Shawn Green, David Newhan, Scott Schoeneweis, Ike Davis, Josh Satin. Ginsberg, Goossen and Roberts are no longer with us (meaning if one of those was the guy, the author needs a new gyno). Nothing in the bio of the 83-year-old Sherry suggests he took up medicine. Have seen and heard enough of and from Shamsky and Maddox post-baseball to discern they didn't become doctors. Nobody else -- even from the perspective of young Lena -- would qualify as "an older Jewish man". Guessing, as suggested upthread, that if the whole thing isn't a clever fictionalization (or fabrication), the doctor might have said something to her once about going to a tryout camp or being drafted in the 43rd round and that became "my gynecologist played for the Mets." If by chance it's Schoeneweis, then Ms. Dunham should check her insurance to make sure it covers catastrophic events.

And if it's Davis or Satin, perhaps she buys really lame pick-up lines in bars?

[G-Fafif]

Ceetar wrote: And if it's Davis or Satin, perhaps she buys really lame pick-up lines in bars?

"Think about it, Hannah. If he really hit 32 home runs in the big leagues last year, then what's he doing in Las Vegas?"

"Maybe he's at a convention."

"For two months?"

"Well, my gynecologist told me..."

"The one who 'played for the Mets'?"

"He said he did."

"And you believe everything a guy tells you?"

"I believe my gynecologist."

"Why? What makes him so believable?"

"I have to. I can't have that kind of intimate relationship with a man who would lie to me. Besides, he told me I gotta believe him -- he invented that!"

"Invented what?"

"That phrase, 'You Gotta Believe,.' He came up with that when he was on the Mets."

"Hannah, that was Tug McGraw."

"Who?"

"Tug McGraw, the Met who came up with 'You Gotta Believe.'"

"Maybe that was my gynecologist's stage name. They have those, don't they?"

[Farmer Ted]

I'm not a gynecologist but I'll gladly take a look.

[Frayed Knot]

From what I understand about her show 'Girls' everyone who's watched it has already had a look.
Personally, I'll pass.

[Guest themetfairy]

Is it possible that a former Major Leaguer who was not a Met became a gynecologist?

[Edgy MD]

The only one I've found is Howdy Groskloss, but he's 108 and dead at the present time.

[Lefty Specialist]

"Maybe that was my gynecologist's stage name. They have those, don't they?"

My wife wanted to know why I was laughing so hard. Perhaps I'll tell her one day.

[Edgy MD]

Randy Mets minor leaguers I've found:

Randy Bobb (1970-1971): catcher
Randy Curtis (1991-1993): outfielder
Randy Farmer (1991-1993): infielder
Randy Fontanez (2011-2014): pitcher, but only 25
Randy Keisler (2004): pitcher, 38
Randy Trapp (1973-1977): third baseman/outfielder, but did pitch one game
Randy Warner: (1992-1996): outfielder/first base

Still searching. That included any minor Met who played for Shelby, St. Lucie, Syracuse, Victoria, Visalia, Wasau, Williamsport, or Winter Haven.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Is the point to prove her wrong or you have to know who
this Metly gynecologist is? I googled Bobb, I know a Robb
and thought it would be funny if there was a Robb Bobb out
there (there are). Randy tragically died young in a car ac-
cident so you can smear him off the list.

[Edgy MD]

d'Kong76 wrote: Is the point to prove her wrong or you have to know who this Metly gynecologist is?

I guess the point would be to connect the dots, and find out perhaps how many dots there are, and so unearth as much Mets color as can possibly be gleaned from this pop culture tidbit.

I mean, one person says "Mike Marshall," the next person isn't generally going to come up with that fantastic day he had against the Pirates that kept the Mets alive for one more day in 1990. The next guy is likely going to say, "dated Belinda Carlisle."

It's just color, and not even color that painted the Marshall page while he was a Met, but Mets color makes the world brighter.

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

"Lena Dunham's Gyno" would make a great Mets fan forum handle.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Randy Rooter, Plumbing and Drain Service

[Edgy MD]

More Metly Minor League Randys:

• Randy Vickers (1966-1967): Third base and first base.
  
• Randy Marshall (1992-1993): PITCHER! but not particularly old
  
• Randy McGilberry (1980): PITCHER! Could conceivably qualify as older to a young woman (currently 60), but not particularly Jewish in nomenclature.
  
• Randy Rogers (1978-1980): Currently a 58-year-old former infielder, but would you send your daughter to a gyno named "Randy Rogers"? I'm not sure I'd send her to a high school with a kid named Randy Rogers in her class.