TAMPA — Willie Randolph managed the Mets and Carlos Beltran played right field. Saturday, they spoke glowingly of Shannon Forde, a member of the club’s public relations department who died Saturday night at 44 following a long battle with breast cancer.
“She was one of those real gentle spirits who loved the Mets and loved baseball,’’ said Randolph, who managed the team from 2005 to the middle of 2008. “She made my job so much easier. I didn’t have to worry about anything. She was always smiling.’’
Randolph and Beltran remembered Forde as someone who refused to give into cancer.