Billy Martin

For musicians of this name, see Billy Martin (musician)

Alfred Manuel "Billy" Martin, (May 16, 1928 – December 25, 1989), was a former Major League Baseball player and manager, including being the manager of the New York Yankees five different times and won two league championships and one World Series as manager of them.

As a manager, Martin was known for being able to win with any team, and for arguing animatedly with umpires, including a widely parodied routine where he kicked dust on their feet, but he was criticized for not getting along with veteran players, burning out young pitchers, and drinking too heavily.

Early Life

Born and raised in Berkeley, California, Martin was born to a father of Portuguese descent and a mother of Italian ancestry, who separated after Martin was born. Martin was raised by his mother, who doted on her son, frequently calling him "bello," or "beautiful" in Italian. This was the origin of his nickname "Billy." Martin signed a minor league contract with the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League, playing for that team in 1948 and 1949. He is a graduate of Berkeley High School, California.

Playing Career

He started his major league career in 1950 as a second baseman for the Yankees. He was the MVP of the 1953 World Series, and retired in 1961 with a career batting average of .257. As a player, Martin was known for making clutch plays and partying hard. The Yankees traded him in 1957, a month after a group of Yankees met at the Copacabana to celebrate Martin's 29th birthday. The party ended in a brawl, and general manager George Weiss, believing Martin's nightlife was a bad influence on teammates Whitey Ford and Mickey Mantle, sent him to the Kansas City Athletics.

On August 4, 1960, Martin, then playing for the Cincinnati Reds, charged the mound in the second inning after receiving a brushback pitch from Chicago Cubs pitcher Jim Brewer. Martin threw his bat at Brewer, who picked up the bat and started to hand it to Martin as he approached. Martin punched Brewer in the right eye. Brewer was hospitalized for two months and Martin served a five-day suspension. The Cubs sued Martin for $1 million for the loss of Brewer's services. While the Cubs dropped their case, Brewer pursued his, and in 1969, a judge ordered Martin to pay $10,000 in damages.

Managing Career

In 1969, Martin became manager of the Minnesota Twins and won a division championship in his first season. He was fired after the season following a fight with one of his pitchers. He managed the Detroit Tigers from 1971 to 1973, taking the team to first place in 1972 but was fired in 1973 for ordering his pitchers to throw at batters. He then moved to the Texas Rangers, where he took the club from last place to second place in 1974, but was fired in 1975.

He returned to the Yankees for the first of his managerial stints in 1975, and took the Yankees to the World Series in 1976 and 1977, winning the 1977 World Series. He feuded publicly with both Yankee owner George Steinbrenner and star outfielder Reggie Jackson. He briefly resigned in 1978 after telling reporters, "They deserve each other. One's a born liar and the other's convicted [Steinbrenner" (Martin was referring to Steinbrenner's conviction for making illegal donations to Richard Nixon's 1972 election campaign). He returned in 1979, only to be fired after a fight with a marshmallow salesman.

Martin resurfaced with the Oakland Athletics, where he perfected a style of play that became known as "Billyball." He won the Western Division title in the split season of 1981, swept the Royals in the special division series, and then met up with the Yankees in the 1981 ALCS where his A's were swept by the Yankees. Martin was fired when the 1982 Athletics plumeted to a 68-94 record. Martin had overused Oakland's young pitchers and they all developed sore arms. He returned to the Yankees in 1983, 1985, and 1988, but never for more than one full season. He was the perfect short-term manager as his competitive fire and daring tactics won over fans, management, and players. This love affair was always brief, especially with the players and management, as his paranoid disdain for authority figures as well as players who dared disagree with him or did not reflect his fiery temperment, were bound to create clubhouse tension and organizational turmoil.

Honors

On August 10, 1986, the Yankees retired his uniform number 1 and dedicated a plaque in his honor for their Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. The plaque contains the words, "There has never been a greater competitor than Billy." Martin told the crowd, "I may not have been the greatest Yankee, but I am the proudest."

Death

He was working as a special consultant to Steinbrenner when he was killed at age 61 in a one-car crash in Binghamton, New York on Christmas Day in 1989. Martin had been drinking heavily with his friend, William Reedy, who was driving the pick-up at the time of the accident. Billy Martin was eulogized by John Cardinal O'Connor at St. Patrick's Cathedral before his funeral at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York. His grave is located about 150 feet from the grave of Babe Ruth. The following epitaph by Billy Martin himself appears on the headstone: "I may not have been the greatest Yankee to put on the uniform but I was the proudest."

At the time of his death, Martin was yet again getting ready to manage the Yankees for the 1990 season and had begun assembling a coaching staff.

External link

Baseball-Reference.com - playing statistics and managing record

Billy Martin | ビリー・マーチン