1980 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94704, United States
From 1942 to 1946, Martin attended Berkeley High School.
1955
Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle and Billy Martin
1955
Billy Martin heads for a plate in the first official trip since breaking up 53 World Series against Dodgers.
1955
Billy Martin, on leave from the army, checks the bat rack before going to work for Uncle Casey at the stadium.
1959
Billy Martin stealing home as Minnie Minoso bats.
1959
Billy Martin swinging at the ball.
1959
Billy Martin yelling out of the dugout.
1959
Billy Martin yelling and clapping in the dugout.
Promotional portrait of Billy Martin wearing his New York Yankees uniform at bat, the 1950s.
Billy Martin of the New York Yankees at bat, the 1950s.
1975
Billy Martin with Phil Rizzuto
1975
New York Yankees manager Billy Martin at the Old-Timers' Game.
1977
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Outfielder Reggie Jackson, of the New York Yankees, takes a knee as manager Billy Martin swings a bat prior to a game against the Kansas City Royals in July 1977 at Yankee Stadium in New York City, New York.
1980
Billy Martin
1983
New York Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner and Billy Martin smoke cigars as they announce Martin's return as team manager.
1986
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Billy Martin is honored by having his jersey #1 retired by the Yankees prior to the start of a Major League Baseball game on August 10, 1986 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City.
1988
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States
Billy Martin of the New York Yankees during a spring training game on March 25, 1988 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
1988
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Billy Martin of the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in 1988 in the Bronx, New York City.
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Billy Martin of the New York Yankees waves to the crowd at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York City.
Billy Martin of the New York Yankees looks on during a game.
Billy Martin of the New York Yankees sits in the dugout during a game circa 1976-1977.
201 South 46th Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
Billy Martin of the New York Yankees argues with umpires during a game against the Milwaukee Brewers at County Stadium in the late 1970s in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Billy Martin of the Oakland Athletics sitting on the bench during an MLB baseball game circa the early 1980's.
Billy Martin of the Minnesota Twins watching the action from the dugout during an MLB baseball game circa 1969.
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Billy Martin of the New York Yankees talks with slugger Reggie Jackson during an MLB baseball game circa the mid-1970's at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York City.
Billy Martin, George Steinbrenner and Lou Piniella.
Mike Norris and manager Billy Martin of the Oakland Athletics pose together for the photo before a Major League Baseball game circa 1980.
Billy Martin arguing with umpire John Rice.
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Billy Martin of the New York Yankees answers questions while being interviewed by the press after a Major League Baseball game circa mid-1979 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City.
Billy Martin #1 of the Oakland Athletics looks on from the dugout during a Major League Baseball game circa 1980.
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Billy Martin argues with an umpire during a Major League Baseball game circa 1983 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City.
7000 Coliseum Way, Oakland, CA 94621, United States
Manager Billy Martin of the Oakland Athletics looks on from the dugout during a Major League Baseball game circa 1982 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California.
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Manager Billy Martin of the Detroit Tigers argues with an umpire during a Major League Baseball game against the New York Yankees circa 1973 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City.
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Manager Billy Martin of the New York Yankees looks on during a Major League Baseball game circa 1983 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City.
1953
Most Valuable Player Award
1955
Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle and Billy Martin
1955
Billy Martin heads for a plate in the first official trip since breaking up 53 World Series against Dodgers.
1955
Billy Martin, on leave from the army, checks the bat rack before going to work for Uncle Casey at the stadium.
1957
United States
New York Yankees Mickey Mantle, Billy Martin, Hank Bauer and Bauer's wife Charlene leaving the district attorney's office after a grand jury declined to indict Bauer on charges of assaulting a delicatessen owner.
1959
Billy Martin stealing home as Minnie Minoso bats.
1959
Billy Martin swinging at the ball.
1959
Billy Martin yelling out of the dugout.
1959
Billy Martin yelling and clapping in the dugout.
1975
Billy Martin with Phil Rizzuto
1975
New York Yankees manager Billy Martin at the Old-Timers' Game.
1976
United States
Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner hugs coach Yogi Berra and manager Billy Martin as they celebrate victory with champagne.
1976
George Steinbrenner talks with New York Yankees manager Billy Martin.
1977
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Outfielder Reggie Jackson, of the New York Yankees, takes a knee as manager Billy Martin swings a bat prior to a game against the Kansas City Royals in July 1977 at Yankee Stadium in New York City, New York.
1980
Billy Martin
1983
New York Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner and Billy Martin smoke cigars as they announce Martin's return as team manager.
1986
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Billy Martin is honored by having his jersey #1 retired by the Yankees prior to the start of a Major League Baseball game on August 10, 1986 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City.
1988
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States
Billy Martin of the New York Yankees during a spring training game on March 25, 1988 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
1988
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Billy Martin of the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in 1988 in the Bronx, New York City.
1980 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94704, United States
From 1942 to 1946, Martin attended Berkeley High School.
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Billy Martin of the New York Yankees waves to the crowd at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York City.
Billy Martin of the New York Yankees looks on during a game.
Billy Martin of the New York Yankees sits in the dugout during a game circa 1976-1977.
201 South 46th Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
Billy Martin of the New York Yankees argues with umpires during a game against the Milwaukee Brewers at County Stadium in the late 1970s in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Billy Martin of the Oakland Athletics sitting on the bench during an MLB baseball game circa the early 1980's.
Billy Martin of the Minnesota Twins watching the action from the dugout during an MLB baseball game circa 1969.
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Billy Martin of the New York Yankees talks with slugger Reggie Jackson during an MLB baseball game circa the mid-1970's at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York City.
Billy Martin, George Steinbrenner and Lou Piniella.
Mike Norris and manager Billy Martin of the Oakland Athletics pose together for the photo before a Major League Baseball game circa 1980.
Billy Martin arguing with umpire John Rice.
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Billy Martin of the New York Yankees answers questions while being interviewed by the press after a Major League Baseball game circa mid-1979 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City.
Billy Martin #1 of the Oakland Athletics looks on from the dugout during a Major League Baseball game circa 1980.
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Billy Martin argues with an umpire during a Major League Baseball game circa 1983 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City.
7000 Coliseum Way, Oakland, CA 94621, United States
Manager Billy Martin of the Oakland Athletics looks on from the dugout during a Major League Baseball game circa 1982 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California.
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Manager Billy Martin of the Detroit Tigers argues with an umpire during a Major League Baseball game against the New York Yankees circa 1973 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City.
1 E 161 St, The Bronx, NY 10451, United States
Manager Billy Martin of the New York Yankees looks on during a Major League Baseball game circa 1983 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City.
Promotional portrait of Billy Martin wearing his New York Yankees uniform at bat, the 1950s.
Billy Martin of the New York Yankees at bat, the 1950s.
Jillian Guiver, Martin's spouse
Heather Ervolino, Martin's ex-spouse
Sam Mele, Martin's friend
Mickey Mantle
(Written at the period of his tumultuous ride as manager o...)
Written at the period of his tumultuous ride as manager of the Yankees, Billy Martin proves why he was the heart and soul of the club. It was during a time that interest in the Bronx Zoo was immense and numerous players were weighing in on the team. A book from Martin was a natural, and he tackles the issues inside the clubhouse and away from the ballpark in the candor that made him a baseball legend.
https://www.amazon.com/Number-Billy-Martin-Peter-Golenbock/dp/0440162297/ref=sr_1_11?dchild=1&keywords=Billy+Martin&qid=1612094940&sr=8-11
1980
(The true story of Ron LeFlore, a troubled Detroit youth w...)
The true story of Ron LeFlore, a troubled Detroit youth who rose from Michigan prisons to star in Major League Baseball.
https://www.amazon.com/One-Million-Ron-LeFlore-Story/dp/B0002OV52G
1978
baseball player athlete baseball manager
Ethnicity:
Billy Martin was born to a Portuguese father and an Italian mother.
Billy Martin was born Alfred Manuel Martin on May 16, 1928 in Berkeley, California, United States. He was the son of Joan Salvini Pesano Martin, an Italian-American woman whose mother had immigrated to California from near Foggia, Italy, and Alfred Manuel Martin, a Portuguese man from Hawaii.
Billy never used "Jr." as part of his name. In fact, until he entered grade school he thought his given name was Billy, a corruption of the nickname his grandmother gave him at birth: "Bellissimos" (most beautiful), shortened to "Belli" and then transformed to Billy by his playmates. Billy's natural father left the family when Billy was eight months old. His mother later married Jack Downey, who was the only father Billy ever knew.
Growing up poor in a tough West Berkeley neighborhood during the 1930s and 1940s, Billy learned to fend off members of the massive street gangs. This "scrappiness" would follow him throughout his life. From childhood, his biggest dream was to be a major league baseball player.
From 1942 to 1946, Martin attended Berkeley High School.
After graduation from high school, Martin hoped to be signed by a Pacific Coast League team, but no one was interested because he was too small and thin. Finally, he got a call from an Oakland Oaks farm team, which sent him $300 to buy good clothes and a suitcase and hired him to play ball. Several weeks later, he was playing in the Arizona-Texas League in Phoenix. He led the league in hitting (.392) and runs batted in (174) in 130 games, and at third base led the league in errors (55), putouts, and assists. This won him a spot with the Oaks, where he played for Casey Stengel, who immediately loved Martin for his outspoken toughness. He was a kid after Stengel's own heart.
After Oakland won the Pacific Coast pennant, with Martin playing three infield positions, Stengel was hired to manage the New York Yankees. In 1950, Stengel signed Martin to play with the Yankees, although he spent much of his first year with the farm team.
When the Yankees played with the Dodgers in the seventh game of the 1952 World Series, Martin made a name for himself by running up from the second base to catch Jackie Robinson's pop-up ball near the pitcher's mound, winning the game, and the World Series, for the Yankees, their fourth straight World Series victory. The following year, the Yankees made it five straight World Series titles. That season, Martin had twelve hits, batted .500, and played regular second base.
After returning from military service in 1955, Martin played in another World Series and then in 1956 played one more regular season with the Yankees. Then his world collapsed. For his twenty-ninth birthday party, on May 16, 1957, a group of players went to dinner with their wives, although Martin, being divorced, attended alone. Afterwards, they went to Manhattan's Copacabana Club, and player Hank Bauer supposedly got into a fight with men at the next table. The following day, the newspapers broadcast the story. Yankee owner George Weiss blamed Martin for the mess and called him a bad influence on Mantle. One month later, Weiss traded Martin to the Kansas City Athletics, ending his playing career with the Yankees and leaving him hurt and bitter for years to come.
Martin remained a professional ballplayer over the next five years, but was traded to six different teams during the period: the Athletics, the Detroit Tigers, the Cleveland Indians, the Cincinnati Reds, the Milwaukee Braves, and the Minnesota Twins. In 1959, he was hit in the face with a pitch and suffered a broken jaw, which put him out of the game for the rest of the season. In 1960, he hit Chicago Cubs pitcher Jim Brewer on the mound after Brewer just missed Martin with a pitch. In the fight, Brewer suffered a broken bone near his eye socket. Although batters and pitchers routinely scuffled in such situations, Brewer and the Cubs sued Martin for $1 million, an unprecedented action. Martin eventually had to pay much of that amount.
Winding down as a player, Martin began scouting for the Twins in 1961 and held that position for three quiet years. In 1965, he accepted a job as third-base coach for the Twins, where he remained until the beginning of the 1968 season. Then he was sent to manage the Denver Bears, the Twins' top farm club. After a successful season there, he was offered the job as manager of the Minnesota Twins.
Martin brought the team to first place, from seventh the previous year. However, Howard Fox, the Twins' road secretary and an old enemy of Martin's, wanted Martin out. The Twins fired him, but the Detroit Tigers hired him for the 1971 season. Martin came on board, bringing with him his right-hand man, pitching coach and friend, Art Fowler, whom he had met with the Bears in 1968. The two worked wonders with the Detroit team, bringing it up to second place from fourth.
The next year, the Tigers came in first place, even though they lost the playoffs to Oakland. By 1973, however, Martin wanted to trade some aging Detroit players for new blood, but the general manager remained loyal to his longtime players. The team slipped to third place, and Martin, blamed for the downfall, was let go.
One week after Detroit fired him, the Texas Rangers hired Martin as manager. The team did poorly during the first season but in 1974 moved up to second place. By 1975, however, a new owner would not renew Martin's contract giving him control over hiring players. The owner then fired Martin when the team's ranking dropped.
Just eleven days after the Rangers let him go, the New York Yankees asked Martin to be the manager. In New York, he began a tumultuous relationship with owner George Steinbrenner, who wanted control as much as Martin did. However, as Martin took the position once held by his mentor, Casey Stengel, he began to work miracles. With some new players, the team came in first place in 1976 but lost the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. In 1977, they came in first again and this time won the World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Martin managed for the first half of the 1978 season, but the tension with Steinbrenner, coupled with conflicts with player Reggie Jackson, pushed Martin to the breaking point. In late July, he told sportswriters he was disgusted with both men. He told the writers to print his statement and then resigned from the Yankees. The next day, Steinbrenner invited him back as manager for the 1979 season. He made the announcement at Yankee Old-Timers' Day, to the delight of 46,000 fans, who gave Martin a seven-minute standing ovation. Bob Lemon from Chicago took over for the rest of the 1978 season, and the Yankees won the World Series, so Steinbrenner kept him on until the middle of the 1979 season, when he fired Lemon and got Martin back.
The constant frustration drove Martin to heavier drinking and barroom brawls, which never failed to make headlines. In 1979, he punched a Minnesota marshmallow salesman in a bar, and Steinbrenner fired him again. This time Martin was hired to manage the Oakland Athletics. In 1980, the A's came in second in the league; the following year they were first and then second in a season split by a players' strike, but they were defeated by the Yankees in the World Series. In 1982, they fell to fifth place, even though Rickey Henderson stole a record-breaking 130 bases. Martin left, believing that the team owners had interfered with decision making and the pitchers had failed to stay in shape during the strike.
When Martin left Oakland, his old antagonist Steinbrenner wanted him back again. The Yankees finished third in 1983, and Martin was suspended twice for abusing umpires - he kicked dirt on one and called another "a stone liar." In December, Steinbrenner fired Martin as manager but kept him on as an adviser. In 1985, Steinbrenner fired manager Yogi Berra and rehired Martin, for the fourth time. The team finished second, and Martin was fired again but kept in the office. In 1988, Steinbrenner again put Martin in the manager's position, and the team was on a winning streak when Martin got injured in a brawl in a Texas nightclub. In June, Martin was let go again, and the Yankees finished fifth.
Martin was still employed by the Yankees as an adviser when, on Christmas night, 1989, he and longtime friend William Reedy, a Detroit bar owner, were driving on an icy road near Martin's home in Binghamton, New York. With Reedy at the wheel, the truck skidded off the road and Martin was thrown through the windshield, fracturing his neck and injuring his spinal column. He died soon afterward in a Binghamton hospital.
Billy Martin was known as a person who made considerable contributions to the championship Yankee teams of the 1950s. He was a manager who would make bad teams good. In each of his stints with the Yankees, he managed them to winning records.
Martin won the Most Valuable Player Award in the 1953 World Series, batting .500, with 12 hits, 2 home runs, and a series-leading 8 RBIs. He was also a four-time recipient of the Associated Press Manager of the Year Award. In 1953, Martin was awarded the Babe Ruth Award.
(Written at the period of his tumultuous ride as manager o...)
1980(The true story of Ron LeFlore, a troubled Detroit youth w...)
1978On December 17, 1989, Martin and Steinbrenner read "The Night Before Christmas" together at a charity concert.
Quotations:
"All I know is (as a Yankees Manager), I pass people on the street these days, and they don't know whether to say hello or to say good-bye."
"Everything looks nicer when you win. The girls are prettier. The cigars taste better. The trees are greener."
"I don't think so because I've got the reputation for being baseball's bad boy and I don't deserve it. But I think I'd make a good manager. For one thing, I know how to handle men. That's the secret of managing. For another, I know enough about the game, not fundamentals, but executing. I think I could get the most out of players with common sense and psychology. I'm fiery enough that I'd have their respect. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll ever get the chance and there's nothing in the world that can change that."
"I owe it to my health and mental well-being to resign at this time, and I am very sorry that there were things written about George Steinbrenner. He did not deserve them, nor did I say them. George and I have had our differences, and in most cases, we have been able to resolve them."
"I really love the togetherness in baseball. That's real true love."
"I'm getting smarter, I finally punched something that couldn't sue me."
"If they can win (the pennant) with that club (1973 Milwaukee Brewers), I'm a Chinese aviator."
"Most people miss the great part mental outlook plays in this game."
"Sometimes I would do just the opposite of what George wanted me to do, because I won't let anyone tell me how to manage. If I'm going down the tube, I'm going to do it my way."
"The only real way to know you've been fired is when you arrive at the ballpark and find your name has been scratched from the parking list."
"There's nothing greater in the world than when somebody on the team does something good, and everybody gathers around to pat him on the back."
"What I miss when I'm away is the pride in baseball. Especially the pride of being on a team that wins."
Martin was generous, thoughtful, a loyal friend, wonderful with children, the elderly, and even strangers down on their luck.
Martin had firm convictions about his management style, and he adhered to them throughout his career, in spite of his seemingly brash personality. He established personal relationships with his players, and they loved him for it.
Physical Characteristics: Billy Martin was 5 ft 11 inches (180 cm) tall and weighed 165 lb (74 kg). He died in a vehicle accident. Martin's vehicle ran into a drainage culvert.
Quotes from others about the person
Mike Downey: "Billy Martin makes the game lean a little more toward professional wrestling. He might as well wear a hood and come to the park as the Masked Manager."
Bucky Dent: "Billy was a true Yankee - one of the truest ever. He always said he wanted to die a Yankee. He was his own man. He was fiery and could be charming. He was a great manager."
Mike Norris: "Even when Billy's not around, he's in every mind. It's like a spiritual involvement with the Lord. You can't see him, but you know he's there. That's enough."
Casey Strange: "He's a good manager. He might be a little selfish about some of the things he does and he may think he knows more about baseball than anybody else, but it wouldn't surprise me if he was right."
Mickey Mantle: "I have no idea why I liked him so much. We never could figure it out. Me and Whitey Ford and Billy were all so different. That's why we got along so well."
Bob Short: "I'd fire my mother for the chance to hire Billy Martin."
Jim Murray: "Some people have a chip on their shoulder. Billy has a whole lumberyard."
Thomas Boswell: "If he'd only known himself half as well as he knew his game, he might have been the best."
Thomas Boswell: "Billy Martin proved what a powerful strategic tool paranoia is. He believed that everyone was against him. And so he spent every waking moment figuring out how imaginary enemies could be defeated in their nefarious plots. And sometimes he not only created strategies to defend against things that would never be done against him, but he realized that those attacks were in themselves novel and he would then try those attacks that he had already dreamed up a defense for. That's why he was so wonderful at suicide bunts and double steals and any way that you could humiliate or psychologically defeat the other team, he was sure that's how the world reacted to him. He was sure the world hated him. And so he turned that really raw, frightened paranoia into wonderful strategic intelligence."
Jim Murray: "He's humorless, dedicated, relentless, fearless, tireless and reckless, as tightly wound as a power line, about as safe to cross as a minefield."
Martin was married four times and had two children - a daughter, Kelly Ann, and a son, Billy Joe. His first wife was Lois Berndt, whom he divorced in 1955. In 1961, Billy married Gretchen Winkler. The couple divorced in 1979. He was married a third time to Heather Ervolino, but after several affairs, their marriage was broken and Martin married his mistress, Jillian Guiver.
(January 21, 1922 - May 1, 2017)
Sam Mele was an American right fielder, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball. As a manager, he led the Minnesota Twins to their first American League championship in 1965.
