Oct 28, 1979: Fight gets Billy Martin fired
Submitted by BTGrimes on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 9:00am |
| A game for the record books last night in St. Louis Billy Brawl NEW YORK, NEW YORK - After getting into a fight with a marshmallow salesman Billy Martin was fired as manager of the New York Yankees for the second time today in baseball (1979). He would be re-hired and re-fired three more times by Yankee owner George Steinbrenner before his managerial career ended. That wasn't Martin's only fight. He had several well-publicized altercations. During his playing days with the Yankees in 1957 there was a much publicized brawl at the Copacabana Nightclub in Manhattan involving several other Yankees. Martin was soon gone from the Yankees for being a bad influence. He charged the mound at Wrigley Field in Chicago one day in 1960 while playing for the Cincinnati Reds thinking Chicago Cubs pitcher Jim Brewer was throwing at him. Brewer ended up in the hospital with a broken cheekbone. Martin also had fights with, among others, Jimmy Piersall, Tommy Lasorda, Dave Boswell, and he had to be held back from getting into a fight with Reggie Jackson. Martin showed brilliance as a manager. In 16 seasons he won 5 division championships, 2 pennants and 1 World Series, but his erratic behavior - fueled mostly by drinking too much - didn't keep him at the helm of any team very long. He managed in 5 different cities, 5 different times in New York. Contributing sources: This baseball history calendar is brought to you by TODAY in BASEBALL. Spread the word. Link www.todayinbaseball.com to your website. |
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