Billy Martin (baseball player)

Billy Martin
Second baseman / manager
Born: May 16, 1928 Berkeley , United States
Died on: December 25, 1989 Johnson , United States
Suggested: Right	Threw: Right
Debut in Major League Baseball
April 18,  1950  with the  New York Yankees
Last MLB assignment
October 1,  1961  with the  Minnesota Twins
MLB statistics (until end of career)
Batting average	, 257
Home runs	64
Runs Batted In	333
Teams
As a player New York Yankees (1950–1957) Kansas City Athletics (1957) Detroit Tigers (1958) Cleveland Indians (1959) Cincinnati Reds (1960) Milwaukee Braves (1961) Minnesota Twins (1961) As a manager Minnesota Twins (1969) Detroit Tigers (1971-1973) Texas Rangers (1973-1975) New York Yankees (1975-1978, 1979) Oakland Athletics (1980-1982) New York Yankees (1983, 1985, 1988)
Awards
All-Star (1956) 5 × World Series winner (1951–1953, 1956, 1977) In his honor, the # 1 in the New York Yankees is no longer awarded

Alfred Manuel "Billy" Martin (born May 16, 1928 in Berkeley , California , † December 25, 1989 in Johnson , New York ) was an American baseball player and manager in Major League Baseball . His nicknames were "The Brat" and "Billy the Kid".

Life

Billy Martin started his career as a second baseman with the New York Yankees in 1950. He celebrated his greatest sporting success in the 1953 World Series as an MVP . In 1957 he had to switch from the Yankees to the Kansas City Athletics , as his allegedly dissolute lifestyle had a negative impact on his teammates, especially Whitey Ford and Mickey Mantle . Further stations in Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Milwaukee followed, before he ended his career as a player with the Minnesota Twins in 1961 .

His managerial career in the majors began in 1969 with the Minnesota Twins. Here he and his team won the division title. However, he was fired after the season because he had an argument with one of his pitchers . From 1971 to 1973 he worked for the Detroit Tigers, but was fired there because he asked his throwers to throw at the batsmen. The next year he took over the Texas Rangers, which he led from last place in their division to second place. But here, too, he was released in the second year.

In 1975 he returned to the Yankees, where an unprecedented rollercoaster ride awaited him as a manager. In 1976 and 1977 he led the Yankees to the World Series, which he won in 1977 against the Los Angeles Dodgers . Then he messed with Reggie Jackson and the owner of the Yankees, George Steinbrenner , and resigned from his post. As early as 1979 he was again manager of the Yankees, but a short time later fought with a marshmallow seller in the stadium and was fired. From 1981 to 1982 he coached the Oakland Athletics .

In 1983, 1985 and 1988 the Yankees were again his employer, but never longer than a season. Since August 10, 1986, Martin's number 1 shirt is no longer awarded by the Yankees and a plaque was placed in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium . Martin said in his acceptance speech: "I am probably not the greatest Yankee, but the proudest".

On December 25, 1989, Billy Martin died in a car accident in Johnson, New York, at the age of 61. His final resting place is in the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne , New York.

Martin's grave in Hawthorne

His stations as a player

• 1950-1957 New York Yankees
• 1957 Kansas City Athletics
• 1958 Detroit Tigers
• 1959 Cleveland Indians
• 1960 Cincinnati Reds
• 1961 Milwaukee Braves
• 1961 Minnesota Twins

His stations as a manager

• 1969 Minnesota Twins
• 1971–1973 Detroit Tigers
• 1973-1975 Texas Rangers
• 1975-1978 New York Yankees
• 1979 New York Yankees
• 1980-1982 Oakland Athletics
• 1983 New York Yankees
• 1985 New York Yankees
• 1988 New York Yankees

Web links

Commons : Billy Martin  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Player information and statistics from Baseball Reference  or  Fangraphs  or  The Baseball Cube (English)
• Billy Martin in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Data as a manager (English)