DETROIT: Jim Weber, a longtime broadcaster for the Toledo Mud Hens, passed away, the team announced on Friday.
He was eighty-eight.
Billy Martin was a member of five championship teams while playing with the New York Yankees in the 1950s. He bounced about the Kansas City Athletics, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Braves, and finally Minnesota from 1957 to 1961. Martin spent eight years in Minnesota during the 1960s; he arrived as a player in 1961 and stayed on as a manager, coach, and scout thereafter. He managed the Tigers, Rangers, Yankees, and A’s at various times after leading the Twins. He was the Yankees’ manager five different times.
In Berkeley, California, on May 16, 1928, Alfred Manuel “Billy” Martin was born. Billy’s father left the family when he was just eight months old. He learned to advocate for himself from his mother. Billy also boxed as an amateur in the San Francisco area for a while. His aggressive disposition was influenced by his mother’s stubbornness and his early boxing experience, which he carried with him throughout his life.
Following graduation from high school, Martin played minor league baseball on the West Coast and finally made his way to the Pacific Coast League’s Oakland Oaks, where he was managed by Hall of Famer Casey Stengel. Throughout his playing career, Martin was mostly used as a second baseman despite being an infield player. He was a competent defensive infielder with some hitting ability. Martin was acquired by the New York Yankees following the 1949 season (Stengel had been appointed manager of the Yankees in 1949).
Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, and Whitey Ford—all Hall of Fame players—made the 1950s Yankees a formidable team. Billy participated in five World Series championship teams (1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, and 1956), as was previously mentioned. Because of his military service, Martin missed the 1954 season. In 1953, he was an All-Star.
Martin was acquired by the Twins in June 1961 via a deal with the Milwaukee Braves, following his departure from the Yankees and five more clubs stops. Billy Consolo, an infielder, was acquired by the Braves. Martin hit.245/.275/.341 in 108 games for the Twins as the 1961 season came to an end. With 36 RBI, he had six home runs. Billy’s playing career came to an end there, as the Twins cut Martin just before the 1962 campaign. His stats for his career were.257,.300, and.369. He had an OPS+ of 81, 333 RBI, and 64 home runs.
He was first signed by the Twins as a scout, a position he held until 1964, but managing was the better fit for the tough-minded former player. He had to be out there on the field. From 1965 until May 1968, when the Twins gave him the job of managing their Triple-A baseball team in Denver, he was the third base coach. Billy Martin became the Twins’ fourth manager in 1969 after Cal Ermer was fired, the team’s worst showing since the 1965 AL Championship season.
Martin was a fierce and furious manager who expected his players to play aggressively in addition to his fierce and fiery leadership. He placed a strong emphasis on stealing, taking additional bases, and running the game. He is well known for teaching young Rod Carew the craft of home theft and for encouraging Carew to steal. It was so successful that in 1969 Carew tied Pete Reiser’s Major League record by stealing home seven times. That record is still in effect.
I’ve used some of the excellent passage on home theft from Rod Carew’s book, Carew, from Miscbasbeball.wordpress.com below. For the complete story, click the miscbaseball link.
In the spring of 1969, while I was at Orlando, I also added a new twist to my baseball repertoire: stealing home. I discussed becoming more aggressive on the bases with Billy [Martin]. During my first two seasons with the Twins, I only stole five and twelve bases, despite the fact that I stole a lot in the minor leagues. He believed that the team ought to exert more pressure than we had on our rivals. In a game where we needed a run and the guys weren’t hitting, he stated I could take advantage of my speed. In my youth, I had already committed home theft once.
Billy and I spent hours working on house theft. He’s
Carew ranks 14th all-time with 17 career home runs stolen, according to Baseball Almanac. Apart from Frankie Frisch and Jackie Robinson, almost every player on this list who played before Carew was a product of the Deadball era, which ended before 1920.
Because of Martin’s tenacity, the Twins stole 115 bases in 1969—the most they had since leaving Washington. The 1976 team, though, exceeded that total and has since been surpassed six more times.
The 1969 club led by Billy Martin went 97-65 and won the American League West division, which was a newly established division. They made it to the inaugural American League Championship Series, but the Baltimore Orioles won all three games. 1969 was a turbulent year despite the Division Championship and win-loss record. Longtime supporters are undoubtedly aware of Martin’s conflicts with players and management; I won’t go over them again here. Soon after the playoff loss to Baltimore, Martin was fired due to these conflicts and perhaps just his general harsh demeanor.
In 1971, Martin was hired by Detroit following his tenure with the Twins. He was in charge of three seasons and finished 248–203 overall. Disagreements between Martin and the general manager led to Martin’s firing by the Tigers late in the 1973 season.
The Texas Rangers owner seized the opportunity to recruit Martin as soon as he was fired in Detroit. Beginning in late 1973, Martin managed portions of three seasons in Texas. His record was 137–141. Texas had a new owner by the middle of 1975, some more expensive free agents, and an unimpressive record. Martin lost his job.
Billy Martin was hired by George Steinbrenner on August 1, 1975, and a stormy relationship ensued. In 1976, the Yankees were defeated in the World Series, but in 1977, they emerged victorious, earning Martin his lone managerial title. He was rehired in 1979 after being forced to resign in July of 1978. As the Yankees failed to make the playoffs in 1979, he was fired.
Billy Martin came home to manage the Oakland A’s in 1980. Because of his eagerness and Rickey Henderson’s skill, Henderson was able to steal bases at an absurdly high rate. With 130 steals in 1982, Henderson broke the record for most steals in a single season. Following modest success in 1980 and 1981, Oakland struggled in 1982, which led to Martin’s dismissal.
In 1983, Billy rejoined the Yankees, and he managed the team once again in 1985 and 1987. Billy was dismissed by Steinbrenner on all three occasions. Martin continued to work as a special consultant with the Yankees until his most recent firing.
Billy Martin lost his life in a car accident on Christmas Day 1989. Billy Martin struggled with booze throughout his life. Although it’s unclear if Martin or his friend was driving, alcohol was reportedly a factor in the collision.
Billy Martin was a unique individual. Although he was an intense leader who rapidly brought out the best in groups and players, others soon grew weary of his harsh demeanor, and his influence and presence seemed to wane. “Martin’s off-field exploits were legendary; he got into fights with team officials, bar patrons, a cab driver, a marshmallow salesman, various fans, and two of his pitchers,” SABR stated about his time as a major-league manager. Like everywhere else in the 1960s, Billy Martin’s Minnesota chapter was prosperous for a brief period of time and left followers wondering what may have been.
