Description
Billy Martin (May 16, 1928 - December 25, 1989), was a Major League Baseball second baseman & manager who, in addition to leading other teams, was five times the manager of the New York Yankees. First known as a scrappy infielder who made considerable contributions to the championship Yankee teams of the 1950s, he then built a reputation as a manager who would initially make bad teams good, before ultimately being fired amid dysfunction. in each of his stints with the Yankees he managed them to winning records before being fired by team owner George Steinbrenner or resigning under fire, usually amid a well-publicized scandal such as Martin's involvement in an alcohol-fueled fight. As Yankee manager, Martin led the team to consecutive American League pennants in 1976 & 1977; the Yankees were swept in the 1976 World Series by the Cincinnati Reds but triumphed over the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games in the 1977 World Series. The 1977 season saw season-long conflict between Martin & Steinbrenner, as well as between the manager & Yankee slugger Reggie Jackson, including a near brawl between the two in the dugout on national television, but culminated in Martin's only world championship as a manager. He was forced to resign midway through the 1978 season after saying of Jackson & Steinbrenner, "one's a born liar, & the other's convicted"; less than a week later, the news that he would return as manager in a future season was announced to a huge ovation from the Yankee Stadium crowd. He returned in 1979, but was fired at season's end by Steinbrenner. From 1980 to 1982, he managed the Oakland Athletics, earning a division title with an aggressive style of play known as "Billyball" that led them to the ALCS in 1981, but he was fired after the 1982 season. He was rehired by the Yankees, whom he managed three more times, each for a season or less, & each ending in his firing by Steinbrenner. Martin died in an automobile accident in upstate New York on Christmas night in 1989, & he is fondly remembered by many Yankee fans. Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is a former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, & California Angels. Jackson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993. Jackson was nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the Athletics & the Yankees.[1] He helped Oakland win five consecutive American League West divisional titles, three straight American League pennants & three consecutive World Series titles from 1972 to 1974. Jackson helped New York win four American League East divisional pennants, three American League pennants & back to back World Series titles, in 1977 & 1978. He also helped the California Angels win two AL West divisional titles in 1982 & 1986. Jackson hit three consecutive home runs at Yankee Stadium in the clinching game six of the 1977 World
