Crime in Sports - Kiss My Petunia Billy Martin Part 8

Episode Date: January 11, 2026

This week, we catch up to a triumphant Billy, as he basks in the glow of World Series victory. This, of course, leads him to brutally pummel a reporter, who dared ask a question about a recent Yankee trade. He is forced to resign, only to be rehired, within 2 months. He fights with players, reporters, and one, very angry team owner. He also finds love, with a young lady, who many people believe is only 16 years old!   Beat a reporter into a bloody heap, over minor infractions, be forced to resign, the year after you won the World Series, and continue to cause a scene, and drink heavily, but never "overdrink" with Billy Martin - Part 8!!   Check us out, every Tuesday! We will continue to bring you the biggest idiots in sports history!!   Hosted by James Pietragallo & Jimmie Whisman   Donate at... patreon.com/crimeinsports or with paypal.com using our email: [e-mail] Get all the CIS, STM & YSO merch at crimeinsports.threadless.com   Go to shutupandgivememurder.com for all things CIS, STM & YSO!!   Contact us on... instagram.com/smalltownmurder facebook.com/crimeinsports [e-mail]

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to crime in sports. Yay! Oh, yay indeed, Jimmy. Yay indeed. My name is James Petro Gallo. I'm here with my co-host. I'm Jimmy Wiseman. Thank you, folks, so much for joining us today on another fun, crazy episode of

Crime in Sports. We are excited today, can't wait. I'm feeling good. My mouth feels better this week. I'm feeling excellent. No more mouth spiders, as I call them. those stitches. Oh, the worst. Jesus. Jesus Christ. It was so hard to record last week just because I was all he felt in my mouth. It was terrible. So we're feeling good this week, though. Did it

reject bone or anything? No, no. Everything. Oh, lucky you. Everything worked out well on the teeth. And then I went back and had more dental work done last week. So I'm on a terrible, terrible every two week getting tormented at the dentist for the next couple of months. So that's a lot of fun. But this week, I have feeling in my mouth and my gums aren't swollen. So this is great. Great. Let's do this. Before we get started, definitely head over to shut up and give me murder.com.

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You're welcome. It's a deal, everybody. Can't beat it. Patreon.com slash crime in sports is where you get that. So that said, let's get into this. Let's get right into Billy Martin here. old Billy Billy we did the last week was pretty much

the 1977 season because it was just so crazy and it's kind of the defining Billy Martin time you know what I mean and the whole Bronx is burning and son of Sam and all that shit blackouts it was just a crazy time so now we're in the winter of 1977 and we'll start out with Billy fighting with Nolan Ryan

let's see here now we all know Nolan Ryan if you don't know him he's a Hall of Fame pitcher who is the all-time strikeout leader through seven no-hitters. Robin Ventura's face destroyer. Played until he was 46 or something, literally. And when he was in his 40s, he beat up a rookie named Robin Ventura and put him in a headlock and worked him over when he charged him out. It was pretty funny.

Gave a good old-fashioned Nolan Ryan ass kicking. He went ahead and exfoliated his face. He did, his forehead. Your forehead looks a little. Hold on a minute. Let me get some of that off of there for you. Yeah. So this is a-

Pimple on his forehead in 30 years. No, no. It's crazy. So Nolan Ryan here is, he's the guy, too, like when they do, when they go back and analyze the old footage of things and they re-calculate his fastball based on how they measure fastballs now. Yeah. Yeah, because they don't measure fastballs the way they used to. They don't measure baseballs. They used to measure them at a certain, now they measure them before.

a certain point. Now they used to measure them when they got past a certain point, so they had slowed down. At the plate. Yeah. Yeah, so it's much different now. So, you see guys now, oh, he's thrown 104. Nobody ever did that before. Everybody was doing that back then, who threw 98, they were actually throwing 105.

If 98 and the 70s equals 105 now. Nolan Ryan was probably thrown 110. No, they did say, I think they were saying now he was throwing like 108, 109 when they redo the redo and recalculate. calculated. That's what they think now. So Nolan was a bad motherfucker here. Apparently, Nolan Ryan wasn't

picked to be on the American League All-Star roster in 1977. And then Billy Martin later added him to the All-Star Squad. And Ryan didn't want to go. He said no then after that, after he got picked, whatever, and just instead hung out in Laguna with his family in California there. So they asked Billy Martin about that and Billy said quote I want you to print this this is coming for the if he says that you know he's going to insult somebody pretty badly I want you to print it

if it's something that'll dick is like worthy of getting me punched in the face that's what he'll say before I want you to print this you're not going to want to I'm going to preface this with this statement because you're going to assume that I don't yeah based on the horrible shit I'm about to say this sounds like it's off the record it's not

this is on the record is what he's saying this is right up front baseball. He said, talking about the upcoming season, I won't pick Ryan if he's won 40 games by the All-Star break. He can kiss my petunia. Kiss my petunia. Yeah. All righty. So that's how that went. And he said, tell Ryan he can make reservations at Laguna again. He's not going to the All-Star game no matter what his record is. Wow. So he has made an enemy of Billy Martin, old Nolan, Ryan. Kiss my petunia. Or the other way around. Yeah, the name of the name of. this episode here. Also in the offseason, he's saying that his reputation is just, it's more

than it really should be. He said, my reputation's been carried too far. My reputation as a hothead comes from my playing days. I played aggressive and I manage aggressive, but that reputation's a lot of baloney. Yeah, right. He's fighting at the bar every night at 50 years old. What are you talking about? You just don't want everybody to know about it, Billy. Yeah, I don't want, you know, I want to act like I'm a jovial guy now so I can get commercials is what it is. He said, a hothead's a guy who loses control of his mind. My temper's been an asset to me, not a detriment. If you know how to use it, it doesn't use you.

I've got to stick up for what I believe and I've got to protect my players. He sounds like he's describing like an alcoholic making an excuse for why drinking's okay for him. That's what it sounds like to me. An alcoholic is someone who can't control his drinking. I know I'm drinking two bottles of vodka at night. And it actually helps me because, you know, then I can sleep better and then I can work more productively because I got a good night's sleep because I drank all my vodka. He just yak off some urine off that too. Totally.

In baseball. In baseball. In baseball, bat hit you. He said, everybody assumes when Billy Martin's involved, Billy Martin's wrong. if Frank Lucchese gets hit everybody feels sorry for him I've been hit by a player too like the time I hit Boswell

he hit me first returning for that old fight he said but people forget about that when Billy Martin gets hit everybody figures it's his fault he's gone to being a third person guy now this is crazy what I should have done was let him beat

the shit out of me right like that what you think would have been better so he said maybe there's a different Billy Martin on the field but a guy at the bar is not the same guy across the desk at work, is he? He's like, yeah, at the bar, I might be a hot head, but that's not, that happens. The guy in your office does a good job. I got numbers to run.

Yeah, then he goes to the bar and beats the shit out of people. That's what accountants do, right? That's normal. So that's pretty funny. So he says, the game on the field is easy. It's the clubhouse before the game. It's the hard part. They all have egos.

You can't get mad at them for that. It's part of pride. There's also another kind of pride. False pride. Everybody's got to learn with their level of incompetences, which I kind of like that. It's a great line. Everyone's got to learn with their level of incompetence is pretty much what I shout from the rooftops on a daily basis of people. To know what your weaknesses are, everybody.

Don't take a weakness and pretend it's a strength. Because that's where we've come to. That's like the thing. Listen, if you have a weakness, pretend it's a strength. That's what people say now. That's like the new form of bullshit. I don't get it. If you're not an orator, pretend you're Mark Twain every day.

No, yeah. Stop it. Stop doing that. Know how shitty at everything you are. That's it. Know your porness. And then what you can do is work on that shit and try to be better at it, you fucking bum. And the reality is you pour at pretty much fucking everything.

Yeah, you suck at everything because you don't evaluate yourself. Even the thing you probably get paid to do. You're probably not so good at that. Not so fucking good at that. That's all of us. It's fine. That's great. H. John Benjamin, the guy who does Archer and Bob's Burgers and all that. Hilarious guy. He wrote a book called Failure as an option and talks about that all the time. He said in the beginning of the book, he's like, listen, most of us fail without trying.

He's like, take any, literally any profession, 90% of the people are mediocre at best. Absolute fucking failures. Yeah, you have a top 10% that are good at what they do and they try and they're talented. And then you have, it's doctors, lawyers, car. Carpenters, plumbers, you name it. 90% of them are mediocre at best. They're just getting by. They're failing on an even plane, basically.

And you've got to evaluate yourself. That's fine. Failure is an option, but know that you're doing it. Everyone should read that book and make them feel a lot better. It's hilarious and good. Just know it's fine. No, it's all fine. So, yeah, he said, I don't think you can ever enjoy a World Series as much when you're a manager.

You're always trying to make the right decision and you're always trying, you're always making people angry at you. Billy also really bad with money. Yeah? Yeah, let's read from this book here. Billy was often seen in Manhattan that winter, the star of the dinner circuit and television talk shows, which, yeah, is World Series champ. That's going to happen. Madison Avenue was interested in using his face for advertisements and he accepted almost every offer, every check for it. Generally speaking, though, he would not, however, pay income.

tax on those checks. Oh, can God do that, Billy. Billy. He would just pocket them. God damn. His agent at the time, Doug Newton, who worked jointly with Eddie Saper in a curious arrangement, worked hard to get Billy to understand the concept that state and federal taxes

had to come out of every stream of income. But Billy never liked to consider the financial details of his life. So he kept cashing the checks without much thought. This oversight or recklessness or deception, left him in debt to the IRS for most of the rest of his life. He's always in debt. Crazy. When he was paid only by a team which took taxes out of his paycheck, there was no money problems.

But after the 77 championship, Billy's ancillary income ballooned. Now he's going to make more off the field than on the field. And he's not paying taxes on any of that shit. Can't do that. So Saper said he was just terrible with money. He never had any. and when he did get some, he thought he should spread it around. I always said that when the Yankees were winning and Billy was managing,

every Mater D, bartender, cab driver, doorman, and cocktail waitress within 20 miles of Yankee Stadium, went up an income bracket. Because he's very generous, that's the thing. He's awfully generous, and that's, if you come from like a poor Italian neighborhood, you're generous. You know what I mean? It's just what you are. You spread. Now, in December, Gabe Paul announced, he's the general manager. that he was going back to Cleveland to run the Indians.

Paul decided that Steinbrenner's wrath was bad for his health. He's like, I'm just tired of dealing with this fucking guy. Before he left, Paul talks Steinbrenner into signing the free agent reliever, Goose Gossage. It was great. Goose is the shit. He's awesome. He was 26 years old instead of a 31-year-old starter named Mike Torres, the old Red Sox guy there.

Or future Red Sox guy. Before, I think he was on him before. The 76 team he was on. It would prove to be a shrewd move for the Yankees in the long run, but heading into the 78 season, it presented Billy with a significant headache. This is the Sparky Lyle Goosecosage thing. Sparky Liles is closer, and he won the Cy Young Award doing that last year. But he's a lefty that throws like 87 miles an hour. He's a slider guy mainly.

Goose Gossage throws 100 miles an hour. Yeah, yeah. So it's a chess game at pitcher rather than a fucking showdown. A showdown, exactly. Whereas Goose, I mean, it obviously worked for Sparky Lyle. He won the Cy Young, but it's one of those things. If you put the guy in who throws 87 and they hit him, it's the manager looks like a real asshole. Whereas if you put the guy in that throws a hundred and they hit him, well, Jesus Christ, what are you going to do?

It's throwing a hundred, the guy hit him. So for a manager to not want to get fired and to just play the easy way out, it's just let Goose closed games and then deal with Sparky. But Sparky's not, he's got a fucking mouth on him. And he's has a point. He's like, I won the Cy Young Award doing that last year. I'm not asking you to give me a shot. I did the best of anyone in the fucking league. And you're telling me fuck you now.

You're telling Merrill Streep, she's not the best actress. She's winning awards for it, goddamn. Well, not only that. She just can't even have the role now. They're giving it to somebody else. I'm going to make you like the, you're going to play the lady at the counter when they go in to get coffee down, Merrill. Sorry.

That's crazy. Sabrina Carpenter because the girls love her. Well, Merrill standing there. holding an Oscar going, which counter do I stand behind now? That's what Sparky Lyle's doing. Like, well, I mean, that's great that she has tits and all, but I have an Oscar. I'm good at this. I'm great at this, yeah.

So they said, yeah, it was tough. And he didn't want to share the closer duties with Gossage. And Gossage didn't want to share either. So Billy sided with Sparky Lyle. He didn't even want Gossage, something the rest of the team, and including Gossage, knew. Gossage, who ended up being a Hall of Famer, never forgave Billy for spurning him before he had ever thrown a pitch for the Yankees. He was pissed at George bought him, so he never liked Gossage.

But the thing is, if you read Lyle's book, he uses Gossage as the closer most of the time. So he makes Sparky a long reliever to where Sparky basically says, I'm just going to quit. I'm literally going to go home now. This is bullshit. I don't want to be here anymore. And several times has to be talked into not quitting. There's one game. He just leaves in the middle of the game.

I'm leaving. Fuck this. tired of the shit. Now, this is also from the book. A crowded bullpen was not Billy's only problem. George had decided he should be more active in other ways. He wanted to restructure Billy's coaching staff, so he appointed Gene Michael, the former Yankee shortstop and valued Yankee Scout as Billy's administrative coach.

Now, that just means stooge is what that means. Spy is what that means. Basically, a manager's staff is their business. business. Yeah. Unless a manager has no footing whatsoever with a team, they pick their staff. The owners don't tell them who to have as their pitching coach or whatever. They pick guys they trust, you know?

Right. Yeah. To do what you tell them to do. Exactly. If the manager hires them, the coach could tell them whatever they want. They're not going to fucking do it. They're going to do what the fucking manager wants them to do. Yeah.

It's the same in football. You hire a head coach. You don't tell him, here's your offensive coordinator. He goes, but that's not the offense. want to run. Yeah, what are we talking about? He's not really the coach. Yeah. I don't like him. Well, he's a good coordinator, but he can't win as a coach.

It's a head coach. Now, they call, by the way, Gene Michael's nickname is Stick. And he's the in-house spy. And Billy said, stick this of the appointment. It wasn't satisfied with it. That's literally what he told George. Yeah, stick. Here's stick. I got a stick

for you. So Gene Michael said, but I wasn't a spy. He said, I know Billy hated me being there, but I was supposed to help him implement some things and report to George on how they were going. That's called a spy. Yeah. I wasn't a spy.

I was just there to do what, to make him do what the owner wanted him to do, and then report back to the owner about the things he was doing and not doing. What else would you call that? Messenger. Yeah. Wow. That is pretty fucking funny. He says, I know it wasn't an unusual arrangement, but I was not running back to George about

things that were none of my business. I wasn't spying. I was trying to help Billy. Not that he believed me. And they also hired Al Rosen, the Cleveland Indians old third baseman from the 50s and a guy that has fought with Billy a little bit here. But Billy, he wanted to have a smooth relationship with Billy, he said, though. Rosen's also an amateur boxer. So fighting isn't going to be a problem for Billy there.

But anyway, Billy didn't mind Rosen's presence because George promised Billy. a new communication arrangement. Billy didn't have to go through the general manager. He could just go directly to George. Oh. That's the arrangement they meant. If you want to talk to him, you can talk to him. They said, now, Billy was alone at spring training,

meaning that Gretchen and Billy Joe, wife and kid, didn't spend much time with him the next year at spring training. But Billy was just absolutely ravished with ravaging women from around the area. He's just anything he could get his hands on. They said he was soon to be 50 years old and his tastes had not changed. He looked perhaps 10 years younger than his age and just as he did in the 50s, he found plenty of women in their 20s who were still drawn to him. Billy had reentered the realm reserved for the New York elite.

He was a star in the biggest sports market in the world. The stable suburban life Billy yearned for since childhood and had lived in Minnesota, Detroit, Texas, had disintegrated, never to be replicated. But Billy traveled in a new sphere now and at a different accelerated pace. A spotlight lit his path. He loved it. Yeah, yeah. He loved it being in the spotlight, having everyone know who he was.

78 Yankees, 100 wins and 63 losses. First in the AL East, because there was a playoff game there. And this, well, I don't want to spoil anything, so I won't. I won't tell you the split up here. But they end up going to the ALCS, beating the Royals. and then beating the Dodgers in six games in the World Series in 78, too. So goddamn good year, but Billy's not going to see all of it, as we'll talk about. It's a lot here.

By the way, April 19, 19th, 1978, words I never thought I would read, Earl Weaver apologizes to Billy Martin. Earl Weaver's not an apologist. He's not an apologist here, but apparently they made up with each other. Billy said he apologized in a sense for all the beanball shit that was going on last year. He said, yeah, he apologized to a sense, and they're fine. Everything's fine now, basically. That's what they're saying.

The book says the Yankees' 1978 season started unevenly, but the mood remained calm in the clubhouse. For Billy, there was only one dust-up, and it involved his old arch rival Earl Weaver. Gostage had thrown a pitch over a Baltimore player's head in April, and Weaver had protested to the umpire who then warned Billy. Billy didn't mind being warned, but he was furious that the umpire, Joe Brinkman, appeared to issue the warning because it was Weaver's idea. Don't listen to fucking it. You want to issue a warning. Do it yourself.

You're the umpire, not him. So he said, I'm taking this lineup card out to Home Plate tomorrow afternoon. And if that little midget of a manager says anything, I'm decking him right there at Home Plate. That's what he said. Don't call Earl that. Come on. Don't call him a little midget of a manager, especially Billy's not a big guy either. The two of them. That's a little tiny fight.

But Earl's going to bring all his friends from that house. They make cookies out of him. Yeah, that's true. He's got a lot of them. They crawl right down from the branches, man. He said, Weaver always drove Billy crazy. Billy said, quote, that little shit never even played in the major league. So what does he know about knockdown pitches?

Career minor leaguer. Go tell him to shut up. Jesus Christ, Earl's a legend. He said, medium talent is what he said. He couldn't even play in this league, little buddy. Medium talent. And height. And less than medium height.

Take that. Medium. That one. Miniser stature. Medium rare he is. He needs to grow a little bit more. Go tell him to shut up. That's fucking hilarious.

So. I understand why he's doing it. Because as a little guy, when someone's smaller than you, fuck shit, does that feel great? To be able to call somebody little? Yeah. See, I look like a dick if I bash people for being tiny. So it's never been in my repertoire.

As someone your size, it's probably much cooler to be like, that little motherfucker, you little shit. Nothing feels better than hating a man 5'5. Then to be able to say I'll kick his little ass? Is that? That's felt good. What are you going to do, jump and hit me in the chin? See, if you're big, you have to let everything go. Oh, come on.

Let him go. What are you going to fight a little guy like that? Yeah, what are you going to do, beat up a little guy or get beaten up by a little guy? Either way. You lose. No advantage for you here. That's not good. Being little is fantastic because you get to swing on everybody.

If you lose, nobody expected you to win anyway. Nobody expects you to win. The problem is it's easier to get the living shit beaten out of you. It's so much easier to go to the hospital. Yeah, that's the problem. Yeah, yeah. It's easier to get hurt that way is what sucks. So now the writers go tell Earl Weaver exactly that.

Yeah. This is what Billy said. So Weaver said, I never played in the main. majors, but I drove in a hundred and one runs in one season in the minors. I bet he never did that. Well, he doesn't really matter. I know. He was too busy winning World Series playing with fucking Mickey Mantle. What are you talking about? Who cares about 1001 in the minors? That doesn't matter at all. Bill Burr's having a great time. He's not either crushing open like open mics like me. Yeah, yeah, exactly. When the managers meet at home plate the next day, Billy walks up to Weaver and says,

92. Oh. And Earl said, what's that? And Billy said, that was my batting average in C ball in 1947. Oh, shit. Eat shit, Earl. So you want to talk about minor league accomplishments? I'm bad at almost 400, you piece of shit.

Yeah. He said, you want to talk about your 101 RBIs and the minors in one year? I had 101 RBIs by July in 1947. And Weaver left at that point. He was like, all right, this is ridiculous. both the same guy, I think, is the problem. And Weaver said, this is good. And if we keep fighting,

we'll have a big crowd in Baltimore when you come there next week. We need that. So Billy laughed and they both laughed and they walked away like, all right, we're both assholes. This is just what it is. Try to pack the 300 club. Keep it up, fucker. Yeah, come on. Now, on May 14th after Mickey Rivers, the

cool-ass center fielder for the Yankees back then. He was super fast, lead-off guy, had some pop in his bat. Kind of like a Ricky Henderson before Ricky Henderson type of guy, and not quite as good as Ricky Henderson, obviously. But great player, Mickey Rivers. On May 14th, after Mickey Rivers lazily chased a fly ball

that led to a crucial run in a defeat, Billy announced that he was going to bench Rivers for a while. Sparky Lyle in his book talks about this a lot, how he always breaks Mickey Rivers' balls. And he's always like, just got to leave him alone, man. Just leave Mickey alone. He's a weird fucking guy. He's a jackass.

Just let him do his shit, and he'll play right. Like, Mickey likes to do weird shit. He likes to gamble from the clubhouse phone. He likes to do all sorts of stuff. Just let him go. Just let him do it. All right. All right.

So they say the mood around the team was foul. A benching of a star player puts everyone on edge. Making matters worse, the team was flying a commercial flight to Chicago after the game. More accustomed to convenient and sophisticated and insulated charter flights, the players weren't happy. Then the flight was delayed, which gave the Yankees, Billy included 90s. included 90 extra minutes to drink at the airport bar. Oh boy. They said the drinking had started in the clubhouse.

So this was not good. There was a car ride in between the two. Oh yeah, bus ride. And then they're going to go on a fucking commercial flight. Mm-hmm. With the public. Yeah. So, wow.

That's fun. By the time the passengers boarded the flight, it was not a good combination in the cabin. Semi-drunk, slightly ornery Yankees mixed in with Midwestern men. in business suits heading to Chicago. Oh boy. Munson and Gossage, both well-oiled from the bar, were in coach listening to a country music on a portable takeback that Munson held in his lap.

What? Just putting playing music on a tape deck. Imagine being the middle seat of that shit. Oh, my God. No shit. The music was loud and a man seated in front of Munson turned around and said, would you mind lower in that a bit? As Moss Klein of the Newark Star,

Ledger wrote, Munson's retort was, quote, mind your own business, fuck face. Mind your own business, traveling insurance salesman. Kiss my dick. Enjoy your conference in Chicago. Shut your fucking mouth. Shut up. So word got back to Billy that in first class, that trouble was brewing back in coach with his players. He dispatched Elston Howard to talk to Munson about turning down the music. Who are you the music coach? Munson said. to Howard when Billy's message was relayed.

Now Howard was mad at Billy because he's like, I don't even have the power to do anything, so you fucking do it. Hey, everybody. Just going to take a quick break from the show to tell you a better way to eat with Factor. Factor Meals.com. Get your meals with FactorFactorMeals.com.

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50 off at factormeals.com for 50% off your first box plus free breakfast for one year. Get delicious, ready to eat meals delivered fast with Factor. Now back to the show. He said he wanted him to reprimand Munson, which Billy tried to do. But Munson, usually one of Billy's best buddies, wasn't in the mood for peacemaking. A verbal row ensued. enough to get the rest of the passengers' attention. Rivers, playing cards in the back of the plane and annoyed in general,

decided to take months inside of things and threw a deck of cards at Billy. Uh-oh. Oh, boy. Coaches Dick Houser and Yogi Barra managed to keep the major combatants separated. The regular passengers on the flight had to scurry for their safety amid all the cursing, pushing, and shoving. You don't want to be involved in this. No, not on an airplane.

I don't want any part of this in a tube. Two things happened in the wake of the incident. One, after 1978, the Yankees never again flew commercial as Steinbrenner ordered Killer Kane to book only charter flights for his riotous Yankees, which was probably should have done to begin with. And two, Steinbrenner once again started to believe that Billy did not have control of his team. So, June 7, 1978, big article in the Daily News, Billy Neer Axe again. About to get fired again, coming off the World Series and everything. So it's a fucking mess. They said it's not that the Yankees aren't winning ball games.

That's not what makes the boss is sore. It's Billy's refusal to recognize there are such things as bosses. Billy thinks he's the boss. And that's how it goes. And so they're talking about he might get fucking fired. And that's that. So that's not good. No.

No. Not good at all here. Oh, this is nice. Okay. This is cool. No, I got the box score for the day I was born. The Yankees played Oakland that day. Nice. The Yankees played Oakland that day and they won two nothing.

Look at that. Not bad. The Yankees win for your birthday. Good job, guys. We got a hit for Munson, Nettles, Roy White, Willie Randolph, Stanley. Okay. Anyway, Billy, this is from the book, on June 20th, Billy boarded a plane to Detroit, and while on board, he assembled the writers.

Oh, no. He said, this talk about me getting fired is ruining my sleep. My son reads about it. and it bothers him. My mother reads about it and it bothers her. There's managers all over baseball who've never won, let alone won two straight pennants in a World Series and they don't have to put up with this, but I do.

It's true. Multiple writers wrote how drained and gaunt Billy appeared. One suggested that he was 20 pounds below his 1950s playing weight of 175 pounds. Billy was indeed neglecting his body, eating less and drinking more with his mind fixed on whether he would be

fired from the only job he ever wanted. Monson met with Billy at a bar on the road in early July to try to raise his manager's spirits. But as the two men talked about what was happening with the team and likely going to happen, tears started to well in Billy's eyes. Oh, Billy's crying. Yeah. Munson, fearful that others would see Billy crying, took him outside and the two walked around the block. And he said about Steinbrenner, that man doesn't know anything about

what we do, what we go through. We're the real Yankees. What's he, some rich guy? and that he was sobbing saying, I'm a Yankee, I'm a Yankee. Jesus Christ, Billy. It's just a team, man. I get that to you, it's more, but it's literally an intellectual property. Like, it's not that some guy owns.

It's really not, it's not what you think it is, and not what it used to be. It's kind of a lifestyle, too. That's the thing. So Munson guides Billy toward another block. They walked for about another 15 minutes until Billy got his shit together.

The next day, Munson became the, anonymous source for a couple newspaper stories and it basically was telling Steinbrenner to get off Billy's back saying the team could win if the stress level around the team was reduced and that could happen by George not breaking Billy's balls so much.

Leave the man alone. Let him be a fucking, the manager. July, June 24th, 1978, there's an article in the paper headlined Martin would be gone if replacement around. So basically, we'd love to get rid of them, but we just don't have anybody to put in there.

Wow. That is... It's a terrible thing to learn about anything. Yeah, that's the thing. I'd love to get rid of you. There's just nobody on deck. Yeah, there's nobody. Yeah, I'd love to get rid of you.

I'm looking, though. You know what I mean? I'm on the hunt. It's a little bit much here. Now, here's an incident Monday, July 17th. Yankees are now 13 games out of first place. Yikes. This is like, they make an incredible comeback this.

year in terms of doing this shit. I mean, it's 13 games back. How far? In July, in mid-July. We're past the All-Star break already. That's not good at all. Before that day's game, Reggie met with Steinbrenner. Reggie, like many other Yankees, was not happy with the way the season was going.

He was struggling against left-handed pitchers. His batting average had dipped 15 points from 77, and he was on pace to hit 10 fewer homers that he hit in 77. Plus, his fielding was a continuing source of concern. and he'd been relegated to the designated hitter's role a lot, and Reggie liked playing the field. I don't know why, because he doesn't look like he likes playing the field. That's the thing.

Yeah. Doesn't look like he likes it out there, so I don't know why he, I don't get it. He asked Steinbrenner to get him in right field more often, but Steinbrenner sided with Billy. He told Reggie that his fielding was lousy. Look, you suck out there. What do you want? As Reggie tells the story, he and George started arguing about a variety of things.

Rosen was also at the meeting, though he said little. George decided at that moment he should be a tough love pep talk for Reggie. That's what this is. And George said, you better get your head on straight at one point. And Reggie said, who the hell do you think you're talking to? George said, I'm talking to you. And he said, well, let me tell you something. Don't ever talk to me like that again as long as you live.

As long as you live. As long as you live. Yeah. As he had in Gabe Paul's hotel suite a year earlier, Reggie turned to the Yankees general manager. And I guess he had used the word boy in this at some point, George did. Which obviously is going to make Reggie upset. So he said, Al, you're Jewish. What do you make of that boy remark?

Rosen said he's interpreting it incorrectly and said, I think you should both chill the fuck out, basically. Sure. And so Steinbrenner said, cool down. Hell, Reggie, you better get the hell out of my office. And Reggie said, I don't feel like leaving. I kind of like it here. I'm staying. This is my office now.

So George stormed out of his office. After several minutes, Reggie went down to the Yankees clubhouse. He was the designated hitter batting forth. Kansas City was the game that night. And it was starting in 40 minutes. Now, Billy didn't know shit about this. No? He didn't know they were meeting.

He didn't know what they talked about. He didn't know they had a fight. He knew nothing. He was blissfully, blissfully unaware in his office just sitting there for this shit. So he later said he noticed that Reggie was acting pissed. He planned to ask Reggie about it after the game or the next day. It was nearly game time, so he wasn't going to bother him about it now. Not the time.

Nothing unusual happened until the 10th inning when Munson singled in a tied game. Reggie came to the plate. steps into the batters box. Uh-oh. And they give him the bunt sign. Oh? When the hell is the last time you think Reggie Jackson bunted? And your...

And your... And you're slugger. Bunt sluggler. Yes. Now, if there's a tie game, no outs, and a runner on third, the butt makes sense. Because you want to move the runner in a scoring position. It's just baseball one-on-one. They don't do that now.

They'd say, fucking swing away, strike out in four pitches. Maybe the next guy will hit a homer. But back then, they would try to manufacture runs. Reggie was incredulous. He was batting clean-up. Not inconsequentially, especially to Reggie. The game was also on a, it was a Monday night nationally televised game. They used to have Monday night baseball, I think it was on NBC in the offseason of Monday night football, obviously, because they don't play at the same time.

So Reggie turned to stare in the dugout at Billy, who didn't flinch. Houser flashed the button signal again. When Reggie squared to bunt way too early, if you do it too early, the pitcher knows it's coming, he can adjust. The Royals closer, Al Habas. who's that crazy, the mad Hungarian. He's a fucking lunatic. Recognized what was going on and did what all pitchers of that arrow were taught to do.

He threw it Reggie's head in that situation. But this, Reggie had to get out of the way. There was no way to lay down a bun on that pitch. So it's now 1 and 0. So Brett and George Brett and Royals' first baseman, John Wathan, each took a few steps in toward home plate, obviously playing the bunt. This was part of Billy's ploy.

If the bunt didn't work, at least it got the corner infielder's to play in. It was a one-pitch strategy, so Billy took the bunt sign off. They got the guys in. Now swing away. Hopefully take somebody's head off. But Reggie, angry at everything in the Yankees world at the time, wasn't looking at, he stopped. He ignored the coach at this point. Instead, made a half-hearted attempt at bunting the next pitch and fouled it off.

Lou Pinella was watching from the dugout. He said, I looked at Billy and thought he was going to explode. We all saw him take the ball. bunt sign off. It was a baseball mutiny. Now he's just bunting. Billy was yelling at no one in particular. What the hell is he doing? Swing away. Swing away.

Gene Michael felt as if he was witnessing a moment of deja vu. Michael said I had not seen it before, but it was like I had seen it in a dream or a premonition. I knew something like this would happen eventually. It was like destiny. Oh my God. Oh, boy. He saw it in a Ouija board

prediction. Billy and Reggie. on intersecting paths since 1969 were poised to clash again. Houser called time and jogged down to talk to Reggie. As Reggie wrote in his book, Becoming Mr. October, quote,

Billy Martin wanted a bun. He was going to get a bun. I was tired of all this crap. I suppose it was obvious that I was giving a half-assed effort at bunting. Dick came down, made sure I knew Billy wanted me to swing away, but I was past that now.

So now Reggie's just bunting to be spiteful, which is not helping anybody. at all. Or is batting average. Or anything for that matter. Totally. At least a sacrifice doesn't count against you. Hauser told Reggie again that Billy wanted him to swing away. Reggie said, no, he told me to bunt. No offense to you, but I'm in a bun. Hauser said, I hope you know what you're doing. Like, I'm out of this. I did my job, which was to tell you shit. That's what I'm done now. Reggie went back to home plate and fouled off

another bunt attempt for strike two. Okay, not good. Then he popped another bunt attempt into the air behind home plate where it was caught for an out. It doesn't matter because you have your button on two strikes. It's automatically an out and fell it off anyway.

So strike three anyway, asshole. It's a problem. Reggie returned to the dugout, walking to the far end opposite of where Billy stood. Reggie put his glasses on a ledge behind the bench. He later said that he was waiting for the fist fight he expected to have

with Billy. He said, I hoped I had done something to create a spark to create a confrontation, Reggie wrote. I was looking for it this time. But Billy didn't move from his post on the home plate side of the dugout. He'd been condemned in some quarters for initiating the tussle in Fenway Park.

This time, Billy didn't try to have a national television camera peering into the dugout, covered with a towel. He seethed, but he kept it together. The inning went on, the Yankees didn't score. Billy called over Michael, a coach who he could trust to keep his calm. He told Michael to go over and ask Reggie to go inside

the clubhouse. Billy kind of spit out the words, but he didn't swear, and he didn't call Reggie any names, Michael said. Michael said, you could see he wanted to explode, but I think he was determined not to do anything where he could be at fault. That's that.

You tell him to go into the clubhouse, that thing where you don't fucking open your teeth, but you talk very calmly and very... It's like, tell your kids to say on the top before you... Yeah. What to fucking say you. You're like, break your ass. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Without any insults. Yeah, it's the way you deliver empty threats to your children. Yes, exactly, without actually threatening. It's like, you know something might be coming. So he said, I went over there wondering if Reggie was going to swing at me. Michael approached Reggie in the silent dugout. Billy wants you to go inside the clubhouse, he said.

Reggie said, if he wants me to go inside, tell him to come here and tell me himself. Reggie sat on the bench for an inning, then walked in the second. side passing Billy as he did. Neither man said anything. After the game, which the Yankees lost, Billy grabbed a clock radio on his desk and threw it against the wall. He slammed his office door, closed, and fired a cup of beer against the blue cinder block walls. The beer splattered the picture of Casey Stengel behind the Yankees, behind Billy's desk chair. Yogi Barishued reporters away. No interviews right now. Later, Billy called Rosen and then Steinbrenner, and the three agreed that Reggie would be suspended immediately.

George issued a statement to the press. The basic thing has to be the discipline of the ball club. There have to be a boss and a leader, and Billy is the boss and the leader of this ball club. Everybody knows that Reggie is close to me. He's a good friend, but you've got to back the manager. If you don't, you get to the point where a player can disregard the manager, and then you're done, you might as well hang it up.

So Billy wanted Reggie suspended for the remainder of the season, a little steep for what he's paying. him. George settled on five games and a $9,000 fine. Oh. I don't know where he got $9,000 from. That's a pretty fascinating number to land on. Yeah, it is.

Informed of his suspension, Reggie was asked by the writers what he would do. He said, I'm going to California on the first plane smoking tomorrow night or tomorrow morning. So I'm out of here. In the grappling, snarling near fight at the Fenway Park Visitors' dugout was Billy and Reggie one. Then this was Billy Reggie two. It was more psychological.

A counterintuitive skirmish. Criticized for his excessive outbursts, Billy had kept his composure, at least publicly. It was Reggie, known as a cerebral player, who always worried about his image, who had unraveled with a national television audience watching. He had deliberately hurt himself and the team. In the aftermath, Reggie was vilified across the country

and within his own team. Greg Nettle said it was basically an openly defiant act on Reggie's part to say, look, I don't care what the manager says. I'm going to do what I want to do. the Mets manager at the time, who was Joe Tori, obviously future Yankee manager, said Reggie out and out disobeyed him. Billy did the right thing. Panella recalled that no one supported Reggie in the locker room that week. He said, we had all been asked to bunt.

You question whether it makes any sense strategically because maybe Reggie couldn't bunt. But you know, Billy tried the bunt once and it didn't work. No harm there. Then he took the bunt sign off. Billy was saying, okay, never mind, go ahead and hit. But Reggie snapped. Reggie thought Billy was trying to embarrass him, and I don't know that I believe that because Billy liked to win more than anything else, but I know that's what Reggie thought.

Yeah, I don't, I think Billy will do anything to win. I don't think he's going to. Yeah, I think that's the only thing he gives a shit about. Yeah, he's not going to cut off his nose despite his win. You know what I mean? He's going to win. I love to, at least half of it. At least part of it.

Well, he had a lot of it cut off. He's already done that. He already did that. So, yeah, and every newspaper article is saying how Billy Martin's actually right here and Reggie's at fault. So Reggie went to California. The Yankees went to Minnesota to play. They sweep the twins in a two-game series. Then went to Chicago.

They said Billy's demeanor in Chicago was carefree and reporters noticed that he was relaxed. Gene Michael said, you could just see his face brighten. We all went out to dinner. He was feeling good. George had taken his side against Reggie to Billy, like, to Billy, that was like a reprieve. It was probably the happiest he'd been all season. So the Yankees won four consecutive games,

but everyone awaited Reggie's return and the fireworks that would ensue. On the team bused that the night before Reggie was scheduled to return, Nettles yelled to Billy that he was calling in sick the next day. I don't want to be here for that, he said. Me too, came a voice from the back of the bus. Me too, another eight or ten voices.

A day earlier, Chambliss, Chris Chambliss, told reporters, Reggie can't just come back and then things are rosy. His actions didn't just hurt the manager. They hurt the team. And Billy had addressed Reggie's return earlier too, saying, I don't want any apologies. I just want him to go to his locker, get dress, go out on the field, and he'll be in the lineup. I don't want to talk about it, just it's over. Reggie entered the Visitors Clubhouse at Comiskey Park for the July 23rd afternoon game

and saw a shitload of reporters waiting for him. He took a cab, by the way, to the airport, not the team bus. like everybody else. So they're talking about Kamiski has a small, tiny, cramped visitors clubhouse. Players were shoulder to shoulder and the coaches dressed in the same room.

The manager had an office with no door. Everything Reggie said in a 35-minute interview with about 25 reporters could be heard throughout the clubhouse and likely in the manager's office as well. Reggie was asked repeatedly if he felt he had done something to deserve his suspension. Reggie was adamant.

He had no regrets. He said, I would do it again. If I had known the consequences of all this, I would have swung away to avoid everything that's happened, but I still don't feel like I did anything wrong. In fact, I don't know why I was suspended. So that was shown on TV that night in New York. The reporter said, when you were away,

when your mind dwelt on what you had happened, what were the major thoughts that went through your head? And Reggie said, the magnitude of me. That was his answer. That's nice. The magnitude of me. Yeah. Imagine even thinking that or saying it, never mind.

But imagine even thinking, I think about the magnitude of me. Sounds like a comic we know. Yeah. We were making fun of before the show for being a fucking jerk off. The magnitude of me. Everyone was going to care what I did, but then they did the magnitude of me. They didn't give a shit. Now I'm angry.

But I didn't mean it anyway. I wish we could talk about this. It would be so much more fun of it. People would just be like, just say what it is. But the ones that want it would be fine with it. But the ones that, I don't know. It's so fucking annoying. It's annoying because on a Patreon, we talked about a couple of comics that weren't our opinions.

No, literally we were relaying what every theater staff member in the country has said. And people are mad at us for it. It's like, your boy's a douchebag. Sorry. Yeah. Sorry that you're a bad judge of character, but. I like Marilyn Manson. He's not a good guy.

He's shits in litter boxes with his dad, and that bums me out. Again, found that shit out from theater staff. You want to know how weird people are. Talk to people who make fucking 28 grand a year and work in the back of a theater. They'll tell you everything. They don't give a fuck. They have nothing to lose. And we love those guys.

Those are our people usually. That's fucking people on the planet. Those are the people I take them outside, smoke, joints with them. They'll tell us anything. I love those guys. Leave a couple pre-rolls for them sitting in the green. That's for you. They go, you guys are awesome. Fuck those other guys. We love you guys. That's how you make friends. So it's not that hard to make friends with these people is what we're saying. So you've got to be an extra douche to push them off. People got mad at us just for relaying the facts of who they are.

We didn't say anything about our experience. We don't know these people. We didn't care. No. So anyway, Reggie said the magnitude of me. the magnitude of the instance, the magnitude of New York. It's uncomfortable. It's miserable. That is a wild statement. Yeah. Fucking ask for a trade, dickhead.

Fuck do you want? Yeah. Jesus, it's miserable. Reggie was not in Billy's lineup that day after all. The Yankees won their fifth successive game and whittled Boston's lead down to 10 games, which is the closest they've been in a while here. Now, yeah. Billy was happy about the victory,

but really pissed off that Reggie was feeling like he didn't do anything wrong, basically. So then Billy went to the Bard's Room, a famed lounge at Comiskey Park, where the White Sox owner and raconteur Bill Vec, one of the craziest people in sports of all time. Bill? Yeah? Yeah, he's the guy who put the, like,

three-foot tall guy in the game. He's a guy who came up with all the crazy shit. Basically, this guy would entertain the managers, coaches, and writers after the game. The Bard's room was named, after for the collection of politicians, business magnates, and journalists whom the founding owner of the White Sox,

Charles Kamiski, used to gather each year to take on an all-expenses-paid hunting trip to Wisconsin in the 1920s. Jesus. To be included in the group, an individual had to be interested in both baseball and Shakespearean verse and capable of twisting the two interests

into nonsensical poetry that would be recited over blazing campfires in a cabin in the woods. Okay, count me out. Count me out. That sounds just awfully fucking... Yeah, but that sounds... You get what it is. Man, that sounds incredibly just...

I don't even know the word to use here. Yeah, pompous is good. I mean... Real proud of yourself. I'm so disgusted vocabulary has left me. I'm just picturing someone writing, talking about some Shakespearean verse about baseball sitting around a campfire and was like, you, fucking. It emphasizes the magnitude of me, though.

The magnitude of me is what we're thinking about. So anyway, they talk about the Bard's Room commemorated those convivial, raucous gatherings, and was an appropriately loud and genial place with a long, tall bar, a mammoth fireplace in the middle of the room, and wild game heads mounted on the polished wood-paneled walls. Billy loved the Bard's Room and was good friends with Vec. But on this day, Vec took Billy aside and told him that in June, George Steinbrenner had proposed switching managers trading. Oh, yeah. Vec would send Bob Lemon, former Cleveland Indians pitching star, an idol of Steinbrenner's.

Steinbrenner grew up in Cleveland, by the way, to the Yankees and Billy would come to Chicago. Vex said the deal had some legitimacy since the American League president, Lee McPhail, had been in on the talks. Vec ended up firing Bob Lemon on June 19th, but upon seeing Billy in his Bards room in mid-July, Vec thought he would tell his friend about the conversation because the trade could no longer happen. Sure. Because he fired him. Billy was at first dumbfounded, then furious. From what Vec told him, the talks with Steinbrenner were about the same time that George had issued a statement,

insisting Billy would remain the manager throughout the season. Billy felt betrayed. He had already down two or three drinks when Vec, uh, with Vec when Jack Lang, a reporter for the New York Daily News, sidled up to the bar. Uh-oh. Reggie, or Billy, as he often did with reporters after games, asked Lang what he wrote about. And Lang said Reggie's pre-game press conference.

And Billy said, what did it say? What did he say? And Lang said, read it yourself. Uh-huh. Since reporters still typed stories on eight and a half by 11-inch sheets of paper that were then transmitted via fax machine to their distant offices, Lang's story was on him. his briefcase. He yanked out the tight pages and handed them to Billy. Here we go.

As Billy read about how Reggie absolved himself of wrongdoing and as he read about the magnitude of me. Billy sighed and said, yuck, that's awful. Lang asked if it was a critique of his writing. Billy said it's a critique of everything he said.

So they're saying this is Billy ordered a scotch and water and a paper cup. I'm going to talk. Wow. He held it in his hand as he left the Bards room and boarded the team bus for Chicago's O'Hare Airport. Now you got a roadie. That's all it was. Road pop there.

The Yankees had a flight to Kansas City to catch. Sitting on the bus, the more Billy thought about George's duplicity and Reggie's audacity, the more agitated he got. As he rode to the Kennedy Expressway to O'Hare's suburban locale, as he downed the scotch and his paper cup, Billy ruminated. And the perfect storm was building. Reggie's insolence before the game infuriated him. He is pissed.

Then this whole thing about they're going to trade me and all this type of shit, it's a lot. So as the team bus near to O'Hare Airport, Billy leaned toward Murray Chas and told him he wanted to talk to him when they arrived. Once inside the terminal, Billy made Reggie the target of a rant with a less than amiable challenge aimed at time runner two. Okay, Billy told the guy, here's what I'm saying. Shut up, Reggie Jackson. we don't need none of your shit. We are winning without you. We got a smooth running ship.

We don't need you coming in and making all these comments. If he doesn't shut his mouth, he won't play, and I don't care what George said. He can replace me right now if he doesn't like it. They told him, this is off the record. Right. And he said, nope, it's all on the record. I don't do that off the record yet. The magnitude of me!

Yeah. Leave it in. Leave it in. When the Yankees got to their gate, For their flight, they learned that it would not take off for another hour. The writers went to pay phones to update their stories with Billy's comments. Billy and most of the players headed for a bar near the gate. That's going to be trouble.

Yeah. Reggie and Fran Healy, who'd retired to become a Yankees broadcaster, went for milkshakes at a deli kiosk. Billy had a few more drinks. About 45 minutes later, as the team and writers were heading toward the jetway, Billy turned toward chess, who'd been joined by Henry Hess. another writer and said, did you get all that in the paper, Billy asked. Sure did, Billy.

The guy replied. As they walked to the gate, Billy referred to Reggie as a, quote, born liar for saying that he had no idea what the suspension was for. He said, it's like a guy getting out of jail saying he's innocent when everybody saw what he did. Yeah, we watched it, man.

Yeah, and you got out of jail. You already did your time. Just admit it. Billy was walking. The reporters were taking notes. The two of them deserve each other, Billy said. One's a born liar. The other's convicted.

I meaning him and George. They all knew it was George. And they're like, oh, this is fucking great. They're writing all this shit down. None of that was on Billy's mind at the time, meaning George being humiliated later about this and all this shit. Basically, he didn't know what the ramifications of this were going to be. Billy then went to his seat and smiled at Yogi Berra.

And these words were there all over every paper. The two of them deserve each other. one's a born liar, the other's convicted. And he is fucked at that point, basically. See around, Yogue. Yeah, it's not going to be good, man. So as Billy settled into his seat, the other reporters are there too, and they're writing down all of this type of shit.

Very famous words that later on, Billy sat in the front of the plane joking around. Before arriving to the team hotel, the two reporters had time to approach Reggie and read him the comments and asked for his reaction. Uh-oh. Reggie raised an eyebrow as the words were read to him. He appeared surprised but unruffled. He said, I don't have any comment. It's just unfortunate.

Yeah. Which one am I? The conviction? Yeah. Am I the born liar or the convicted liar? Which one? So then the two reporters went to, into their hotel rooms and called Steinbrenner at his house in Tampa. Oh, my God. And read him the comments to get his

thing. The words, Steinbrenner was pissed. He was speechless, though. He didn't want to say anything. He stammered into the phone, asking that Billy's comments be repeated, and then he also wondered, was Billy drinking when he said this? Was there perhaps a scotch in front of him? Did he have a paper cup full of a flammable liquid by any chance? He said, I have no comment right now. I can't comment, and I won't dignify it.

I'm stunned. I just don't know what to say. Then he hung up the phone, and George called Al Roe. Rosen, general manager, and said, did you hear what Billy said? He wins a few games and goes crazy. Rosen arranged to be on the earliest flight from New York to Kansas City the next morning and started packing. Before he went to bed just after 1 a.m. Eastern time,

he called an old teammate from the Indians Bob Lemon, who was at home in Southern California. Rosen wanted to know if Lemon would be willing to manage the Yankees, should Billy be fired. Oh. And Lemon said, didn't they just win five straight games? Aren't they on a winning streak right now? The fuck's fire in that guy.

Why would you fuck with what's working? And then they said, well, Billy just said this. And Lemon said, oh, Jesus. Okay, yeah, I guess I get it now. Oh, yeah. One's convicted. All right. Yeah, well, yeah.

Yeah. So Billy, the next day talking to Sapir, said, what have I done? And he said, did you say it? And Billy said, no. Well, yes, but not like it's come out. But yeah. I mean, I said it, but I didn't say it. You know, I didn't put stank on it.

They put some stank on it in the paper. It really, it doesn't sound like what I said. It looks worse in print is my point. Yeah. Bad read. It doesn't look good. It's a bad, bad read. Sapir knew precisely what was in Billy's contract.

There was a clause that prohibited Billy from criticizing George or Yankees management. Really? That new, yeah, remember when they extended him, they put all that. There was also a clause that forbade Billy from embarrassing. the team or from being outwardly or publicly insubordinate. It has to look like he's in lockstep with Steinbrenner. Is that kind of the beginning of the behavior detrimental to the team? Kind of, yeah.

They used to have kind of these certain guys. If a guy, you know, kept getting a motorcycle accidents, they put a closet. You're not allowed to ride motorcycles or something. Now there's just like these umbrella things that cover everything. Yeah, this vague, this vague, nuanced sentence of behavior detrimental to the team. It's like, that could be goddamn. You decide. Yeah.

Yeah. Anything. Back then, it was specific things. You can't say anything bad about George or whatever. It's just something. If it causes a public problem, then you're out. Yeah. Then you're out.

So Sapir did not have to think what to do. He told Billy to resign immediately, citing, say it's health reasons. Your health is fucked up. You need to resign. So Billy said, why would I do that? Yeah, that's a lie. And then I would be a born liar. That's not.

I'd be convicted. Or convicted. So Sapir said, because you're going to get fired to fast as possible, but if you resign for health reasons, he'll have to pay you. Oh, genius. Jump him. He said if he fires you, it's for just cause and you get nothing. If you resign for health reasons and say you're doing it in the best interest of the team, you haven't violated your contract.

Genius. So they said Sapir knew the principles and all the principles too well. A lower level judge in New Orleans and longtime member of the city council there, Judge Eddie Sapier had negotiated a lot of entertainment and sports contracts for New Orleans. and dealt with a lot of people of wealth and power like Steinbrenner, and he enjoyed the Dodge, Parry, and concession of an artful compromise. Sapier knew that Steinbrenner would be angry, but he also sensed that Steinbrenner would be afraid of the backlash

that Billy's departure was going to spawn among Yankees fans. That's a fact. And Sapir believed that Steinbrenner had genuine affection and admiration for Billy. He said, if Billy did not challenge George at that moment, I was sure the two men would someday work together again. So I told Billy, this is bad and you're going to have to leave that job, but make it your idea. So, yeah, I mean, did you say it? Well, you said it.

So make it your idea, motherfucker. So Billy called his mother in Berkeley. His sister Pat recalled Billy was crying into the phone. Eventually, Billy summoned the Yankees' public relations director, Mickey Morribito, to his room at the Crown Center Hotel. He knew this guy for a long time, and there's a drinking buddy, too. Mickey feels like a – that seems like a very popular person that I would know, too. Mickey Moribito, yeah, he's been around a lot. He was a ball player and shit.

He said if he was – Mickey Moribito said he wasn't in any shape to do anything. He was shaking and crying, but he had written out a resignation on six small pieces of Crown Center stationary. The writing was in pencil. Moribito took Billy's handwritten resignation, six pages that Morabito kept. and still has more than three decades later. Wow. And that's a cool fucking souvenir. And went to his room to get a portable typewriter he traveled with.

Billy accompanied Moribito, sitting on his bed as the publicist typed up Billy's resignation speech so it would be easier to read. Then Moribito and Billy went to visit Rosen, who had just checked into the room next door to Moribito's. Told of the decision to resign, Rosen didn't try to talk Billy out of it. Keep in touch, Rosen said, when Billy left the room. Rosen then called Steinbrenner and Tampa to tell him the news. Billy took the elevator down toward the hotel's lobby. The Crown Center had an expansive atrium lobby with two-story escalators that led to a glass balcony that overlooked the lobby floor. Moribito had been downstairs in the hotel earlier.

He knew that a horde of newspaper reporters and local television camera crews had assembled in the lobby, hoping to catch a glimpse of Billy. To keep the lobby passable for hotel guests, security had herded the media. media onto the balcony floor. Billy emerged from the elevator door onto the mezzanine, wearing dark sunglasses with a light sweater draped over his shoulders. He had an unlit cigar in his left hand and his speech in his right hand. In front of an antique shop along one wall, Billy stood and waited for the reporters and cameras to congregate around him. He announced he would not take questions. He said, because I'm a Yankee and Yankees do not talk or throw rocks. Then, he read from his paper, I don't. I don't.

want to hurt this team's chances for the pennant. The team has a shot at the pennant and I hope they win it. I owe it to my health and my mental well-being to resign. At this time, I'm also sorry about the things that were written about George Steinbrenner. He does not deserve them, nor did I save them. Meanwhile, everybody knows you set up. Wow. He set up in front of a lot of people. Yeah. Billy paused to adjust the sunglasses there. He said, I want to thank the Yankees management, the press, the news media, my coaches and players. Most of all, though, the fans. Phil Rizzuto's right there, watching from a few feet away.

Rizuto said, it was a nightmare. That's how he talks. It was a nightmare. I had to get him out of there. I really thought he might have a heart attack or something. I know him, the Yankees, and this job are his whole life, and I was worried he was going to get thrown off the balcony or something. All right.

At the ballpark, that evening. Rosen addressed the team. The players expressed a mix of shock and understanding. Roy White said, I think a lot of us really felt that it was best for Billy's health, but almost everyone felt bad for him. He wasn't the reason we were losing. Nettles were angry that the was angry that the reporters had egged Billy on,

taking advantage of the fact that he was drunk and angry. Yeah. Because you know you can get a quote out of him at that point. It's true. He said it was nasty and heartless. If you take the Yankee manager's job from Billy, you might as well stab him with him. the knife. And yeah, and they said that this didn't diminish the clubhouse tensions at all,

either. Because now they were even more mad at Reggie, all the players. So Chris Chambliss said there was certainly some resentment toward Reggie. He had a set, he said a lot of this in motion, but at the same time, pro athletes also instinctively turned toward the task at hand to winning games. Ron Guidry said he was the best manager in baseball, and he's not with us anymore because of something he said. I couldn't believe it. But, you know, I learned it was always the off-the-field stuff that got Billy, wasn't it? Reggie didn't have anything to say. He said, well, I really don't have any feelings.

I'm just kind of, maybe the word is placid. Like the lake? Really? Yes, like a lake. Like, he's very calm. You got an alligator in there? Yeah, and he's got alligators that eat cows in there. And he's very, very calm.

Why would he say that? I'm indifferent. I don't care. Is that what he's trying to say? much. I'm a duck on the water, basically. My feet might be kicking, but you can't see that. I am calm as fuck. So, yeah, they're going to hire Bob Lemon here to come in and manage the team. And that's that.

Newspaper articles were huge, crazy stuff. And they were like, holy shit, this is crazy. Because, I mean, they won the World Series last year for Christ's sake. Right. I thought we're shaking it up, though. Yeah, you should have like three years of grace after that. So you could fuck up. You can lose a bit. Yeah.

I mean, look at any other team. Yeah, it's true. You win the World Series. People still watch the fucking Golden State Warriors. That's what I mean, yeah. They're still skating off shit from eight years ago. Yeah, what do you want? So the book says the outcry was relentless.

Monday turned into Tuesday and it did not abate. Neither did the media reaction since Billy's apparent demise had crossover appeal. Sports talk radio had not gained a foothold in New York yet, but there were plenty of general news talk radio broadcasts. They did hours of programming about Billy's cold-blooded exit. The heartbreak of Billy's departure, and what fans were expressing was heartbreak. Pushed local and national politics aside, everyone wanted to talk about Billy. On Wednesday, July 26th, when the Yankees returned to Yankee Stadium, two days after Billy resigned,

the entire crowd started chanting, we want Billy, we want Billy. That was 20 minutes. Yeah. Yeah, that was 20 minutes before the start of the game. Oh, shit. They chanted it almost nonstop as the players took the field and throughout the first inning. Wow. And then over the course of the day they would pop up, they had signs, Billy number one forever.

Billy Martin, our true Yankee, we'll never forget you, Billy. Billy always number one in our hearts. I mean, it's rough for George on this one. Welcome, Mr. Lemon. Nice to see you. Yeah, nice to see you. Yeah, Bob, luckily, Bob Lemon's a real quality. quiet kind of placid guy for lack of better term.

So he's the perfect guy for this because he doesn't get emotional about it. There was also signs condemning Reggie saying, Reggie, are you happy now? You cut the heart out of us, Reggie. And Billy's the one who is sane. Reggie's the one to blame is one too. It was up there. So the fans were getting into this. Reggie sat out that game.

And years later, Steinbrenner admitted in interviews that he had underestimated the backlash Billy's exit would create. He said in 1992, the fans loved Billy like family. It was personal to them. He was their manager. The older Yankees fans loved him from his playing days. And the younger Yankees fans loved him for helping the Yankees back to the World Series. Either way, they loved him.

And it's true. Growing up as a kid, we loved fucking Billy Martin. And this was when the Yankees sucked, we still love Billy Martin. It was just, he's that guy. George had a lot of regret here. He's taken an ass kicking from the fucking papers in this one. and all the talk radio and the fans, and he's like, oh, fuck. Eddie Sapier said, people always say George was bad for Billy,

but he never meant to be. In his heart, George wanted to be, wanted what was best for Billy. He just couldn't help himself sometimes. George and Billy were similar like that. They could be each other's worst enemy. But George will always say to me, I know Billy's the best manager for the Yankees, maybe the best manager anywhere.

Yeah, he drinks too much, but God damn it, he always wins and he puts people in the seats. What do you want? In the hours before the Yankee Stadium fans were holding aloft signs and praise of their every man hero and bemoaning the loss of their beloved number one, Steinbrenner had already hatched a plan to appease and thrill them. On Tuesday, the 25th, the day after Billy's resignation, George called Billy's agent Doug Newton in New York. He wanted Billy to fly to New York for a meeting. Oh? Sapier also got a call. George said what Billy did was wrong and he's got to apologize and fix some things, but we've got to get him back. And this will continue for like the next seven years, basically.

It's George gets fires him, hires him, fires him, hires him. It's crazy. My whole childhood was George firing and hiring Billy Martin. Regret. Regret. Meanwhile, in Milwaukee, the Miller Brewing Company was stumped about what to do next. Two weeks earlier, it had filmed another one of its popular Miller-like commercial. with George and Billy together.

Oh. Like, what do we do with this now? In the commercial, George and Billy are seated in a bar, drinking Miller Light and the two start to argue about the merits of the beer. The argument, scripted, as scripted, ends with George firing Billy, and everyone in the bar laughs. The brewer had been very proud of the advertisement and informed the business press of its contents at the time of filling.

Like, wait till you see this, time of filming. Holy shit. They told all the reporters, provided the reporters, not talk about the commercial until just before it was scheduled to air. So bar patrons, even outside New York, where Billy had a following, wouldn't be laughing at the Georgia's final line, Billy, you're fired. So Miller issued a statement, no air time is scheduled at this time. We'll put that aside for a while.

Now, told that George wanted to talk about his eventual return as manager, maybe even for the 79 season next year, Billy flew to Newark to escape notice and stayed in a suburban hotel. The next day, they met in a suite at the Carlisle. George said, Billy, I woke up the day after you resigned. And in my gut, I knew something wasn't right. It's not right having you not manage the Yankees. Billy agreed, obviously.

He said, listen, we're both strong-minded. We're both opinionated, George said. He said, my weakness is that I like to have, like to say, I like to have a say in everything. And Billy's weakness is he doesn't like anyone budding into his business. So, yeah. George said both of us could give a little. Maybe we wouldn't have a problem.

Yeah, okay. George had a stipulation, though. He wanted Billy to promise to cut down on his drinking. Oh. Here's what he suggested. This is amazing. He said, listen, Billy, I know you're going to drink. Only drink beer.

Yeah. That's the solution to this. Just beer, which is the ultimate alcoholic solution. bit less alcohol content. Well, it takes a lot more to drink. Yeah, yeah. You get full. You can't get as drunk off, you can't physically, but it's

harder to get as drunk. It takes way longer to get as drunk off beer as you can off scotch. Sure. You can have three quick scotches and get yourself a little loose, whereas three beers, you're going to go, hoof, I'm bloated. I got to go piss. Hold on a minute. I'm going to have three, four more. I'm still bloated, and I feel like shit. A lot.

So, that was it. Number one, Billy said that George conceded that he too was drinking too much. But Billy put George off his suggestion. He said, I take a drink and I'll get hot at times, but I'm not an alcoholic, Billy said. Well, come on.

I think you're an alcoholic. George again insisted that Billy should acknowledge publicly that he had to drink less. If Billy agreed, he soon forgot about it. George's plan included a bombshell. This is crazy. I remember reading about this in the book, Sparky Lyle's book. Saturday was Old Timers Day

at Yankee Stadium, which always is sure to sellout. He wanted to sneak Billy into the stadium, then introduce him to the crowd during the old-timers festivities as the once and future manager. Oh. This is like two weeks after he quit, and they were going to kill each other. Once and future, man. George said, the crowd will go wild. It'll be tremendous.

Yeah. He said, it's going to be great, which is crazy. But he didn't tell the general manager, Rosen, or his manager, Bob Leibon. about this. The guy he hired to manage a fucking team. They didn't even know Billy was in New York, let alone talking to George or having any of this happen. So he told Al Rosen

and Al Rosen argued that Bob Lemon deserves at least a full season for Christ's sake. You hired the guy. You got to give him a chance. Yeah, the notion that Billy would take over in 1980, not 1979, became the compromise. Lemon would then become a front office executive.

They're going to say it like Bob Lemon is moving out of the dugout up into the front office rather than we're firing him for being a dipshit or something. So it's not Bob Lemon's fault that these two have this crazy relationship. Bob Lemon's the girlfriend

who's like in the middle of after you broke up with your crazy girlfriend and you're still talking to her but you're dating this nice girl named Bob Lemon and she has no idea that all this craziness is going on and you're trying to get back together with your crazy girlfriend that you've broken up with 14 times in the past.

Poor Bob Lemon thinks he's in an honest relationship here, and he's not. This is crazy. So anyway, they told this to Billy, and he said, yeah, sure. He said, in the meantime, I'll scout the Yankees minor league players, do some advanced major league scouting, and help Lemon however he needs it. But then he went back into hiding and waited for Saturday. So as the retired Yankees and current Yankees arrived for Old Timers Day, the mood was light. The Yankees had won three of their four last game. to cut Boston's lead to eight,

and about two hours before the introductions of the former players, Billy was dropped off at a little used gate near left field. A trench coat was wrapped around his shoulders, and his head was covered by a floppy hat. So he looks like fucking Paddington Bear getting dropped off at the stadium. Got a goddamn bucket hat on? Good God. Once inside, he was spirited to an auxiliary locker room,

once used for concert acts or boxers at the stadium. Pat Sheehe met him, handed him his number one uniform, obviously. After he changed, he was taken to a boiler room under the stands where he hid until it was his turn to emerge. One of the few people who saw Billy heading for the boiler room was Willie Randolph. Randolph said, I was shocked, and I said, Billy, what are you doing here? You just, the fuck? And he had a big grin and said, you'll see, but it's a secret.

Don't tell anyone. Billy said, I remember walking back to the clubhouse thinking this was a crazy place, man. This place is crazy. The clandestine operation worked. Most of the old-timers were on the field, including Mantle, Barra, and Ford. When Yankee Stadium public address announcer Bob Shepard, the greatest public address announcer in the land,

fucking amazing. Number two. Number one. Biddy Martin. Number one. Number one. Shepard began explaining that Bob Lemon was going to be promoted to the front office in 1980 to be general manager,

Shepard said. Explaining the tape of the day, are examining the tape of the day, it's obvious that some of the old timers on the field were puzzled by Shepard's digression from the usual itinerary. What is he talking about? Bob Levin's doing. And by the news about Lemon status, two seasons in the future, what are we talking about? This is 1978. The 78 Yankees were in the dugout.

They didn't know what was going on too. They looked at Lemon like, what's happening now? What are you doing? Yankee Stadium in 1978 had a long, low-roofed narrow tunnel that ran directly from the teams clubhouse to the home plate side of Yankees of the Yankees of the United States. Yankee dugout. For those players sitting closest to the tunnel runway at the top of the concrete steps, there suddenly appeared a familiar visage. It was Billy in his home uniform.

Hell yeah. Billy did not make eye contact and there was no time to say anything. Shepard went on announcing at the same time the manager of the Yankees in 1980 and hopefully for many years after that. And people are like, what the fuck? And then Billy jumps out of the dugout. Number one, he said. Billy Martin and Billy is flashing on the screen.

The crowd went nuts. It was a second of quiet, and then they went bat shit. Yeah. Crazy fucking nuts. And it wasn't a regular applause. It was like, we scored the winning touchdown applause. Like people went nuts, cheering, exploding. Now we're back.

Now we're back. It was pretty good. Reggie sitting in the dugout, most players were just grinning at the spectacle. Like, man, this place is fucking crazy. Just like Willie Randolph said. Reggie said, I felt like I was hit with a Jack Armstrong right hook. It felt like an out-of-body experience. Was I really seeing what I was seeing?

In becoming Mr. October, the book, Reggie recalled it as, called it the worst day of his baseball life. Oh, Jesus. He asked George Steinbrenner why he wasn't warned, at least told of the plan to ease the shock. And Steinbrenner said, well, I really didn't have to, Reggie. It's not really up to you. I'm kind of the owner.

Yeah, I got it on. Reggie wrote that it would not have been a bad plan if Billy had gotten some help for his drinking in the year and a half before 1980. Yeah, that's going to happen. Yeah, that's like you getting help for your fucking, your arrogance. I don't think it's going to happen. So they had a news conference. Steinbrenner stood at Billy's, not you, Reggie, I meant, by the way. Steinbrenner, it's like, I don't know if I took that as a jab.

Steinbrenner stood at Billy's side during the news conference with a public relations coup unrival, unrivaled in American sports at the time, George had become the hero of the day. Yeah. He's absolved now. He's all happy. George said when he apologized to me, it showed me that he was a man who realized

that he had maybe made a small mistake and it was small in the total picture. And reporters were led to believe that Billy would announce his new drinking regimen, beer only. But when the subject was broached, Billy replied, I'm not over-drinking. I've never been an over-drinker in my whole life.

Over-drinker? over-drinker. What does that mean? Not alcoholic, just someone who drinks too much in a night. Over-drinker. I've never heard that term before. Never. Never.

That's a term made up by an alcoholic, just keep drinking. That must be some shit from back then. They must have only, they just stopped saying it at some point. Yeah, over-drinkers. Everybody dranks. Are you an over-drinker? I like my beer and I like my scotch like everybody else does. Uh-huh.

Not everybody likes this. Everybody else does. But I've never overdone. I think I always control myself well. Meanwhile, all of his fights are alcohol-fueled. They said, have you promised Steinbrenner that you won't drink for the next year and a half? He said, well, no, I haven't. I like Miller Light and I drink it a lot.

He's a, it's a sponsor at this point. The new Miller Light beer commercial came out within days and George's final line, You're Fired, was reddubbed in editing so that he said, you're hired rather than fired. Yeah, yeah. So Billy's response was in the original tape remained again, where he said, not again. So it worked. Now, the Yankees won the game that followed Old Timers Day.

In the locker room, Nettles was asked for his reaction, and he said, some kids want to play big league baseball and other kids want to run away and join the circus. I'm lucky. I get to do both here. Ah, I get to be a ball player in the circus. Yeah. I'm a bear pedaling a unicycle and a fucking kilt.

Yeah, that's me. How you doing? Waving to the people. Lou Pinella said 35 years later, look, George always felt there was a time and place for Billy to manage the Yankees. That time and place just kept changing. And Willie Randolph said, to us at the time, it was like, well, this is good news. Now we don't have to feel badly about Billy him anymore. It's resolved. We'll see him later. See him. Yeah. So Billy left the news conference and watched the game in George's box. He used the Yankees' office phone and called a lot of his friends and family.

Mickey Manil and Whitey Ford took him out for a celebration that night. A couple of other guys who've never overdrank in their life, those two. Yeah, perfect. At about 4 a.m., the New York Post placed the trio at PJ Clark's, a foremost Manhattan saloon since the 1800s that was and is a place of both Ilan and rank unsophistication. PJ Clarks, for example, was where Jackie Onassis took her children, John Jr. and Caroline, to luncheon on Saturday in the 1970s. They got the signature dish, a hamburger, that the 1950s singer and Clark's regular Nat King Cole dubbed the Cadillac of Burgers.

Sinatra and Johnny Carson were regulars at the bar on 3rd Avenue and 5th Street, rubbing shoulders with office workers from the East Side neighborhood. Because they didn't move, tonight show didn't move to California until like 74, I think, or 75 before that they were, it was out of New York. So that makes sense. The saloon was big enough to fit maybe 70 patrons, but small enough that every imbibor was leaning on. or wedge next to someone else. There was a long, deep dining room set back from the large picture window overlooking 3rd Avenue. George Steinbrenner frequented the small cramped bar and noisy and more spacious dining room

in the back too. In the 2000, Steinbrenner became a minority owner of the place. Oh, but on this night, Mantle Ford and Billy and the New York Post reporters knew that PJ Clarks had a private upstairs dining room where certain patrons could go after the bar closed at 4 a.m. If 4 a.m. is too early for you. We got more for you. Wow. And that's where the group, which included about 10 young women,

according to the Post, went and remained until close to 6 a.m. Billy finally exited into a waiting limousine. The rising sun cast an added glow on the golden blonde tresses of his companion, and they disappeared into the car. The New York Post wrote, Jesus. Billy remained in Bickey Mantle or Whitey Ford. They're both blonde. Yeah, right.

Could have been either. Billy remained in New York and New Jersey for, oh, I think he probably meant a young lady. A lady, yeah. Young golden blonde tresses, yeah. I don't think tresses is the way you describe Whitey Ford's flat top. Woody Ford had a flat top, for Christ's sake. I don't think it's golden blonde tresses. That's not going to work.

Yeah. And it's too sexy for Mickey, I think. Yeah. So anyway, he remained in New York for several days after, basically extending this wonderful time here. Here's a problem for Billy, November 12, 1978. Jesus Christ, here we go. This is from the Mobile Register newspaper. Headline, Billy Martin punches out a Nevada writer in bar fight.

Nice. Excellent. Here we go. He admitted Saturday that he slugged a newspaper reporter during an interview but said, quote, he challenged me to a fight, no question. Oh, is that right? That's unprofessional of everybody, I think. It's very weird that they do that.

Doesn't happen often See, Don Lemon pulling that shit Yeah, hey, motherfucker Bob Costas did it all the time What do you want a piece of me? Is what he'd say? Sometimes you had to fight Bob Costas, you never know. Roy Firestone was the worst.

Roy Firestone take you down right over the table. He didn't give a fuck. This is 60 rounds with Charlie Rose. Yeah. Hello, everybody. We're going to sit in a black expanse of nothingness and we're going to have a fist fight between myself Yankee manager Billy Martin. Then I'm going to feel the lady's tits because that's what I did to get in trouble.

Is that what he did? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Charlie. Come on, Charlie. I'm sorry it happened. It's nothing to be proud of, Martin said, of the incident. I thought he was a very credible guy. I didn't even know.

Oh, no, he had some, he had some improprieties, Charlie, later on in his life. That's the calmest groping of all time. As an old man, he did that? He'd be like, did you just, did you just slow motion grope me? That's the calmest shit ever. I was looking for my glasses. I didn't realize they're still on my face. I thought they were inside of your bra.

I thought my glasses were in the back of your underwear. I thought I maybe hung them in your cleavage. I missed, I misplaced them. So Martin said the incident happened. It happened during a bar room interview with Roy. Hagar, a 25-year-old writer, half his age. Nice. 25-year-old writer for the Reno Evening Gazette and the Nevada State Journal.

Pinnacles of journalistic integrity, those are. Poor bastard. What a region to be stuck in. Jesus, that sucks. Hagar told the Papers Management Saturday that he planned to file assault charges against Billy, but Martin told the state journal in an interview that Hagar deliberately wanted me to hit him. His questions got bad at the end. He threatened to fight me, and that's when I hit him.

Hagar, who was treated and released from the local hospital after the incident, said he was hit several times by Martin. By the way, this guy's $5.9 a buck 70, so he's about the same size as Billy. He says the blows knocked off his glasses and chipped at least three teeth and left a gash above his eye and almost knocked him to the floor. Three teeth. Maybe don't challenge people to fight. He wears his fucking World Series ring. So you're going to get your teeth chipped. Certainly.

Hagar said he was the quickest guy I've ever been in a fight with. He hit me before I knew it. I didn't even get a punch in. No, there's either we're not fighting or we're fighting. And if we're fighting, we're fighting now until it's over. Very fast. That's Billy's strategy. And it works.

Someone who grew up on the street, that's what it is, though. Either we're fighting or we're talking. Which one are we? But once you get punched, you know when you're in a fight. You know when you're in a fight. I think it happens so fast. That's familiar sting and numbing. Oh, boy.

Wow. The interview was conducted in a bar at the Continental Coliseum during halftime of the Reno Big Horn's opening game against the Los Angeles dealers. What? Dealers or Las Vegas dealers. Okay, that's a different connotation. In the Western Basketball Association.

Why is, oh, because he was friends with Bighorns coach Bill Musselman and was in town to promote the new team's first game. Hagar said Martin was cordial as the interview began, but as the reporter started asking about Reggie Jackson, Martin got upset. Hagar said, quote, he said that the writers are always trying to twist things, he said. He saw me writing things down and he wanted to see my notes. Hagar said he refused to show Martin his notes and held them behind his back. Martin tried to reach around to grab them.

And then this happened. So, by the way, here is the guy afterwards. Oh, my God. His eye is, he looks like Mitch Green after Mike Tyson hit him. This guy is fucked up. His eye is fucked. Yeah. That is wild.

There you go. Now, from the book, here is how it went down here. They said it's always been written that Billy told Big Horn's officials in advance that he would not do any media interviews during his trip. That may or may not be true, but there's no doubt the team promoted Billy's appearance in advance of his arrival. Big Horn's officials also arranged for an interview with the local paper to maximize publicity for the team. Roy Hagar, a 25-year-old sports writer for those two papers, spent most of his time covering high school sports. So he has no experience dealing with people like Billy Martin.

He drew the assignment to talk to Billy. What a... No. Oh, boy. He does not good. The sports editor, this is from Hagar. The sports editor knew I followed the Yankees then because they were like America's team, the most famous group of athletes in the country.

I think the sports editor gave me the assignment as a reward. Gee, thanks. Wow. Years later, Billy wrote that he went to a bar in the Big Horns Arena and Hagar showed up wearing a Yankees T-shirt. Billy said he thought Hagar was a fan. As Billy told New York reporters later, Hagar asked some general questions and Billy answered them. After several minutes, Billy said Hagar's questions became more asserted and he started taking assertive and he started taking notes. Realizing that Hagar was a reporter and not a fan, because he didn't introduce himself as I'm from this publication, Billy got to. angry and reached for Hagar's notes saying he never agreed to do an interview with him.

Okay. Billy said that Hagar brushed Billy away, and when Howard Wong reached for the notes as well, Hagar shoved Wong, who was then about 65 years old, Billy said he punched Hagar to defend Wong. Okay. Since Hagar and his newspaper

later filed civil suits and criminal complaints, Hagar didn't say much afterwards. He did have his picture taken with a cut lip and swollen face and ugly Shiner, a garrish hard-to-missed black eye. The resolution of the court cases that came six months later, a madcap settlement straight out of Barnum and Bailey Circus did little to clear up the actual details of the situation. It has not helped that Hagar refused to talk about what's happened for 30 years.

But in a 2014 interview, Hagar, then a 61-year-old political columnist in Reno, said he had come to terms with his Billy Martin moment and was willing to tell his side of the story. He also revealed a previously unreported detail that there was a spark to the fight, a hereto, here to four, latent but incendiary flashpoint that emanated from Steinbrenner's office 2,700 miles away. He said, I did not show up in a T-shirt. I put on a nice shirt and tie. He said, noting that he had a post-fight picture of himself in that attire. He said, I was an intimidated kid.

And in that shirt, he does look to be wearing a collar and a tie around it. So he was wearing a shirt and tie, at least right then. So, yeah, this all goes on. He said, you know, I was an intimidated kid. The most famous person I had ever interviewed before that was the Douglas High School coach. I had a clipboard with a list of questions, and I approached Billy after he left the basketball court and introduced myself. He was just wasted, just shit-faced, and he told me to go fuck myself. That's amazing.

There's nothing worse than a drunk. Just drunkenly slurring. Go fuck yourself. Not interested. So he went and called his office at the pay phones, told them what happened, and said he wasn't sure he should even try to interview someone so drunk. Like, where are we doing?

So he said, my boss said, sure, we'll interview the manager of the Yankees. Next time he comes to Reno. And then he said, which will be like never. If you want to interview somebody, now is the chance. He told me to go back and get the interview, and I said, oh shit, here we go. By this time, Billy was in a bar by the arena entrance. Hagar returned to Billy's side and explained that there must have been some misunderstanding

because he thought the interview was prearranged. He said, and I told him my boss was on me to get something from him, and he said, okay, okay, kid, I'll give you the interview. Fine. He said, so I'm going through my list of questions, and he's answering them, talking about Yankees' pride and how he will stress the Yankee way when he comes back as manager in 1980. And he says the Yankees will keep winning because they have a veteran, they have veteran proven players. So I thought it was an opening to ask about Sparky Lyle.

Before leaving his newspaper office that day, Hagar had seen on the Associated Press Sports Ticker, the equivalent of basically the ESPN bottom of the screen deal there, that Lyle had just been traded to the Texas Rangers along with catcher Mike Heath and three other minor league players for four Rangers, including a 19-year-old pitcher named Dave Raghetti. It will be a long-time Yankee. And then fucking pitching coach for the Giants and everything else. Lyle was one of Billy's favorites, the bullpen warhorse of Billy's 1977 championship team. Heath was also a personal pet.

Billy saw Heath as the likely successor to Munson. He said, I figured Billy already knew about the Lyle trade, so I asked him about it as he sat there. and then I saw that he didn't know what I was talking about. He said, so this part of the story has never been in the established narrative. But Hagar had written down all the trade details with the other player's names and he rattled them off. Billy was incredulous, then incensed, both by the trade of Lyle and Heath and because he felt he'd been completely left out of negotiations. Hagar said, you could tell he was really pissed. He didn't want anything to do with me anymore.

He was cursing and steaming mad. He was stewing over the trade and getting angrier. but I had other questions. My next one was whether he could get along with Reggie Jackson when he came back in 1980. Bad combination of two things. Let's piss him off and then ask him about Reggie. I think a veteran reporter would have known that's not the succession to do this. Well, it's just the things that he knows about him.

That's all he's asking is just the thing. Rattling it off. Yeah. It's the truth. Yeah. It's wild. So he said, fuck. If I was interviewing Mel Gibson, I don't think that's going to go well.

I feel like he's going to get mad when I start asking him questions about what he gets angrier than most people about things he probably shouldn't. So Mel's a bad example. I don't know a lot about him apart from. He probably wouldn't have yelled. I don't think he yelled Jew at this guy anyway. I think he called him any racial slurs. But did he tell him his mom's a pig? I think he might have.

He just said she didn't say she's a pig and a Jew. That wasn't. Oh, that was Alec Baldwin. Mel called, Mel called his girlfriend a pig or something. shit like that. Yeah, Alec Baldwin called his daughter. Now you're all angry. Didn't David Hasselhoff do something weird like that with a hamburger or something?

He ate a cheeseburger on the floor, off of the floor when he was drunk. Yeah, yeah, that's right. Those three guys don't want me interviewing them. Nope, I don't want to interview any of those guys. That's all we're talking about. That's going to end in a fist fight or them drunkenly telling me to go fuck myself. Go fuck yourself. He says he started into this broad side about how writers were always trying to twist what he said.

to get him into trouble. He started cursing out the New York writers by name. Then he said to me, I'm taking away this interview when he asked for my notes. Billy reached for Hagar's clipboard, which the reporter put behind his back. He said, I wasn't giving him my notes. Can you imagine how embarrassing it would have been to go back to the office with no notes? Probably could have remembered what he said a little bit if you were sober. Billy wanted those notes and was trying to get at them. Billy was agitated from the Lyle trade mostly, I think, and he finally, with my hand still behind my back, I said, I'm not giving you my notes. It was like a line in the sand, and there was a long historical record of how confrontations

proceed when someone draws a line in the sand before Billy. Hagar said, I've had a lot of years to think about this, and I really think that at that moment, he thought I was being insolent. I was defying him. He just gave me this look. He paused and then hauled off and hit me in the face. He said, my knees buckled, and my first thought was, how did I screw up my first interview with a famous person.

First time I get punched in the face by him. Jesus Christ, this can't be how it goes. So they also said, did you shove the Wong guy? And he said, that's a total fucking lie. I was an odd, overwhelmed kid. I wasn't going to push anyone. Various parties jump between the two, Billy and Hagar, although not completely. He said, things calm down for a few seconds.

Then Billy popped me again. This time, I went flying over a table. like in some fight you'd see in a Western movie. I got up, found my notes, and walked out. You did that, the saloon doors, swung closed. So they said the fight had never been described as a two-rounder. Hagar went to the hospital where he was treated for a cut lip, three-chipped teeth, and a gash above his eye,

filed a criminal complaint of battery. Billy spoke to New York reporters the next day and said he was set up and refused to talk about the Lyle trade. They said about the reporter, Billy told them, I didn't know him, never punch him, never punched a reporter before. Why would I want to fight him? I threw it because I felt he was going to punch me.

Oh. Wow. Self to that, huh? Self preservation. Self preservation. So George here, one of the nonbelievers, which was George Steinbrenner. Billy's contract, he was still operating on the one that expired in 79, had a prominent good boy clause.

Billy was not allowed to embarrass the Yankees with his conduct. Steinbrenner told the New York press that the outcome of the Nevada civil and criminal proceedings against Billy could prevent. him from managing the Yankees again. So now he's in a maybe we won't. Eddie Sapier called Steinbrenner for clarification. He said George told me Billy had to be found innocent of the criminal charges or have them dismissed and that he and Billy could not be found and that Billy could not be found

liable in the civil case either. George said that if Billy paid Hagar any settlement money in the civil suit, that was the same as losing it. If Billy didn't win both cases, George would cut him loose. So Sapier said, I called Billy and told him what George said. Billy said, Judge, I slug this guy.

I didn't mean to, and I wish I hadn't, but how are we going to get away with saying it never happened? Right. And Sapir said, and I didn't know the answer to that, but the more we talked, Billy kept saying, I told them in Reno, I didn't want to do any interviews. If only those fuckers had listened to me. That's when Sapier decided the whole mess was the Bighorn's fault.

That became the line of attack he took. Sapier threatened to sue the Bighorn's owners because they failed to keep a vote. verbal agreement to shield Billy from the press. He also contacted Hager's attorney, who was Hager's neighbor and not terribly experienced, and asked what Hagar wanted. So Hagar said, I was idealistic and thought people, and though people told me to go after a lot of money, I told the attorney all I wanted was my medical bills paid and an apology

from Billy. It was about $7,500 in medical expenses, most of them for dental work, as I know, is very fucking expensive as I'm finding out. It is crazy. And they just like, what... Keep doing it. They need to fucking show the math. How does that add up?

I just want them to come up with new science of doing this shit differently. If you went into the fucking dentist in 1912, they get a drill out and drill your fucking tooth. If I go in there now while satellites are fucking swarming over my head. Wireless internet's going over. They get a fucking drill out and stick it in my goddamn fucking head. I can get a fucking. organ taken out with a laser. Do you understand that? You could remove my

kidney with fucking lasers yet these people need to take metal drills and drill them directly into my fucking skull. They're doing the same thing Doc Holliday did. Yes. The same shit. Just a different kind of cane.

It's the same shit. I'm your Huckleberry. Drill into my fucking head. Go ahead. You may continue, sir. Fucking proceed, dentist. You may proceed. God damn. Fucking hell. That's crazy.

Holy shit. So Sapier went back to the Big Horns and said Billy would not sue the team if the big horns cut Hager a check for $7,500. They said no. Oh. Sapir kept up the pressure explaining the grounds for the suit and revealing his ammunition. Wong agreed to testify that Billy repeatedly told the team on his arrival in Reno that he would not talk to any reporters. And a Big Horn's official assured Billy he would be kept away from the press. Wong also said Billy was defending himself from a belligerent Hagar.

As Sapier screamed, Hagar tried to get on with his life. The day after Billy punched him, he went to his brother's wedding where he was the best man. Those are good pictures. The bride was furious because no one was paying attention to her, Hagar said. Everyone wanted to talk to me about my fight with Billy Martin. It was awful. He said they took two sets of wedding pictures, one with me in it with my big black eye and one with me without me in it. you can guess which one they kept.

So. That's much more. That's what I would keep. That'll make me read the story. Yeah, I don't think they're going to put that in their wedding album, though. They're going to put that one in the back. The settlement was on May 24th, 1979. Everyone flew to a news conference in Reno.

All the details have been arranged ahead of time. The big horns caved in and one of the owners cut an $8,000 check that would be publicly presented to Hagar. For that sum, he would drop the criminal charges. But there was still the matter of Bill. apologizing to Hagar. Okay, Sapier said, we were flying to Reno and Billy was in a good mood. This had been hanging over his head and he was just happy to have it behind him. And I said, skip, there's just one more thing.

The Hagar guy wants you to apologize to him at the news conference. And Billy got this look on his face and I thought, uh-oh, he said to me, Eddie, I didn't cause the fight. I'm sorry, but I ain't getting up and apologizing. That ain't happen. He said, I'm sorry. I'm sorry? Yeah. Yeah, at the conference, which was well attended here, all the principals involved sat at the table, and they presented the check and on the charges were dismissed, civil and criminal.

Hagar dressed in a suit, awaited the apology from Billy. Hagar had been told that Billy would speak at the news conference, but Billy did not go to the microphone and Sapier did instead. He said, I'm really glad we're all here, and this is all behind us now. I have to, I've talked to Ray and I've talked to Billy, and I want you to know how sorry they both are. They both really wish this never happened. Right. He said, so this is the end of this. They're both sorry.

But as they say, love is never having to say you're sorry. That's a fucking joke there. And get some fucking love story shit in there. It's an Allie McGraw that said that. I don't know. I think that's what it is. The Robert Evans-Loney produced. That's another one.

Yeah, that is true. I never thought about that before there. Every kiss does, in fact. It sure the fuck does. Begin with K. And really, from there, I don't know what else to say. Other than Gatorade is for that deep down body thirst. And other than that, I really don't know what else to say.

Gatorade is thirst aid, Jimmy. That sure is. And with that, Sapier stepped away from the Rostrum and encouraged Hager and Billy to shake hands, which they did. Sapir said, we left that room and got on a plane to Vegas to celebrate. And we were having a drink on the plane. And Billy said, Judge, that was just beautiful. Later that afternoon, Steinbrenner announced Billy would soon sign a new contract to manage the team in 1980.

And asked why the deal had been agreed on that day. George answered, I never said he wasn't going to manage in 1980. Okay. So that offseason was interesting here. Billy keeps a low profile. In December, he lent his name to an upscale Western Apparel Star on 69th Street near Madison Avenue, where all the great cowboy gear is. Does that, there's no one of fucking exists in New York City, right? It did.

That shit, dude, that cowboy shit in the late 70s and early 80s was big. It was a big trend. Remember urban cowboy with John Travolton? It was a big trend. What? That cowboy shit. Well, yeah, it's grown men dressing up in. costumes.

It's very funny. You might as well dress up like Batman and go out. It's that's the exact same thing. Unless you wrangle cows, I don't want to fucking... If you get in your Rangerover, you're dressed in a costume like a fucking small child, you jackass. Watching a man. Calling an Uber.

Yeah, it's... It's... It's... Watching them get into somebody's Prius, it's hilarious. Get into a fucking Pakistani man's Prius? I can't get enough of it. fucking idiots. Amazing.

It's so good. Absolute jackasses. Nothing says jackass to me than that. Like a cowboy getting an Uber. It's the worst. It's just a grown man dressed like a cowboy. It doesn't matter what he's doing. It's ridiculous.

That's my favorite is like if you go to like Dallas and everybody's dressed like that and you're like none of you are cowboys. None of you are cowboys. You fucking dips. Austin's the worst. It's like, you're a college student. Put it away. Yeah. Yeah, but they have a different thing there too.

Do they? We're like, we're like punk though and we're like a bit of hippie mixed in and we're like we're like Matthew McConaughey basically. They wear cowboy boots. We also play bongos and smoke weed. You know what I mean? But we wear cowboy boots too. That's the Austin vibe is like, yeah, bro, we're just like that.

Yeah. Whereas the rest of it is like pretend cowboy horseshit. They want to be weird. But Portland's got it under control. Put it away. Yeah. Austin is not weird. No.

It just feels like, it just feels like Texas with more with more bong shops. That's it. It's 40. It's phasing away the 401K. That's what it is. Two extra bong shops and a lot of bars. That's what it feels like. Austin is unsustainable Portland.

That's what it is. It is. It really is. We walked around Austin this year when we went there. We were like, this is not sustainable. This is bad. This is all going to end badly. There's no way this has longevity.

And now we're watching real estate prices plummet there. We nailed it. We were like, this isn't going to work. Got it right out of the gate. Oh, boy, this sucks. When I'm walking past a fancy store that has like three jackets and a pair of cowboy boots in and I'm like, this isn't going to, this is not sustainable. How you can pay your rent tomorrow?

Not sustainable. It's the 30th, guys. Guys. All that shit better have just been sold this week because. Is there a check coming I don't know about that you're expecting? Is somebody's grandmother helping them out? What's going on here? So the store, which sold expensive leather boots, belts, cowboy hats, shirts, and other Western-themed goods would eventually move to the Trump Plaza complex and was a busy and profitable Midtown Manhattan Enterprise for more than 30 years.

It would ride the coattails of the urban cowboy craze. There it is, yeah. Meaning the movie and the actual craze. On its first day of operation, it was Billy, who was at center stage at the news conference, and he charmed both the sports and fashion press. Asked what he knew about clothing trends, he answered, I know that some people in New York in New York long for the wide open spaces of the range. They can't get there, but they can get a feel of some of that freedom with a nice pair of boots and a cowboy hat that expresses a kind of Wild West attitude. And they look very nice, even with a fancy suit.

Look like a poser here, why don't you? Jesus fucking Christ. The thing about those boots, though, is that they're flat and leather bottom. And where it snows like that on fucking sidewalk, you end up straight on your fucking ass. You're just going to fall a lot. You're going to fall standing up after a fall. Fuck, yeah, you are absolutely going to do that, man. So that's funny.

So, yeah, he called himself a rhinestone cowboy as well. And he said that, you know, back in the early 50s, he'd listen to the country Western music that Mickey Mantle enjoyed. And he said, quote, I used to think, boy, that's terrible music, which he was absolutely right about. I love that. Boy, that's awful. Yeah, that's what I think when I hear. Jesus, that's bad stuff. It's like if someone put a plate of food that had shit in it, and you'd pick and smell, you go, this is terrible.

What are I eating here? That's what it is. And I love that the country fans are so fucking dumb that they don't even care that if a real person is singing and writing or not. They don't eat. We've said for years, especially with my cousin Ian, who does research for the show, we used to say all the time, we could just take lines and tropes from country music and write a country song with no authenticity whatsoever and it could be a huge hit just because they only want to hear certain catchphrases because they're dumb and we're right.

And Bo Burnham did it and made a joke out of it and then these. We're doing it well before Bo Burnham. But I mean, the point is he did he made it like everybody knows that bit and I don't. I mean, it's a very popular. eight minutes of Bo Burnham and I will never watch another second. He drives me fucking crazy. I think he's the worst. So he did this

in one of his special. I think he was the outside special. I think he was the one that he did. He filmed it by himself in during COVID. That's the best way to film with Bo Burnham. You sit in your own fucking room by yourself or no one can be bothered by your annoying bullshit. God, I hate that guy. But the point is he

did this song. It's basically this song and there's still and these people are they eat it up they don't care it they're like we're dumb you're taking our money and fucking us in the ass and we don't even care because you said cold beer

and you mentioned a blonde lady and you talk about some horse shit yeah it's amazing he said but then Mickey told me to listen to the words and that's when I got to understand it couldn't understand what that really got me out of it

that lost me out of it that lost me even further. I don't get it. He could have just led James more astray. Nope. Sometimes the music, I'm like, all right, there's some bass in this.

Okay, that's fine. And then it comes in with this shit. I'm like, oh, I'm out. Never mind. I don't know what the fuck they're talking about. You better get your ranch hands to go find James. He is astray. He's going to be in a neighbor's ravine somewhere hiding from you.

Somebody's going to just, you better hope James is branded because he is lost. I am gone. This goddamn fucking thing keeps wandering off. I don't know why. It might be the words, you guys. Maybe it's the words. He said, what's your favorite country Western song?

And he said, I'm so lonesome I could cry. Oh, really? Next season. No. He said, you know, so that's what they were talking about. About all of that. And he says he'll definitely be the manager next year. It was no stunt.

He said George is very sincere. He's in love with the Yankees like I am. I don't have a written contract yet. My other contract runs through 79, and I'll be there in 80 and do a job for him again. So I said, can you coexist with Reggie Jackson? And he said, I've managed teams before where players didn't like me, but that doesn't mean I'm going to take it out on him.

One thing I don't think Reggie Jackson really understands is you don't like to say to a guy he's a DH. You know, every player has his pride. He wants to play. I understand that. I appreciate that and respect him for it. At the same token, though, I don't like to have my pitchers come into my office every day saying, I'm not going to pitch if he plays right field.

Okay. That's the thing. So, you know, can't do that. He's a shit right fielder. And they've got the clubhouses divided over it? No, it's just the pitchers don't want them out there. Like a ball gets hit to right field. I've got to sit there and hold my fucking breath because I'd like to know that a pop-up to right field is going to be an out.

You know what I mean? Not going to fuck my ERA. Yeah. January of 79, Steinbrenner tells the newspapers, all of them, that he is standing by his commitment to Billy Martin. He will be the manager in 1980. You can fucking bank on that. He said he's been, you know, Billy Martin,

they asked about what about the fight and all that. And he said, no, I don't want to hear about it. He's going to be the manager. Then in February, he speaks out on Billy again. he's talking about Billy and everything like that. He's saying that he's got a, Billy's got to, he's got to tighten it up. Yeah. He's not even the manager yet.

No. He's already telling Billy what to do. Yeah. Tighten it up, Billy. You don't pay me. Yeah. It's very fucking interesting. Yeah, it's odd.

So they're talking about not liking certain things that Billy does and everything like that. he just didn't like the fight thing was the main deal. He said one time, I got one call and Al and Al had had a few. We were told that Billy's behavior at the dinner wasn't worthy of the Yankees. Billy arrived drunk and didn't conduct himself properly. I told Al to check into it. This was at some dinner in Creskill, New Jersey. Who cares?

Who gives a shit? Can he manage the fucking, does he know which pitchers to put it in the fucking eighth inning with the runners on? That's what's important. Not how drunk he shows up to some fucking, some dinner in New Jersey with a bunch of guys who own fucking, you know, uh, fucking faucet fitting goddamn firms.

A couple radio shack outlets. Yeah. Jesus Christ. Oh, this guy, he's the best fucking pipe man in the, in the dry state area. Great. Who gives a shit? Um, so he said,

Gene Michael said, he wasn't drunk. I know that. We worked hard talking to a lot of people. He brought Mickey Man. with him and they helped raise a lot of money. So he was defending him. He was like, that's bullshit.

He even brought Mickey Mantle with him. He said there was a few people, especially one woman who was bothering Billy Martin. He said they were being rude and pestering him and he was doing his best to ignore them. Maybe he said something to get rid of him. If anybody called to complain, it must have been that woman. She's the one who should have been complained about. Bitch. He didn't say that.

Yeah, that's what he wanted to add. Steinbrenner said, if he keeps his end of the bargain, I'll keep my husband. mine. That's all he said. Then March 2nd, 1979, Daily News headline, three to one, Billy won't be back with the Yankees. Now they're making odds. You're like, he's not coming back, right? Yeah, this is not happening. Yeah, they're literally going back and forth.

They give three to one odds, whatever. April 17, 1979, here's thoughts on various topics. The headline is, the night was Billy Martin's 1,284 to zero. Oh, okay. Nice. They said, this was Billy the kid, the keeper of the Bronx Zoo, the bad boy of baseball, not by a long shot, not last night in front of 1,282 fans at the Fountains Pavilion. Billy Martin couldn't have been more charming. He was witty.

He was warm. He was gracious, gregarious, captivated the folks at the fountains as few of his predecessors at the annual St. Bonaventure Alumni Association Sports Banquet have ever had. Oh boy. So he's just doing shit. He said, when I first went to the Yankees, all I was concerned about was Billy Martin. I was all I. He said, and then he learned how to be a team player. He talks about all this shit and talks to the kids. He said, you mom and dads, the next thing might get you mad at me, but I like to say the truth is the name of the game. Just remember that the children, when they're playing Little League, the little children, and remember the name of the game is not their batting averages or their fielding averages, but are they're they having a good time? Are they enjoying their teammates? Are they having fun going out there being part of a team? Because when they get to be 17, 18 years old, they're going to be adults all their lives.

They're going to be competitive. So let them enjoy it. And that's not how it is anymore with kids. That sucks. But they are going to be adults all their lives. That's true. That's true. But I mean, if you want to, if you want to be in sports and you're a kid, you have to be like a professional

from the time you're 12 now. Now, right now. You can't just fuck around. And yeah, you can't just play and then eventually figure out you're better at this. You have to be, pick a specialty and go to it right now. Don't you dare make a mistake? No, no, you're fucked. Yeah. Yeah. He said, when I

first came to the Yankees, he said, when I first went back to want to go back, I want to go back with the Yankees. When I first came to them, I saw a clubhouse full of freeloaders, second guessers, everybody's brother, aunt, sister. I threw them all out. I put guards on the doors, made them be Yankees again. Put ties

on the players instead of the sport. shirts they've been wearing. If it stays that way, they're going to be winners for a long time. I don't think the ties are what does it here. No, probably not. He talks about books, because here's a sampler of some questions. What about modern sports books like Jim Bouton's

Ball 4, which, by the way, he was super fucking pissed at Jim Bowdoin for writing, and then wrote his own. Yeah. How dare you expose what goes on in the clubhouse? And then he wrote his own book. It was the same way. He said, when I write my book, I hope it's a book a little boy can pick up and enjoy. It's not, by the way, and learn something about baseball. I might even mention George a few times.

Talks about Reggie Jackson. I like Reggie. I have one set of rules which apply to all 25 guys. I don't change them for one individual. He said, what does Reggie think of me? Not really concerned. That makes sense. There, he talks about some other stuff. And he said, I think the press has a tendency to interfere an awful lot. The writers pit players against players, player against manager, manager against management. They all want to be confidential magazine writers. Not all of them, but Dick Young is right up there. He said, Dick Young comes into my clubhouse and wants to change my rules. And I told him he can't change my rules.

I told him he can change my rules when he writes the headlines to his own stories, which he can't do either. There you go. These reporters don't have that. He said, how does one motivate a player like Mickey Rivers? And Billy said, oh, loan him a little money. And everybody laughed because Mickey Rivers is always gambling. He said, Mickey Rivers is one of those individuals who's very emotional, needs a lot of guidance. I do everything possible.

And believe me, he comes right back and does everything possible to help the Yankees. I love the little guy. So there you go. So anyway, he says, I'm going to be there. I'll be there next year. All year they're just keep you sure you're still coming back. Yeah. You got a whole year for you and George to fight.

You're still coming back, really. Like, nobody fucking buys it. He also says, announces that I didn't pay a dime to that writer I punched. I made the fucking team to it. He basically exposes that whole scheme and he put together. Yeah. He said, those guys paid it, not me. That's right.

And he said, I never said I was sorry. Yeah. Also, Hagar's lawyer said he said he was sorry. The incident happened. He didn't say he was sorry. He hit him. he said he was sorry it happened who cares

shut up yeah yeah who gives a shit doesn't fucking matter so that's what's going on here here we go this is I love here's the handshake by the way between Billy and the reporter

peace treaty they call it there Billy really means this handshake he means it a lot nope he doesn't care at all so Bob Lemon here okay by Earl early 1979, Bill was about 20 pounds heavier than he was when he re-signed the previous season.

He scouted other Major League teams for the Yankees and occasionally visited the organization's minor league system. That summer, the Yankees were about to begin a period of prudent amateur drafts. Among their 79 picks was their line drive hitting first baseman, Don Mattingly of Evansville, Indiana. They picked Mattingly up this year. Man, my favorite player. Billy occasionally had dinner with Bob Lemon. Lemon needed the companionship. Ten days after the Yankees' 78 World Series victory, his son Jerry had been killed in a one car automobile accident on an Arizona highway.

Jerry Lemon was 26 years old and the youngest of the Lemon children. Lemon was always an easygoing guy. He called everyone from clubhouse boys to clean up hitters meat, which is what you call new guys. What's up meat? Yeah, that's even major league they call them that. Hey, meat. It's a very popular thing for, like, fucking cowboys to say to guys, too.

Really? Yeah. Why? I don't know. Fresh. You really think they're doing something out there, aren't there? The young guy on the range is fresh meat. It's, they just call them meat.

Isn't that weird? That is so funny. They act like it's like a world everyone's fighting to get into. And they're just, like, baseball. Like, they got the fucking guards at the door. Like, I can't get in here. Meanwhile, anybody with a criminal record and nothing else to, do can go ahead and go out there

and get knocked around. I'm not saying it successfully, but they'll let you try probably. Certainly, yeah. If you're good at it. Go give it a shot. I call you a good hand. They love it. There you go. So he would say, take a few pitches and work a walk, meat, he'd tell a batter. You got a question, meat. He'd ask a reporter,

which is very funny. Lemon, who's a Hall of Fame pitcher was once asked if he ever took a tough loss home with him. He said, no, I leave it in some bar along the way. That's not bad. Take it home with me. Yeah, that's fun.

Leave it on the bar stool. Yeah, I'll leave it there. I put it in the tip jar. That's how that works. Somebody take that home with them. Fuck that. Yeah, so that's it. I want to get home and sleep.

So, 79, Lou Pinella said we were a veteran team and veterans often don't want to do much in spring training anyway, but that spring we really kind of took advantage of the situation. We were sleepwalking through the spring, and poor Bob Lemon wasn't there mentally to give us a kick in the ass because the son just died. Yeah. So they fell several games behind in the standings at the beginning of the 79 season. The team seemed lethargic and distracted.

Then you got this going on here. You got Goose Gossage and fucking Cliff Johnson getting in a fight. These are two huge guys, 6-3, 6-4, over 200 pounds, both of them. Big giant guys. They got in a big fight in the shower after Gossage made a few shots at Johnson in the clubhouse. Penella said the fight in the shower sounded like two semi-trailer, semi-tractor trailers colliding. Oh, my.

In the tussle, Gossage fell against the shower wall and tore a ligament in the thumb of his pitching hand. Wonderful. They said he would be out for two months and never truly regain his form until the next season. And he was their main guy. I mean, they got rid of Sparky Lyle, that's it. They said Munson's knees were so bad.

he was occasionally forced to play first base. Well, he won't be complaining about his knees soon. I'll have other complaints. Reggie had a variety of leg issues. Everyone's production seemed condensed. Nettle, Shamblis, and Reggie all had lower than usual power numbers at the plate. The pitching staff was a mess. Willie Randolph said the 79 team was tired, not just physically,

but maybe tired just from all the stress of 77 and 78. And George is losing it with this. He can't fucking deal with this shit at all. They said there was plenty of excuses for the 79 malaise. Steinbrenner was hearing none of it. The Yankees were the two-time defending World Series champions, and he wanted another title. He called Billy and asked if he should fire Lemon

and have an interim manager until Billy took over in 1980. Billy convinced George to let him try to resuscitate the 79 team so long as it did not affect his tenure in 80. He said, I'll come in and manage him if you, as long as it doesn't make me not be able to come in 80. It was counting against me. So told a few days earlier that the move was imminent, Billy had called Lemon to warn him.

Billy said he often felt sympathy for the managers he was replacing, especially when they were friends like Lemon. But there's a saying in baseball, managers are hired to be fired. Billy knew the adage. Well, collectively, the fraternity of managers rarely held a grudge. Each of them had replaced someone at some point and almost certainly had not happened after their predecessors had retired. They got, they're replacing a fired.

person usually. That's it. So in 79, Lemon said, it's okay. Maybe you can get the boys playing again, Billy. And Lemon stayed on as a consultant. Al Rosen said he cried when he had to fire Lemon. And within a month, Rosen had resigned from the Yankees and never came back either. Oh, no. So June 1979, Billy Martin's hired again. Billy's back. This is ridiculous. And that's the headline right here. Billy's back. Yes. This is insanity. This whole thing is fucking crazy. Lemon said, I'll tell you one thing. If Billy can help in any way, I'll be more than glad that he did. You know, it's fine. He said, we got along well in 76 when I was his pitching coach here. So, yeah, this is a lot. Think about the craziness of this. He fired him in the middle of a

World Series run. This guy came in, guided them to a World Series win, and then he fired him. So in the last two years, George has fired two guys who just won the World Series for him. Think about with that. Yeah. Think about the, Has that ever happened in fucking sports before? I don't recall. Two straight year. Win, fire that guy, win that guy. I don't think.

And then bring back the first guy. That's never happened to bring back the first guy. I don't think a guy is one, two back to back with different coaches. No. Think about in the NFL, if you win two straight Super Bowls, you could be five in the, what is it, how many games they have more now, whatever. You could have five and 12, five and 12, which sounds stupid. five and 12 for the next five years and they won't fire you.

It doesn't matter. Look at Mike Tomlin. How long did he keep a... What the fuck? He's never lost a season, but he's never been under sub 500, but he hasn't made the playoffs. He's not getting over the edge lately, but he won a couple, he won some shit back then. He might get him the first round and then they're gone, but they don't go deeper than that, and he's still there. He's never leaving until he wants to.

No, they don't like firing people. Pittsburgh and the Giants, even though the Giants just fired their coach. That guy should have been fired a long time ago. Way long time ago. The second he said Russell Wilson is our starter. It's just that he's out of here. Done. But they don't like they're all the Maras and the Roonies are buddies.

And that's why they always did a lot of shit. Yeah, that's why it's weird. They've always had the same type of football teams do over the years. And a lot of Giants fans, their AFC team is the Steelers. In New York, there's a lot of Steelers fans that if they're not Jets fans, they're Giants fans, they're Steelers fans also. It's very weird. It's very strange thing.

Yeah, that's so far. Why wouldn't you pick the fucking Eagles? I guess that's because they're rivals. Because they hate the Eagles. They're in the division. They're in the AFC, and they're similar. They've always been a similar style of team and run a similar way. So 1979, New York Yankees are 89 and 71.

Billy Martin's 55 and 40. And they would win. Yeah, who would win? The Steelers? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So this year, their fourth place in the AL East at 89 and 71. So not going to the playoffs this year.

Billy was 55 and 40 managing, which was better than Bob Lemons, 34 and 31. So not bad. Reggie keeps asking to be traded throughout 79, and he's sitting out with a leg injury. Anyway, George Steinbrenner said, I kept telling Reggie that he should try Billy again. The first time I ate broccoli, I didn't like it. The second time I didn't like it. Now it's one of my favorite vegetables. Billy is like broccoli.

Billy Broccoli is what we call him. Billy Brocks, we call them all around. He said, I know Reggie is distraught, but he should come out of it. Reggie then called Billy, and the two talked. Reggie showed up to play the next day, and the Yankees lost anyway. So that's what happened. Reggie did hit three home runs in his next four games, but the Yankees struggled nonetheless. in every way large and small,

call it karma, the book says, the law of averages, old age or whatever, it was not the Yankees' year. It was evident in every meaningful or insignificant step along the way. In Seattle, they lost 16 to 1, and Billy was ejected from the game for arguing a call at first base.

Wow. Billy immediately started kicking dirt near first base on umpire Bremagin's shoes. But the game was being played in Seattle Kingdom where the artificial surface only had small cutouts of dirt near the bases. Bremigan simply moved on to the artificial surface part of the infield where there was no dirt.

Billy was flummocks. No ump had ever escaped that way. God damn it. There's no dirt by you, jackass. August 3rd, wow, 1979 here. Here is Thurman Munson dies today. Ah. This is, this is Thurman Monson dies.

killed in the crash of a two-engine plane. He was trying to land at Akron-Kanton Airport, according to FAA officials. Here they said Monson died in a Cessna Citation twin jet engine engine engine. Oh, yeah, twin-engine jet. Wow. Yeah, one of those little fuckers. But it's a twin-engine jet. That's crazy.

Yeah, it's not a little crop duster. Yeah. FAA official said Monson was practicing takeoffs and landings at the time of the crash. Two other men aboard the plane were injured, but neither was seriously her. and he died. Two guys walked away from this and he died? That's crazy. Was he flying it?

Yeah. Wow. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Summit County, Ohio sheriff's deputy, Jeff Cashburn, one of the first officials at the scene said he saw the two survivors running from the crash site and tried to reach the plane. He said, I tried, but I couldn't come closer than 30 feet because of the intensity of the flames. Ooh. The body was burned beyond recognition.

That's the problem. That's the problem. Monson had once called flying a new love to make things more pleasant for me. Mickey Morabito of the Yankee spokesman said he was flying home on an off day, which he does. Thurman's a very good family man. He loves to be with his family. It's one of the reasons he got the plane to get home and spend more time with them. Unfortunately, that's what he was doing, going home to be with his family, and it's a tragedy.

An FAA employee at the airport said there's an embankment at the end of the runway, and he was at least 40 feet low there. He was too low. They said that the, yeah, they said they'd been, I guess the jet had been engaged in some touch-and-go practice, takeoffs and landings when the crash occurred. He said the cause of the crash was not known at the time. They said weather does not appear to be a factor.

The plane was coming in for a landing and crashed a thousand feet short of the runway. Jesus Christ, Thur. Not even close. 4.02 p.m. Eastern time. The plane's number, by the way, the ID number on it was 1-5 NY, which is his jersey number 15, New York. It was purchased recently by Munson. He was the runaway winner of the American League's Most Valuable Player Award in 76, and Yankee captain.

First Yankee captain since Lou Gehrig, by the way. Is that right? It was Garrick, Munson, then Mattingly, then Jeter, and now I don't know what the hell they do. They give it to anybody. So, yeah, that's extremely sad, I would say, here. Bad shit. Not good. Thurman's dead.

That's not cool. So about this from the book, they said, expecting her husband to come home and barbecue the family dinner that evening, Diana Munson was surprised to hear the doorbell ring at the sprawling brick colonial she and Thurman had built not long before, not long before, in a sweeping property with a rural view. Her three children, none older than nine, yelped Daddy's home. Instead, it was officials from the airport telling her about the accident. And one said, Thurman is gone.

Jesus. Billy issued a statement saying, for those who never knew him and didn't like him, I feel sorry for them. He was a great man. For his family, friends, and all the people who knew and loved him, my deepest sympathy. We not only lost a great competitor, but a leader and a husband and a devoted family man. I love him. And Billy Joe, Billy's kid, said, Thurman was my dad's favorite,

and he was just crying in a mess. Dad was alternatively crying and angry about what happened and said he needed to go out to dinner. I said, Dad, you can't go. You'll drink and someone will say something, and even if they mean well, who knows how you'll react. You're going to fucking kill somebody tonight. You're going to punch somebody for sure tonight.

He said he agreed with me. I ordered a steak from room service and put some videos on the TV. We stayed home. We watched two John Wayne movies with him crying from time to time. He nibbled at a steak. Before dinner, I made him a shivis and soda and set it down right in front of him. He never touched it.

He was in a lot of pain, just breaking every once in a while. We just sat there. So, yeah, this was horrible. That was a terrible time for Yankees fans. Just the whole thing, bad stuff. Yeah, bad. So, anyway, this is all going on. Now, in August here,

Billy denies involvement in an incident is the headline. Let's find out the incident here. New York Yankees manager, Billy Martin Monday, denied he was involved in the Chicago incident in which a woman allegedly dropped her pants, leaving her bare bottom to be autographed by some Yankees and reportedly photographed by Martin. Oh, Billy.

Taking some ass picks. Billy said, I wasn't even around. The rest of it about me taking photographs is a stone lie. I guess the incident surfaced when Chicago. Sun-Times columnist Mike Royko related the account of the mother of a nine-year-old fan. Rosemary Glynn was trying to get autographs for her son, but was unable to get on the Yankees bus, August 1st after the team's game against the White Sox. Glyn was angry because an unidentified blonde woman got on the bus and bared her bottom,

which was signed by several Yankees. Rocio's story reported that Martin followed the blonde off the bus and photographed her. Martin said he and his 14-year-old son, Billy Joe, were in the press room at Kamiski talking to Bill Vec. He said, I came down later and saw her outside the bus. So did my son. He was shocked. He said he couldn't believe things like that went on. Yeah, I guess not.

Jesus. Jesus Christ. And they said that, yeah, a catfish hunter backs it up, saying that what the Mike Ryko said about, it was cheap shot at Billy Martin. and the story about Martin following the blonde off the bus, he said, Billy Martin wasn't even on the bus. The writer didn't know what he was talking about. That's it. That's what happened.

Everything else you can shut the fuck up, basically. So that's how it went down. So the Yankees win 89 games that year, stumbled into, you know, obscurity here. Now, they would have had a wild card birth, probably if there was wild cards, but there isn't back then. So that's that.

They're kind of, they're just sitting home in the, off season, not doing shit here, which might be good for them. They might need their respite these guys are doing. Now, we'll start this and then we'll end this for tonight. Okay. Billy appeared, this is from the book, Billy appeared to be rebuilding his life in divergent and not necessarily restful ways. His divorce from Gretchen was final, and he had girlfriends in multiple cities,

a rotation that troubled his family back in California, not that his wives had been popular either. Yeah. Then attending a game at Yankee Stadium in 1979, his daughter, Kelly Ann, came upon two young women seated nearby, which meant they'd been given tickets from a Yankees player, coach, or manager. Throughout the game, based on what she overheard, Kelly Ann deduced that at least one of the women had been spending time with Billy. She thought the woman was young, perhaps still a teenager. Oh, my God. Another of Billy's Berkeley

Relatives, Lucille Sabatini, told Billy biographer David Faulkner that she also met a young woman in 1979 at a Yankees home game. Her name was Heather. She was dating Billy, and Sabatini thought Heather was about 16 years old. Billy.

Jesus Christ. Not okay, Billy. Those accounts usually added that Steinbrenner was distressed that Billy might be arrested for having sexual relations with a minor. Yeah, That's not great.

Billy. Public records of the woman in question, though, Heather, Elise, Ervelino seemed to indicate she turned 20 years old in August of 79. So she just looked young. She was 20, which is fine. Others in Billy's circle are convinced Heather was younger, but they don't know how much younger and have no proof of her age. Heather, meanwhile, was elusive about her age, as a lot of women used to be. She declined to give her date of birth in a 2014 exchange, but in court proceeding, and sworn affidavits filed in the 80s,

she listed her birth year as 1959, making her 20, which is exactly the way it should be. What is known is that Heather was raised and lived in a scruffy South Bronx housing project with an extended family that included her grandmother. Oh, wow.

Eddie Sapier said, Heather was a nice young girl who never asked for much. If she had food to eat and clothes and she did not need anything fancy, she was happy. She came from very little, but she was a lady. very well-mannered, and she was fascinated by Billy. She wanted to make him happy.

Heather met Billy in 1978 or 79. No one including Heather seems to be quite sure which of those two years it was. When they met outside Yankee Stadium, when she stood by a railing with her younger brother trying to get autographs, she was young and looked even younger, and she had everything Billy liked in a woman. She was curvaceous, buxom and sexy. She was hot and young. Tits and ass is what he's looking for. especially when he's got shivis on his breath.

Yeah, and hard dick. It's a hard dick and some shivis all over him. That's what goes on. Heather would become Billy's third wife in November 82. Wow. Late in 79, she was at his side more often than not. But Heather was far from worldly. She did not have her driver's license.

She had received only a rudimentary education navigating the rough and tumble school system of the South Bronx. She came from little money, and she was devoted to her family. seeing some of her own family struggles in Heather's upbringing, Billy wanted to help all of the Irvalinos. Soon, Billy was treating Heather's younger brother like a nephew or stepson. Heather's mother and grandmother came to Yankees games and occasionally on road trips. Billy never purposely excluded the family so long as he had enough time to be alone with Heather also.

Okay. Okay, so we will end it there, I think. That's a good place to end. Billy has young women. He's got all sorts of shit happening, man. He is crushing it right now. I would say. He's doing great. I mean, he's except that he still hasn't paid any of his money.

He owes the IRS. That'll come up later. There's all sorts of shit that's going to come up later. But we'll get to that next week with more crazy Billy Martin insanity. We will get to, and he'll really get older and go off the rails and be angrier and drunker. Put it that way. So it's going to get more crazy with Billy as time goes on here. we wrap this thing up in the next couple parts.

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