Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 140

New York got off to a slow start in the 1957 season, and by early June was six games out. By then, the team was making headlines off the field. Some of the Yankees were known for partying late into the night, something Stengel turned a blind eye to as long as the team performed well. The May 16th brawl at the Copacabana nightclub in New York, which involved Martin, Berra, Mantle, Ford, Hank Bauer and other Yankees, resulted in the arrest of Bauer. The charge of assault was later dropped. But, the event exhausted Yankee management's patience with Martin, always considered the instigator. Stengel was close to Martin, who took great pride in being a Yankee, and Topping and Weiss did not involve the manager in the trade talks that ensued. On June 15th Martin was traded to the Kansas City Athletics. Martin wrote in his autobiography that Stengel could not look

him in the eye as the manager told him of the trade. Casey said; “One of us is going to Kansas City tomorrow.” The two, once close friends, rarely spoke in the years to come. The Yankees recovered from their slow start, winning the American League pennant by eight games. They faced the Milwaukee Braves in the 1957 World Series. The Braves defeated the Yankees in seven games, with Lew Burdette and his spitball, who had been a Yankee until traded in 1950, beating New York three times. Stengel

stated in an interview; "We're going to have Burditis on our minds next year."