Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 274

fellow Yankee Hank Bauer who was accused of throwing the first punch, Martin believed that Weiss would blame him, and as the trade deadline of June 15 approached, his foreboding and tension grew. Martin in his autobiography said that he had been sitting in the bullpen and that Stengel came to inform him that he had been traded. Casey allegedly said; “One of us is going to Kansas City tomorrow.” Martin blamed the manager for not preventing it. No one had worn the Yankees uniform more proudly than Billy; it was like a fraternity jacket to him. An eighteen year exile was beginning for him, and his sadness, bitterness, melancholy, resentment, and hurt never really faded. His career as a journeyman infielder; playing with six teams, none more than a year, and never to see the World Series again, had begun." Among the consequences of the trade was the loss of the relationship

with Stengel, with whom he rarely spoke in the years that followed.

Martin switched dugouts after the trade to the A's, and in his first game got two hits, including a home run off the Yankees' Johnny Kucks. Then the Yankees left town, without Martin, who now faced playing for a seventh place team with little hope of doing better. He hit .360 in his first ten games, but the A's lost nine of them. Although Martin hit .257 with Kansas City, an improvement over the .241 he was hitting with the Yankees, the