Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 290

the seventh inning stretch instead of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," as Corbett had instructed, he was fired.

On the night that the firing from the Rangers was announced Billy sat with a group of sportswriters in his office and wept. There is a term that describes Billy's emotional state at that point. Crocodile tears they call it. The next time anyone laid eyes on Billy Martin was in the Pontchartrain Hotel in Detroit. Billy was on television, appearing on the game of the week. He was wearing his proud number 1 on the back of a uniform that had pinstripes. The new field manager of the New York Yankees looked

real happy. Say what you want about Billy Martin, he was smart.

Martin was not out of work for very long. Two weeks after Texas fired Martin, manager Bill Virdon was fired by the Yankees. The

former Yankee second baseman was hired to take his place, marking Martin's first time in a Yankee uniform since the 1957 trade. Some players and writers have concluded that he had long campaigned for the Yankee job. What is beyond dispute is that after Martin was dismissed by Texas, New York general manager Gabe Paul, acting on behalf of owner George Steinbrenner, quickly got in touch with Martin. An agreement soon followed, and Martin officially returned to the Bronx on August 1. Well

aware of Martin's behavioral proclivities, Paul and Steinbrenner believed they could keep Martin under control. They not only