Did a John Denver song get Billy Martin fired?
Billy Martin gained in every single place he managed.
He additionally obtained fired in every single place he managed.
And but, the strangest of his firings isn’t one of many 5 occasions Yankees proprietor George Steinbrenner let Martin go or pressured him to resign. Nor is it his first dismissal, after main the Twins to 18 extra wins and an increase from seventh place to first place and the ALCS in 1969, his solely season in Minnesota.
It’s the time in Texas when the proprietor made the decision due to a John Denver music.
Here’s how Billy Martin – born and bred in Berkeley, Calif., and a four-time World Series second baseman in New York – misplaced his job, a minimum of partially, due to “Thank God I’m a Country Boy.”
“I loved playing for Billy. I always regarded him as a players’ manager,” stated Tom Grieve, who was a Ranger all through Martin’s tenure and has been a broadcaster for the staff since 1995. “I loved his intensity, his competitiveness. We always felt – at least I did – that all things being equal on the field, that we would win because our manager was better than the other team’s manager.”
Martin’s capacity to get essentially the most out of his gamers could also be most obvious in his data throughout his first season at every cease. Working with lots of the identical gamers because the earlier supervisor – particularly earlier than the appearance of free company in 1976 – Martin gained at a greater tempo than his predecessor every time, averaging 20 extra wins and three.8 locations within the standings (solely his first Yankees stint for this train).
Twins
1968 below Cal Ermer: 79-83 (.488), seventh place in AL West
1969 below Martin: 97-65 (.599), 1st place
Tigers
1970 below Mayo Smith: 79-83 (.488), 4th place in AL East
1971 below Martin: 91-71 (.562), 2nd place
Rangers
1973 below three managers: 57-105 (.352), sixth place in AL West*
1974 below Martin: 84-76 (.525), 2nd place
*Whitey Herzog went 47-91, Del Wilber 1-0 and Martin 9-14 to complete the season. Martin’s .391 successful share was higher than the .345 earlier than he took over.
Yankees
1975 below two managers: 83-77 (.519), third place*
1976 below Martin: 97-62 (.610), 1st place
*Bill Virdon went 53-51, then Martin went 30-26, once more posting a greater successful share than his predecessor)
A’s
1979 below Jim Marshall: 54-108 (.333), seventh place in AL West
1980 below Martin: 83-79 (.512), 2nd place
“He had a really good feeling about how to motivate each individual player,” Grieve stated. “He didn’t have one way that fit everybody. I think he adjusted his style to who the player was. For the most part, he brought out the best in his players, and it’s evidenced in how rapidly each time his team improved whenever he got there.”
But every time, Martin wore out his welcome shortly. His longest stint wherever was elements of 4 seasons throughout his first Bronx tenure. He completed out the ’75 season, led the Yankees to the World Series the following two years (successful it in 1977), then was fired after going 52-42 in 1978.
“I think one of the things that happened probably every place that Billy ever went was, after the initial year and half, two years, things did start to change,” Grieve stated. “And Billy began to wear out his welcome and things weren’t going as smoothly as they did when he first got there. It’s just a track record and it’s pretty simple to look at it and see it. That’s not the fault of the organizations, that pretty much can be attributed to Billy. That’s the way he was.”
In Texas, Martin delivered the Rangers’ first successful report because it moved to Arlington from Washington – and practically doubled attendance from 662,974 in 1972 to 1,193,902 in his one full season in ’74. And he beloved the approach to life, shortly adapting to life within the Lone Star State.
“He was a good fit [for Texas],” stated Jim Sundberg, a rookie catcher for Martin in 1974. “He had boots and he had a cowboy hat. He kind of fit the part before things went south.”
A change in possession from Bob Short to Brad Corbett early within the 1974 season modified issues. Corbett employed Dan O’Brien as basic supervisor (Martin was additionally the GM when he got here to Texas and had swung a commerce with the Cubs for future Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins), and Martin had much less affect over deciding on the gamers on his roster.
“Billy’s M.O. was trying to turn the club around, and then in a short period of time, he kind of self-sabotaged himself,” Sundberg stated.
Martin’s exploits off the sphere would additionally have an effect on the staff, with gamers noticing his consuming and companions, in response to Bill Pennington’s 2015 biography, “Billy Martin: Baseball’s Flawed Genius.”
“It’s well documented that he had occasional drinking problems, and I think there were times that got in the way of success,” Grieve stated. “There were times in ’75 where we were taking batting practice not knowing what the lineup was because he wasn’t at the ballpark yet.”
As that sweltering summer time of ’75 went on, the friction between Martin and the entrance workplace produced extra warmth. One rift that was well-reported on the time concerned catcher Tom Egan, a backup launched by the Angels on June 30, 1975. Martin needed the Rangers to signal him however was rebuffed by O’Brien and Corbett.
“You sense that things were changing in the relationship he had with management, the owner, the GM,” Grieve stated. “There were times that Billy wanted to go out and acquire a certain player – not a star – but he wanted his presence on the team. But management balked at some of these suggestions and that created tension. You could see it coming as a player. You knew it wasn’t going to last.”
Martin’s affinity for Texas included nation music. In early June, the No. 1 music on the Billboard Hot 100 chart was John Denver’s “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” maybe as a result of Martin started insisting that it’s performed on the ballpark – however not simply between innings. He needed to listen to it in the course of the seventh, instead of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” Martin and Corbett clashed over the songs, with the proprietor – it’s his staff, in spite of everything – decreeing that the ballpark staple stay in its conventional slot.
One sizzling Texas Sunday – July 20, 1975 – Martin made one in all his final strikes as Rangers supervisor. Sometime throughout a doubleheader towards the Red Sox, the skipper picked up the dugout telephone, however to not name the bullpen. According to Pennington’s biography, Martin referred to as the press field, on the lookout for the particular person in command of the music between innings. Umpire Ron Luciano had walked over to the dugout for a drink and relayed the scene in his autobiography: “Billy was saying, ‘I don’t care what the owner says, play the God damned John Denver song.’ I couldn’t believe my ears. Billy’s yelling, ‘I better hear “Thank God I’m a Country Boy.”’ And he slams the telephone down.”
When Martin’s request was performed through the stretch, “Corbett steamed,” Pennington wrote. The subsequent day, the Rangers introduced Martin’s dismissal.
Did it actually occur? Was Martin’s destiny determined by a battle over the stadium playlist? Two gamers who performed for him don’t keep in mind it particularly however might see it taking place.
“He was getting controlling,” Sundberg stated. “He was doing things like that. And that wasn’t really the only night he called the press box about something. So yeah, I think that’s accurate.”
“I’ve heard that, and based on who I’ve heard tell that story, I trust that there was some validity to that,” Grieve stated. “I don’t think it’s a myth. I think that probably happened, but I don’t remember having any knowledge about it as it happened. Maybe it was written about the next day.”
It was lined, the truth is, by Dave Anderson of The New York Times: “‘He wanted to run everything in the organization,’ says [a] Ranger executive. ‘Even to the music that’s played.’ During the seventh‐inning stretch at Arlington Stadium, a rendition of ‘Thank God I’m a Country Boy’ could be heard, on Billy Martin’s orders.”
And a pair days later, a United Press International wire story famous that with Martin’s firing, the music was axed, too.
As good a supervisor as Billy Martin was, he typically obtained in his personal approach. Maybe if he had in the reduction of on a number of of his calls for – just like the music on the ballpark – he may’ve been capable of get among the gamers he needed. But, then again …
“I don’t think it would’ve been all that difficult for the team to accommodate Billy’s wishes,” Grieve stated. “[Play the song] on the weekends, do it for a while and give it a chance. Heck – nowadays a player can call up and change his walkup music in the fifth inning.”
