ROGERS GONE!!!!!!

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Simply put Martin took no shit from anyone, It's not the size of the dog in the fight it's the size of the fight in the dog, Martin had plenty of moxie. There were a lot of hardnosed tough players on those late '70s Yankee Team and it took a tough guy to manage. And many a player admired Marin for his "Baseball Mind" and being mentored by "Casey" was a huge plus as well. Even as much as I admired Billy Martin I'm not sure about HOF but I would not bitch if he got in, his number is retired and placed among the Yankee Greats and he most certainly deserved that.
 
yankeesince59 said:
...always admired Leyland too...no BS.

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I admired that particular action as well. A buddy of mine (Pirates Fan) always said that Bonds was a total JO, despite his numbers he could not get that big moment. Still remember his nability to throw out Tugboat Bream in that playoff game. Leyland had sac, took no shit as well.
 
yankeesince59 said:
...always admired Leyland too...no BS.

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I was a huge Bonds fan only because as a Giants fan I loved watching his father play but honestly I loved it when he got in Barry's face. Showed me a lot. Today's players seem to get a pass way to often. I mean can you imagine what Martin would have done to someone like Cano watching his skip to 1st base on a ground ball.
 
Don't forget the playoff "bunting incident" where Martin called on Reggie to bunt and when Reggie failed in his first attempt - and continued with two strikes when the green light was taken off..... It didn't go over too well with Martin.

Martin was a scrappy player trying to hold his job, he once lead the league in sac bunts, even made the allstar team once, he knew what it took took for role players to "hang around" and help the team....played on championship teams and performed well in the WS.
He played under a MGR (Casey) who wasn't afraid to go against the grain and "the book".....lol, Casey was too busy writing his own "book".

Billy was very influential in many ways.....he took heat for offering the opinion about Latin players from the " islands" when he said "most of them are first pitch fastball hitters"..... He didn't and wasn't intending any offense since it's become common knowledge amoung those players when they jokingly said/say:
You don't "walk" off the island.

He personally went to see Ron Lefore in prison and was instrumental in getting him to play MLB......

He personally instructed Zoilo Versailles, telling him he can be a good player and he eventually won the MVP in the upcoming season.

Martin wasn't a favorite (to say the least) amoung umpires and PC sports writers.
It got to the point where the head of the Umps actually tried to convince MLB to prevent Billy from arguing with the Umps during the game... lol.......more than once I saw Martin actually correct THOSE umpires regarding rules and regulations.

Ironically, Martin took over a Texas Ranger team which had finished LAST the previous year under WHITEY HERZOG and brought them to a 2nd place finish with 84 wins.

Yep, he had off field incidents, had a short fuse which was probably shorter when he had a few drinks which is why he'll probably never ever get considered for the HOF......One of the best things about Martin, which was the last of the "old school" mgrs, he wasn't afraid to get in the face of players he thought were willingly underperforming.
 
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Yankeefan5545 said:
I admired that particular action as well. A buddy of mine (Pirates Fan) always said that Bonds was a total JO, despite his numbers he could not get that big moment. Still remember his nability to throw out Tugboat Bream in that playoff game. Leyland had sac, took no shit as well.
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...lol, Sid Bream, possibly the slowest white man I ever saw...in retrospect, he should been pinch-run for in the first place.

...being from Georgia, I was watching that game too. (the Yanx were not very good then)...the whole state was nuts about the Braves back then.


...still blows my mind that after getting blown out at home in the first 2 games of the '96 Series, the Yanx rebounded to beat Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, and Avery in succession to win the WS.
 
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yankeesince59 said:
...lol, Sid Bream, possibly the slowest white man I ever saw...in retrospect, he should been pinch-run for in the first place.

...being from Georgia, I was watching that game too. (the Yanx were not very good then)...the whole state was nuts about the Braves back then.


...still blows my ming that after getting blown out at home in the first 2 games of the "96 Series, the Yanx rebounded to beat Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, and Avery in succession to win the WS.
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Very gratifying as a Yankee fan to watch the Yanks' beat those Braves' teams two out of two in the WS - winning 8/10 games.
 
...Bobby Cox had a huge role in blowing the '96 Series. The Yanx were down 5-3 in the 8th inning and about to go down 3 games to 1 in the Series...Leyritz hits a tying HR...then in the 10th with 2 out and Yankee runners on 1st and 2nd, Cox inexplicably intentionally walks Bernie to get to Andy Fox...Torre pinch hits Boggs for Fox...Boggs walks, the eventual winning run scores and the Yanx go on to win the Series.
...I recall watching that game with a fellow Yankee fan and we could not believe Cox would intentionally move the go ahead to 3B !...a week or so later that same friend and I sat at the bar and counted up the different ways a runner can score from 3B with the bases loaded...I wanna say we finally tallied 13-14 different ways.

...Cox got out-managed in that Series.
 
A guy I worked with was a Mets and a Braves fan go figure. At any rate when Atlanta drew the Yankees (whom he hated) and went up 2-0 he was talking some real trash. Made it a point to seek me out. As the worm turned he started to disappear and after it was all over he was one bitter individual. During the '99 Series I did not see him at all. Yeah I got a huge chuckle out of those two series but I still loved the '58 Yankees down 3 games to 1 and they came back and kicked the Braves asses.
 
Yankeefan5545 said:
A guy I worked with was a Mets and a Braves fan go figure. At any rate when Atlanta drew the Yankees (whom he hated) and went up 2-0 he was talking some real trash. Made it a point to seek me out. As the worm turned he started to disappear and after it was all over he was one bitter individual. During the '99 Series I did not see him at all. Yeah I got a huge chuckle out of those two series but I still loved the '58 Yankees down 3 games to 1 and they came back and kicked the Braves asses.
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...though I don't remember it, they say the '57 and '58 WS were both great Series...a lot of talent and future HOFers on both sides.

...I always get some grief from the "locals" down here whenever I'd wear a Yanx cap or shirt or warmup jacket in public...I'd just laugh...it really pisses them of when you do that.
 
Both Series were great although I was disappointed that the Yankees lost. Game 4 pivotal play with Nippy Jones pinch hitting and getting bopped by a pitch that the umpire called a ball. Upon further examination a splotch of shoe polish was found with Jones being awarded first base. The game went south from that point. Casey protested the hell out of the play but it stood. And yep the Braves had some "A" list players, Adcock, Aaron, and Mathews were pretty formidable with Spahn and Burdette heading the staff. Crandall was a decent catcher with Logan and Schoendeist as well. Tony Kubec (Wisconsin Boy) had a nice series especially game 3, which I saw at a lady from Wisconsins house.
 
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