Editing Billy Martin (section)

===New York Yankees (1950–1953, 1955–1957)===
[[File:Casey Stengel 1953.png|thumb|upright|[[Casey Stengel]] in 1953]]
Press coverage of Martin's sale{{efn|In addition to cash, the Yankees were to send Oakland a player to be named later, having received Martin and [[Jackie Jensen]]. On July 5, 1950, the Yankees sent [[Eddie Malone (baseball)|Eddie Malone]] to the Oaks.<ref name = "retrosheet">{{cite web|title=Billy Martin|publisher=retrosheet.org|url=http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/M/Pmartb105.htm|access-date=March 20, 2018|archive-date=April 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418162014/https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/M/Pmartb105.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>}} by the Oaks to the Yankees dismissed him as a "[[utility infielder]]", calling him "Alfred M. Martin", a name he detested.{{sfn|Pennington|p=61}} He was among those younger Yankees players, including [[Whitey Ford]], [[Yogi Berra]] and [[Mickey Mantle]], who reported in February 1950 to a pre-spring training [[Florida Instructional League|instructional camp]] in Phoenix to work on fundamentals under Stengel's eye.{{sfn|Appel 2017|pp=171–172}} Martin hoped to become the starting second baseman for the defending world champion Yankees, but the incumbent, [[Jerry Coleman]], had just won the [[Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award|American League Rookie of the League]] award. On reporting to spring training in [[St. Petersburg, Florida]], he stood out for his brashness if nothing else, taking care to correct the press on how to refer to him.{{sfn|Pennington|pp=61–65}}

Confident of Stengel's protection, Martin sometimes defied Yankee coaches such as [[Frank Crosetti]] and [[Jim Turner (baseball)|Jim Turner]], but won over most of his teammates as he showed his desire to learn and win, goals consistent with the "Yankee Way", that individual achievement was insignificant compared to team victory.{{sfn|Golenbock|loc=1233–1312}} Martin made his major league debut on April 18, 1950, Opening Day, for the Yankees as they visited the [[Boston Red Sox]] at [[Fenway Park]], as a [[pinch hitter]] inserted in the eighth inning with the Yankees down, 9–4, with two men on base. Martin doubled off the [[Green Monster]] in left field to drive in the runners. The Yankees [[batting around|batted around]] and in his second at-bat of the inning, he singled with the bases loaded to drive in two more runs, the first time in major league history that a player got two hits in an inning in his debut game. Despite the feat, Martin was not made an everyday player, but sat next to Stengel in the dugout, listening and learning. When he did play, he quickly became a favorite of the [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|Yankee Stadium]] crowd, and they would remain loyal to him for the rest of his life.{{sfn|Pennington|pp=70–71}}

Despite his stellar start, Martin was little-used by the Yankees in 1950 and 1951, as Coleman remained the starting second baseman. Martin was sent to the minor leagues in May 1950 to give him everyday playing experience, a decision with which he vociferously disagreed, and so stated to Yankee [[general manager (baseball)|general manager]] [[George Weiss (baseball)|George Weiss]], an outburst that Martin always believed poisoned the relationship between himself and the team front office. He was recalled after a month, but remained mostly on the bench, with only 39 plate appearances for the Yankees in 1950, batting .250. The Yankees won the pennant again, and swept the [[Philadelphia Phillies]] in the [[1950 World Series]], in which Martin did not play and Coleman was the Most Valuable Player.{{sfn|Golenbock|loc=1321–1378}}{{sfn|Pennington|pp=71–74}} After the season, with the [[Korean War]] raging, the 22-year-old was drafted into the army, but gained a [[hardship discharge]] after two months, something that made him less of a hero in West Berkeley. He was discharged in late April, and rejoined the Yankees, but was used sparingly, Rookie of the Year [[Gil McDougald]] absorbing what playing time at second base was not used by Coleman. Martin, wearing uniform number 1 for the Yankees for the first time,{{efn|He wore #12 as a rookie; #1 was then worn by the veteran [[Snuffy Stirnweiss]]. See {{harvnb|Pennington|p=66}}.}} hit .259 in 51 games. Martin helped bring rookie outfielder Mickey Mantle out of his shell, introducing him to New York nightlife. In the [[1951 World Series]], which the Yankees won in six games over the Giants, Martin did not bat, but was inserted as a [[pinch runner]] in Game Two with the Yankees leading by a run after losing Game One. Martin scored a crucial insurance run in the Yankee victory, evading the tag from the catcher, [[Roy Noble]], and after the game was singled out for praise by Giants manager [[Leo Durocher]].{{sfn|Pennington|pp=76–82}}

[[File:Billy Martin 1952 World Series catch.png|thumb|left|Martin's game-saving catch of [[Jackie Robinson]]'s popup in Game 7 of the [[1952 World Series]]]]
Coleman's induction into the armed forces before the 1952 season opened the way for Martin to be the regular Yankee second baseman. His debut as such was delayed when he broke his ankle demonstrating the technique of sliding into second base on a television show in March, and it was not until May 12 that he made his regular season debut. Once he did, he hit .267 in 109 games, his highest as an everyday player, becoming the "sparkplug" that Stengel had sought for his team, energizing it. When Stengel offered $100 to any player who let himself be hit by a pitch, Martin earned $300 for the game. In the [[1952 World Series]] against the Dodgers, Martin got 5 hits in 23 at-bats, but that included a three-run home run to break open Game Two and tie the series. In Game Four, with the Dodgers leading the Series two games to one and threatening to tie the one-run game in the fifth inning, Charlie Dressen, who was coaching third base for the Dodgers, called for the [[squeeze play (baseball)|squeeze play]]. Martin stole the sign and the runner was out when pitcher [[Allie Reynolds]] threw a [[pitchout]], killing the rally.<ref name = "retrosheet" />{{sfn|Falkner|pp=84–88}} In Game Seven, with the Yankees up 4–2 in the seventh inning, two outs, and the bases loaded, Jackie Robinson hit a high, wind-blown pop fly. When first baseman [[Joe Collins]] appeared to lose the ball in the sun, Martin raced in from second base, catching the ball in fair ground near home plate only inches off the grass.{{sfn|Appel 2012|p=296}} All three runners would most likely have scored had the ball dropped, giving the Dodgers the lead going into the eighth inning; Martin biographer David Falkner called the catch "one of the great moments in World Series history".{{sfn|Falkner|p=88}}

As Yankees' regular second baseman in 1953, Martin saw his average drop to .257, but set what would be career highs with 149 games played (146 at second base), 15 home runs and 75 runs batted in. He was also ejected for the first two occasions in his career, once for arguing balls and strikes, the other for fighting.<ref name = "retrosheet" /> With Martin's growing reputation as a fighter, opposing players often slid into second base hard, hoping to injure him: Stengel stated, "Billy's being hit with the hardest blocks this side of a professional football field."<ref name = "sabr">{{cite web|first1=Jimmy|last1=Keenan|first2=Frank|last2=Russo|url=http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/59c5010b|title=Billy Martin|publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]|access-date=March 20, 2018|archive-date=March 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180321193151/http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/59c5010b|url-status=live}}</ref> Nevertheless, he finished second in the league in [[fielding percentage]] among second basemen. The Yankees won their fifth consecutive pennant, and in the [[1953 World Series]], Martin dominated, collecting 12 hits (tying a series record) with 23 [[total bases]] (breaking Babe Ruth's record of 19) as the Yankees beat the Dodgers in six games; Martin's hit in the ninth inning of Game Six scored the winning run. He was elected the Series' Most Valuable Player.<ref name = "sabr" /> Stengel exulted, "Look at him. He doesn't look like a great player—but he is a helluva player. Try to find something he can't do. You can't."<ref name = "sabr" />

[[File:Billy Martin and Phil Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|upright|Martin (left) with [[Phil Rizzuto]] in the 1950s]]
There had been congressional investigations into whether athletes and others were given preferable treatment to avoid conscription and, in early 1954, Martin was drafted into the army, his renewed request for a hardship discharge denied. He complained to a reporter that he was given worse treatment than his fellow soldiers, allowed fewer weekend passes and not allowed to play on the [[Fort Ord]] baseball team.<ref name = "sabr" /> He missed the entire 1954 season, in which the Yankees, uniquely during Martin's career with them, did not win the pennant, and much of the 1955 season. He was transferred to [[Fort Carson]] in Colorado, where he was allowed to live off base. He played on and managed the baseball team, and rose to the rank of corporal. In August 1955, a furlough allowed him to return to the Yankees and, when they won the pennant, it was extended for the [[1955 World Series]]. Although Martin batted .300 for the regular season, and .320 with four runs batted in during the Series, the Yankees lost to the Dodgers in seven games, and Martin berated himself for letting down Stengel. He was discharged from the army later in October, having been awarded the [[Good Conduct Medal (United States)|Good Conduct Medal]].{{sfn|Pennington|pp=112–115}}

During the 1956 season, Weiss began to hint to the media that Martin was a poor influence on his fellow players, especially on his roommate, Mantle, with whom he often caroused until the early hours of the morning. A dignified man, Weiss did not feel that Martin fit the image he wanted for the Yankees, and may have been offended by the player's outburst on being sent to the minors in 1950. By 1956, the Yankees were developing the next wave of infielders, including [[Bobby Richardson]] and [[Tony Kubek]]. Weiss would have liked to trade Martin, but was deterred by the fact that the second baseman was extremely popular with Yankee fans and with the press covering the team.{{sfn|Pennington|pp=115–120}} Although Martin appeared in the [[1956 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1956 All-Star Game]]—his only All-Star appearance as a player<ref name = "retrosheet" />—his abilities as a player never fully returned after leaving the army. With Richardson progressing rapidly through the Yankee [[farm system]], Martin worried that his days with the team were numbered.{{sfn|Golenbock|loc=2445–2467}} Nevertheless, he hit .264 with nine home runs for the Yankees in 1956,<ref name="retrosheet" /> and in the [[1956 World Series]] against the Dodgers, Martin played well both in the field and at the plate, getting the hit that gave the Yankees the lead for good in Game Four to tie the Series, and hitting .296 with two home runs as the Yankees won in seven games, thus finishing his World Series career as a player with a .333 batting average.{{sfn|Pennington|pp=122–124}}

[[File:Billy Martin - New York Yankees - 1957.jpg|thumb|180px|left|Martin in 1957]]
Weiss warned Martin before the 1957 season to avoid trouble,{{sfn|Pennington|p=126}} and the infielder did nothing to aid his own cause by injuring both himself and Mantle (the reigning MVP) in an intentional collision between their [[golf cart]]s as they played a round on a Florida course during spring training. While Martin recovered from this and other injuries, Bobby Richardson played, showing a fielding range that Martin no longer possessed.{{sfn|Golenbock|loc=2631–2644}} But the incident that gave Weiss the leeway to trade Martin was a brawl at the [[Copacabana (nightclub)|Copacabana nightclub]] in New York on May 16. Although it was 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. Stories differ about how Martin learned he had been traded to the [[Kansas City A's]] on the trade deadline: biographer David Falkner stated that Martin, out of the lineup in the game at Kansas City's Municipal Stadium, was informed by farm director [[Lee MacPhail]], and that Stengel refused to see Martin, but Martin in his autobiography alleged that he had been sitting in the [[bullpen]] and that Stengel came to inform him.{{sfn|Falkner|pp=99–101}} [[Marty Appel]], in his biography of Stengel, stated that Martin was called in to see Stengel, was told of the trade, and Martin blamed the manager for not preventing it. According to Appel, "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."{{sfn|Appel 2017|pp=244–245}} Among the consequences of the trade was the loss of the relationship with Stengel, with whom he rarely spoke in the years that followed.{{sfn|Appel 2017|p=246}}