Editing Billy Martin (section)

===Later career (1957–1961)===
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 A's lost 94 games, finishing 38{{frac|1|2}} games behind the Yankees.{{sfn|Pennington|pp=134–135}} At the end of the season, Martin was traded to the Detroit Tigers in a 13-player deal,<ref name = "retrosheet" /> and he stated angrily, "They just can't throw us [players] around from one club to another without us having a say-so."<ref name = "sabr" />

Detroit manager [[Jack Tighe]] called Martin "the key to our future"; he was expected to electrify the team as he had the Yankees. Without talent on the field and Stengel in the dugout to back him up, Martin was unable to do that, as after a decent start, the Tigers settled down to a losing season, and the players became annoyed at Martin's ways. The Tigers had him play shortstop, but he lacked the range and the throwing arm needed to be effective, and made 20 errors for the season. He hit .255 with seven home runs, but the Tigers finished fifth, 15 games behind the Yankees.{{sfn|Pennington|pp=136–137}} After the season, Martin and [[Al Cicotte]] were traded to Cleveland in exchange for [[Don Mossi]], [[Ray Narleski]] and [[Ossie Álvarez]].<ref name = "retrosheet" />

With Martin at second base, the Indians finished second in 1959, five games behind the [[Chicago White Sox]] and ahead of the third-place Yankees. Despite the relatively good finish, Martin was embittered, contending that if manager [[Joe Gordon]] had used him properly, the Indians would have won the pennant. In August, Martin, who did not wear a [[batting helmet]], was hit on the head by a pitch from [[Tex Clevenger]] of the [[History of the Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]], breaking a cheekbone and giving him an unconscious fear of being hit again, diminishing his effectiveness at the plate. He was traded, after the season, to the [[Cincinnati Reds]]; manager [[Fred Hutchinson]] hoped Martin could instill some fight into his team. Although he could not make the Reds a winner with his diminished skills, he still was a battler on the field, notoriously fighting pitcher [[Jim Brewer (baseball)|Jim Brewer]] of the [[Chicago Cubs]] on August 4, 1960.<ref name = "retrosheet" />{{sfn|Golenbock|loc=3042–3109}} In the aftermath of his beaning by Clevenger, teams pitched Martin inside, as did Brewer. After one such pitch, Martin, on the next, swung and let his bat go, though it landed far from the [[pitching mound]]. When he went out to retrieve it, Brewer approached, Martin swung at him, and sometime during the brawl, a punch broke Brewer's [[orbital bone]], though whether it was Martin who did it or Reds pitcher [[Cal McLish]] is uncertain. Martin was ejected (his sixth and final ejection as a player), and was suspended for five games and fined by National League president [[Warren Giles]]. With Brewer out for the season, the Cubs sued Martin. Litigation dragged on for a decade and the case was eventually settled in 1969 for $10,000 plus $12,000 attorney's fees. Martin, who in the press defended his actions as justified given pitchers threw inside to him, asked, "Do they want a check or cash?"<ref name = "retrosheet" /><ref name = "sabr" />{{sfn|Pennington|pp=146–147}}

Although Martin played 103 games for the Reds in 1960, batting .246, he had only three home runs and 16 runs batted in, and following the season was sold to the [[Milwaukee Braves]].<ref name = "retrosheet" /> His old manager with the Oaks, Dressen, led the Braves, but even he could not find a starting position for Martin. He had only six at-bats for the Braves, with no hits,{{sfn|Pennington|p=148}} and on June 1, 1961, was traded to the [[Minnesota Twins]] for [[Billy Consolo]].<ref name = "retrosheet" /> Martin, given the starting second baseman position, started well and finished well for the Twins, but in between had a prolonged batting slump.{{sfn|Pennington|pp=148–149}} Between the Braves and Twins, he batted .242 for 1961, his lowest full-season average. He reported for spring training in 1962, but was soon approached by manager [[Sam Mele]], a longtime friend, and told that he had been released by the team. No longer able to compete on the field, Martin's playing career was over at the age of 33.{{sfn|Falkner|pp=114–115}}