July 24, 1977 – Yankees 3, Royals 1
- Sal Maiorana
- Jul 24, 2017
- 4 min read
NEW YORK – Another day, another rumor that Billy Martin was about to lose the only job he ever really wanted, that as Yankee manager.
Coming off the lackadaisical split with Milwaukee, Martin’s job security became a hot topic around Gotham and from the sounds of it, his firing seemed imminent. But as the morning hours passed and first pitch against the Royals loomed, Martin still hadn’t heard a thing from the Ivory tower, and he took that as a good sign.
“I feel like those guys on death row,” Martin cracked to reporters during his daily pre-game scrum in his Yankee Stadium office. “I need a reprieve from the Governor. But if they were going to make a change today I think I would have heard before this. You usually get a call in the morning so you don’t come to the ballpark.”
Spoken like a man who had thrice been fired by big league clubs.
As he continued to kibitz with reporters in a far more jovial mood than one would expect given the situation, his desk phone rang. It was general manager Gabe Paul summoning him upstairs. Go time.
“I better keep my street clothes on,” he quipped. “I’m not rushing up there. The first time you get fired you think nothing can be that bad again. But each time it gets worse. It was bad when I got fired in Minnesota, but it was worse in Detroit and even worse in Texas, and each time I cry. I guess that shows you how weak I am.”
Then, as he made his way toward the door, he said, “You wait and see, when I’m gone, some of these players will be at each other’s throats. I’ve been keeping them apart.”
Alas, the fractured Yankee clubhouse would not be coming completely unglued on this day. Martin was indeed given his reprieve, Paul saying shortly before the Yankees went out and defeated Kansas City, “Billy Martin is the manager of the Yankees.” Though, when it was asked whether the Yankees were seeking another manager, Paul said cryptically, “Time will tell.”
There had been rumors that George Steinbrenner was trying to convince the Montreal Expos to fire their manager, Dick Williams, so that the Boss could bring him to New York. Today, one might call that tampering and be facing a humongous fine. Steinbrenner had wanted to hire Williams in 1974 to replace Ralph Houk, but he wound up with the Angels and the Yankees hired Bill Virdon. Another name that surfaced was Dick Howser, one of Martin’s current coaches, and a far more realistic possibility.
“I was never offered the job, though I was considered for it,” said Howser, who would eventually become the Yankees manager in 1980, win 103 games and the AL East title, and be fired after losing the AL Championship Series to the Royals in a three-game sweep. “If I was offered the manager’s job,” Howser continued, “I would have to think about it. I haven’t talked to Billy about it though.”
Within a half hour, Martin came back to his office where the reporters were still gathered, and he said, “Gabe said nothing changed.” When asked if he had inquired of Paul whether the rumors of his impending demise were true, he said, “Gabe told me not to pay attention to them. I’m going to continue to manage my way, no matter what happens. I’ll live or die on my own convictions. My mother didn’t raise me to be scared. I’m just going to be Billy Martin and let the chips fall where they may.”
As for the players, they had heard the scuttlebutt, but they had become immune to it because deep down, they – with the possible exception of Reggie Jackson – knew Martin wasn’t the problem.
“That isn’t going to solve anything,” said Sparky Lyle of the possibility of Martin being fired. His inference was clear: The players needed to play better, and Steinbrenner needed to get off Martin’s back and let him manage.
Somehow, the Yankees ignored all of this and beat the Royals behind Don Gullett’s wild and wacky outing. After the crowd of 41,000-plus gave Martin a rousing ovation when he brought the lineup card out, Gullett set forth on quite a journey. He got 26 outs (Dick Tidrow recorded the last), but in giving up eight hits and five walks Gullett made 154 pitches and was regularly in trouble. Incredibly, the Royals scored just one run, that in the fifth on George Brett’s RBI single. With two men on in the ninth, Tidrow came in and retired Hal McRae on a grounder to end the game.
New York had grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first, both runs unearned against Andy Hassler, when Lou Piniella ripped a two-out, two-run single following an error by shortstop Freddie Patek. And Roy White’s RBI double in the fifth proved to be the final scoring.
Comments