A short (and almost certainly incomplete) list of people Billy Martin got into fist fights with.
Errors, corrections, and omissions to stainles [at] sportsfirings.com or stainles [at] mac.com.
A reasonable but imperfect attempt has been made to provide sources. List is in chronological order, or as close as I can get anyway. (Some dates approximate.)
- Jimmy Piersall, Boston Red Sox, May 24, 1952. Boston Globe.
- Clint Courtney, St. Louis Browns, July 12, 1952. Clint Courtney profile from the Society for American Baseball Research.
- Clint Courtney, St. Louis Browns, April 28, 1953. Ibid. Courtney Wikipedia page.
- Matt Batts, Detroit Tigers, July 26, 1953. Mentioned briefly in ESPN article, “More Info on Billy Martin”, but details are unclear. “MOYES’ MEMORIES: Old announcer will never forget his first major-league baseball game, even if it was 57 years ago” author states he was there: “In the third inning of the second game, the Yankees’ fiery Billy Martin, who had homered in the first inning, walked and then was aggressively tagged out at home following a double by Phil Rizzuto. All hell then broke loose as Martin and Tiger catcher Matt Batts came up swinging. Unlike many of today’s superficial brawls, actual punches were thrown and landed by the two combatants.”
- Tommy Lasorda, Kansas City Athletics, 1956. Mentioned briefly in ESPN article, “More Info on Billy Martin”, but details are unclear. “The Stories Never Stopped, but Neither Did the Abuse” places this in 1956: “Mantle: ‘…Tommy knocked down the first two hitters, then threw two pitches behind the head of Hank Bauer and two behind the head of Billy [Martin]. Well, you can guess what happened next. Martin yelled something, Lasorda yelled back–and pow. The two of them went after each other like pit bulldogs.'”
- Unknown “bowlers”, May 16, 1957. The Hardball Times. (Note: there seems to be some historical question about whether Martin threw a punch or not. I find it hard to believe, given what we know of his temperament, that he didn’t. So I’m including it here. Plus I’d say the SOB’s deserved it: you don’t insult Sammy Davis, Jr.)
- Jim Brewer, Chicago Cubs, August 4, 1960. Brewer’s Wikipedia page, which includes links to contemporary press coverage.
- Howard Fox, Minnesota Twins, July 19, 1966. Mentioned briefly in ESPN article, “More Info on Billy Martin”, but details are unclear. “Calvin Griffith: The Ups and Downs of the last Family-Owned Baseball Team” puts this in 1966, and “Twins Trivia” puts it on July 26.
- Dave Boswell, Minnesota Twins, August 6, 1969. Boswell NYT obit.
- Jack Sears, “a fan outside Tiger Stadium”, date unknown (but assumed to be while Martin was managing the Tigers, 1971-1973). Mentioned briefly in ESPN article, “More Info on Billy Martin”, but details are unclear.
- “a Chicago cab driver who preferred soccer to baseball”, date unknown. Mentioned briefly in ESPN article, “More Info on Billy Martin”, but details are unclear.
- Burt Hawkins, Texas Rangers, 1974. “Love, Hate, and Billy Martin” from SI. Also mentioned in Seasons In Hell. (Note: this is commonly described as a slap, not a punch, but I’ve decided to include it.)
- Ray Hagar, Reno Evening-Gazette and Nevada State Journal, November 10, 1978. NYT coverage.
- Joseph Cooper, marshmallow salesman, October 1979. Lodi News-Sentinel.
- Ed Whitson, New York Yankees, September 22, 1985. Article from The Hardball Times.
- unknown bar patron, Anaheim, date unknown. Mentioned briefly in ESPN article, “More Info on Billy Martin”, but details are unclear.
- unknown bar patron, Baltimore, date unknown. Mentioned briefly in ESPN article, “More Info on Billy Martin”, but details are unclear.
- Two or three unknown white males, possibly bouncers in a topless club. May 6, 1988. NYT article.