Yankees’ Martin Knows Whereof He Speaks

Billy Martin, asked about the Dave Winfield-George Steinbrenner feud, said: “The Yankees come first and everything else is second, including books. If a guy has to leave because there’s not a proper mix, then he’ll go.”

Martin speaks from personal experience.

In 1957, he and five other Yankees, including Mickey Mantle, were celebrating his 29th birthday at the Copacabana in New York when a brawl broke out. It ended when Hank Bauer reportedly slugged a patron.

A month later, Martin, whom management felt was a bad influence on Mantle, was traded to Kansas City.

Add Martin: Recently married for the fourth time, he told Edwin Pope of the Miami Herald that he is paying alimony only to one of his ex-wives.

“That’s to my boy Billy Joe’s mother,” he said, “but it’s $24,000 a year.

“I keep telling Billy Joe to find her a new husband. Meet him at the door. Fix him a drink. Tell him how great he is. I tell Billy Joe, ‘You handle this right, there’s a grand a month and a new car in it for you.’ And I’ll still come out ahead.”

Add Yankees: Public address announcer Bob Sheppard recalls the lineup when he made his announcing debut on April 17, 1951: “On that day it was Jackie Jensen in left, Phil Rizzuto at short, Mickey Mantle in right, Joe DiMaggio in center, Yogi Berra catching, Johnny Mize at first, Billy Johnson at third, Jerry Coleman at second, and Vic Raschi was the pitcher. The Yankees beat the Red Sox, 5-0.”

The first five men all won American League MVP awards--a total of 11 altogether--and Mize, a future Hall of Famer, was a four-time National League home run champion.

Trivia Time: John Wooden coached four basketball players at UCLA who competed in the Olympic Games, but Walt Hazzard was the only one who played basketball in the Games. Who were the other three? (Answer below.)

Add UCLA: Said Auburn Coach Sonny Smith when asked about the vacancy at Westwood: “Well, I think I could do it all right, if I could learn to merge on the freeways.”

The biggest play in last year’s National Collegiate Athletic Assn. final between Indiana and Syracuse? Indiana Coach Bob Knight says it wasn’t Keith Smart’s game-winning 15-footer, but the pass he got from Daryl Thomas.

“I don’t have a picture in my office of Smart’s shot but rather of Thomas’ pass,” he said.

Vin Scully, on TV partner Lee Trevino who will be eligible for the Seniors Tour on Dec. 1, 1989, when he turns 50: “Lee Trevino is the only guy I know who can’t wait to get old.”

Murray Chass of the New York Times, on the pennant chances of the Seattle Mariners under their retiring manager, crusty Dick Williams: “The Mariners don’t figure to win this one for the ripper.”

Trivia Answer: George Stanich, high jump, 1948; Rafer Johnson, decathlon, 1956-60; Keith Erickson, volleyball, 1964.

Quotebook

Wayne Fuson, sports editor of the Indianapolis News: “The NCAA should hold the Final Four in the largest place possible--the Silverdome, the Superdome, the Hoosier Dome . . . or in Dick Vitale’s mouth.”