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Quotes by Billy Martin





Wednesday, November 19, 2003
What they said


Quotes about Billy Martin

  • "Some people have a chip on their shoulder. Billy has a whole lumberyard."
    --Jim Murray

  • "Billy Martin makes the game lean a little more toward professional wrestling. He might as well wear a hood and come to the park as the Masked Manager."
    --Mike Downey, quoted in the San Francisco Examiner, May 5, 1983

  • "People think I hate Billy Martin. I don't. I hate some of the things he did. And I will say I don't understand him...
    "Billy Martin is not an intellectual, but there is a cunningness to him that is something to behold."

    --Reggie Jackson, Reggie

  • "I have no idea why I liked him so much. We never could figure it out. Me and Whitey Ford and Billy were all so different. That's why we got along so well."
    --Mickey Mantle, shortly after hearing of Martin's death, quoted in the Washington Times December 29, 1989

  • "We used to tease each other about whose liver was going to go first. I never thought it would end for him this way."
    --Mickey Mantle on the death of Martin, quoted in USA Today, December 29, 1989

  • "He's a good manager. He might be a little selfish about some of the things he does and he may think he knows more about baseball than anybody else, but it wouldn't surprise me if he was right."
    --Casey Stengel, quoted in The Sporting News, August 23, 1975

  • "If liking a kid who will never let you down in the clutch is favoritism, then I plead guilty."
    --Casey Stengel on Martin the player, widely quoted

  • "Billy was a true Yankee--one of the truest ever. He always said he wanted to die a Yankee. He was his own man. He was fiery and could be charming. He was a great manager."
    --Bucky Dent, after Martin's death

  • Billy Martin. Always No. 1
    --Marqee at Yankee Stadium on December 26, 1989





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