47 years ago, it was the Bronx Zoo
'One's a born liar, the other's convicted.' Packers a cash cow
Good morning, all!
I chuckle when I hear the uninitiated pang for the days of George Steinbrenner. The Yankees have their troubles, but those who say if the “Boss” was around these problems would be fixed, either weren’t born then or have amnesia. The once, glorious Yankees were chaos central. Case in point was 47 years ago on this date.
Steinbrenner expected the Yankees to not only win the World Series every year but every game in the regular season. Noble goals for sure, but totally unrealistic, when creating a tension-filled atmosphere, inhibiting players from achieving their goals. That was Steinbrenner.
And so it was on Monday, July 24, 1978, Billy Martin resigned as Yankees manager. It was either that or be fired, even though Martin had led the Yankees out of their championship doldrums by winning two straight AL Pennants and the World Series.
Tensions between Martin and star, free agent signee Reggie Jackson had reached unmanageable heights on July 17 in a night game against Kansas City at Yankee Stadium. With the game tied in the 10th inning and the winning run at first, Martin ordered his slugger, who was the DH that night, to bunt. Jackson refused. Then when Martin took the bunt sign off, Jackson attempted to bunt and fouled out.
Martin was livid and pinched hit for Jackson in the 11th inning. The Yankees lost the game, 9-7, and fell 14 games behind the first place Boston Red Sox. They would not be a repeat champion this year. Except…
Steinbrenner agreed with Martin that Jackson should be suspended for five games, and that’s when the Yankees started to roll. Jackson returned to the club that Sunday, July 23 in Chicago, but he was anything but contrite about his actions in pregame comments, thus irritating Martin even more, as Jackson’s words got back to him.
Martin refused to put Reggie in the lineup, as the Yankees rolled to their fifth straight victory and cut the Red Sox lead to 10 games. But that’s when things got interesting. With the Yankees flight to Kansas City delayed, the liquor started to flow in the O’Hare Airport bar. When reporters Henry Hecht of the NY Post and Murray Chass of the NY Times started pressing Martin about Jackson’s return and how it might interfere with the Yankees turnaround, Martin let it rip, lambasting both Jackson and Steinbrenner:
The two of them deserve each other. One’s a born liar, the other’s convicted.
-Billy Martin: July 23, 1978
There were no cell phones back then, so Hecht and Chass raced to the nearest pay phones to file their stories, before the plane took off. Word, of course, got back to Steinbrenner and the machinations started between Steinbrenner, Yankees GM Cedric Tallis and Martin’s agent Eddie Sapir. Martin would have to walk the plank. Either he would be fired or he could resign. Martin, who denied making those comments, chose resignation.
Bob Lemon would take over as Yankees manager and in the Yankees first game back at Yankee Stadium sans Martin, Lemon was booed when he brought the lineup card to home plate and every time he went to the mound to change pitchers. Heck, it wasn’t his fault he was tapped to succeed Martin, but the fans did not care. Billy was their man.
Steinbrenner, sensitive to the criticism cascading down all around him, had to do something to change the narrative. Five days later, before a big but less-than-a-sellout-Old Timers Day crowd at Yankee Stadium, Martin was introduced at the end of the ceremony. He would immediately return to the organization and be reinstated as Yankees manager in 1980. The crowd was delirious.
Meanwhile, Lemon guided the Yankees to a historic comeback over the Red Sox and another World Series championship. As usual with the impetuous Steinbrenner, things did not go according to plan. Lemon was replaced as manager by Martin, as the Yankees stumbled out of the gates in 1979. Martin was fired in the off season for getting into a bar fight with a marshmallow salesman and would be managing the Oakland Athletics the next season.
But the Yankees chaos would continue and Martin had three more stints as manager in pinstripes. So don’t yearn for the old days of Steinbrenner. His stewardship was chaotic. And we didn’t even get into the Dave Winfield fiasco.
You can take your yearning for the George Steinbrenner days and shove it. What happened 47 years ago is proof of what a Bronx Zoo the Yankees were.
Here are some other stories that caught my attention for Thursday, July 24, 2025:
Yes, that was the last place Pittsburgh Pirates who just swept the first place Detroit Tigers a three-game series in Pittsburgh. And this is after the Pirates were swept by the last place Chicago White Sox over the weekend. You can’t figure baseball, can you?
NBC shutdown its NBC Sports Network four years ago. Now there is word parent-owner Comcast is thinking of launching a, wait for it, NBC Sports Network. Sort of like bringing back Billy Martin, back in the day, I guess.
When it comes to the Green Bay Packers, the cash registers are ringing. The Pack’s revenue jumped 10 percent last year, raking in $719M. That’s why NFL franchises are selling for billions. They are a cash cow.
Where are all these influencers now? When Bill Belichick was announced as the next football coach at North Carolina, many were writing stories about how he would opt out of his contract to land an NFL job or some other gig. Well, Belichick is still the coach, entering preseason practice, and every NC home game has sold out.
As always, thank you for subscribing and have a terrific day.
DAN