Over the course of the 1977 season, Billy said that team owner George Steinbrenner had fired him 5 times, and he'd "fired himself 3 times." The Yankees won the World Series anyway.
But in '78, injuries mounted, and so did tension between Billy and George, and between Billy and Reggie Jackson. On July 17, Billy suspended Reggie for disobeying a sign. On July 23, when Reggie returned, Billy was getting on a plane for the team's roadtrip to Kansas City, and a sportswriter asked him what George thought about all of it. Referring to comments Jackson had made and team owner George Steinbrenner's 1972 violation of campaign-finance laws: "They're made for each other. One's a born liar, the other's convicted."
That was it: Billy had to go. George flew out to Kansas City, too, and Billy knew the game was up. He announced his resignation, but who was kidding who. He was replaced by Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Lemon, who had previously managed the Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox.
July 29, 1978: Old-Timers' Day at Yankee Stadium. A big question was whether Billy would be invited -- and, if so, whether he would accept. He did, and public address announcer Bob Sheppard read an announcement that Lemon would remain the manager through the end of the 1979 season, and then become the general manager. At which point, the field manager would, again, be Billy Martin.
Billy ran out onto the field in his Number 1 uniform, and got the greatest ovation of his career. And, under Lemon, the Yankees rebounded, got healthy, and won another World Series.
Billy's first tenure as manager was his most awkward -- but also, by far, his most successful. Although he returned in mid-1979, for the 1983 season, for most of 1985, and for the start of 1988, he only managed another 470 games for the Yankees -- almost exactly as many games as he managed in his first tenure (471).
And while he came very close to getting the Yankees into the postseason in 1985, by 1988 he was a neurotic relic. He died in a car crash on Christmas Day 1989, and there are those who believe that George was thinking of hiring him for Billy VI.
Why did Billy keep accepting George's offers? Because managing the Yankees meant everything to him. Too much.
Why did George keep bringing Billy back?
Top 5 Reasons You Can’t Blame George Steinbrenner for Hiring Billy Martin 5 Times
5. The Death of Jerry Lemon. On October 27, 1978, just 10 days after Bob Lemon managed the Yankees to win the World Series, his son Jerry was killed in a car accident. Bob was not emotionally prepared to manage the Yankees in 1979, and, in mid-season, George moved him to a scouting position, and brought Billy back.
4. Dick Howser. Once Billy's 3rd base coach, he got the Yankees to the AL Eastern Division title in 1980, but they lost the ALCS to the Kansas City Royals. George and Dick got into a huge argument, and Dick said the heck with this, I'm out.
Had George and Dick worked things out, Dick might have won it all in 1981. After all, a returned Lemon got them to within 2 games of a title. Things might not have fallen apart under Dick in 1982, the way they did under Lemon and then Gene Michael.
Dick might have managed the Yankees all the way until the 1986 All-Star Game -- which was the last game he ever managed, before leaving the Royals to focus on his health, unsuccessfully as it turned out.
Dick can hardly be blamed for not sticking with George. But if Dick I had not ended, there might still have been a Billy II later, but there probably wouldn't have been a Billy III, a Billy IV, or a Billy V.
3. George Was a Sucker. He loved a hard-luck story. Yes, putting one over on the Mets was why he acquired Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden and David Cone, and it might also have had something to do with why he hired Joe Torre. But Darryl and Doc, especially, had fallen on hard times, and George thought that, if someone showed faith in them, they could rebound and help the Yankees. He was right.
And nobody in baseball was a rebound guy as much as Billy Martin. George always thought Billy could be redeemed. And, competitively, this seemed to be true. It was off the field where Billy ruined himself.
2. Billy's Loyalty. Here's a list of men other than Billy Martin who managed for George twice from Billy's "resignation" in 1978 until George's ban in 1990: Bob Lemon, Gene Michael, Lou Piniella. Once in that stretch? Dick Howser, Clyde King, Yogi Berra, Bucky Dent, Stump Merrill.
George liked to say that he never fired anybody, he just moved them around in the organization. In the case of Lemon, Michael, Piniella, King and Merrill, that was true. But Howser, Berra and Dent all said, "Forget it," and didn't come back. They quit on George. I can't blame them.
Billy never quit on George. Even the 1st time, when, officially, it was a resignation, it wasn't, "I've had enough of this guy." It was, "I blew it, and I have to go, and I know it." But he came back when George apologized.
This makes it sound like Billy was a battered wife, always returning to the domestic abuse. Well, Billy abused George a bit as well.
1. Winning. The 5th time: The Yankees were doing okay, until an injury crisis hit. On June 22, 1988, the Yankees lost for the 4th straight time in Detroit, the last 3 in walkoff fashion, but they were still only 2 1/2 games out of 1st place. It was off-the-field stuff that led George to fire Billy. They were 40-28. After that, with Piniella in charge? 45-48. They ended up 3 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox.
The 4th time: They were 6-10 when George fired Yogi on April 29, 1985, and Billy led them to 91-54 the rest of the way. They finished 2 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays. On June 11 and 12, the Yankees lost to the Jays, at home, in extra innings. Had they won either of those games, the AL East race would have ended tied.
Given the injuries the Yankees had, it might have been Billy's best managing job ever. Again, it was off-the-field stuff that led George to fire Billy.
The 3rd time: In 1983, the Yankees went 91-71, 7 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. There was little wrong with Billy's managing that year. And, given that the Yankees had been awful the year before, and were in a bit of a transition, this was a good job.
The Detroit Tigers ran away with the Division the next year, but if Billy had been kept on, to build with that team, the 1985 race might have had a very different ending. This time, it's not clear why George fired Billy. Certainly, a 12-game improvement can't be considered a failure.
The 2nd time: As I said, Lemon lost his son to a car crash right after the 1978 World Series, and his heart wasn't in managing. Replacing him on June 18, 1979, with the Yankees at 34-31 and in yet another injury crisis, was the right thing to do.
Was bringing Billy back the right thing to do? From that point onward, they went 55-40 under Billy -- including 31-23 after Thurman Munson was killed in a plane crash on August 2. So they didn't fall apart after Thurman died. Billy got them back on the right track, although the Orioles ran away with the Division. So why didn't George keep Billy for 1980? Again, an off-the-field incident.
So Billy did well as Yankee manager in runs 2 through 5, but not quite well enough to make the Playoffs.
But the 1st time? He won. Let's face it: If the Yankees hadn't won the Pennant in 1976, George probably would have fired Billy outright in 1977, instead of giving him several "one last chance"s, and he might not have won the Pennant in 1977, either. And he might never have won a Pennant, under any manager.
And then, George would have gone down in history as the blowhard who wasted all that money on the Yankees and got nothing out of it.
Billy needed George. But George needed Billy, too.
VERDICT: Not Guilty.