Billy Martin On Managing

• I've got the reputation for being baseball's bad boy and I don't deserve it. But I know I am a good manager. For one thing, I know how to handle men. That's the secret of managing. For another, I know enough about the game, not fundamentals, but executing. I think I get the most out of players with common sense and psychology. I'm fiery enough that I'd have their respect. 

• I believe if God had ever managed, he would have been very aggressive, the way I manage.

• I've always said I could manage Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Hirohito. That doesn't mean I'd like them, but I'd manage them.

• Everything looks nicer when you win. The girls are prettier. The cigars taste better. The trees are greener.

• I get fired because I'm not a yes-man. The world's full of yes men. The first year that I became manager, 1969, with the Twins, I won a division championship. And got fired. The Tigers hired me. I had made $35,000 and the Tigers gave me a big raise. I won another division title and got fired again. Texas hired me, and with a bigger raise. I came in second and got fired. The Yankees hired me, and tripled my salary. When I got fired there, and Oakland hired me--they gave me an unbelievable raise. I've got a long-term contract now, but if I get fired again, I might run for President.

• All I know is, I pass people on the street these days, and they don't know whether to say hello or to say good-bye.

• The only real way to know you've been fired is when you arrive at the ballpark and find your name has been scratched from the parking list.

 

Billy Martin: Baseball's Flawed Genius