Major League Baseball Player and Manager. Born Alfred Manuel Martin Jr. in 1928, he spent 11 seasons in the Major Leagues as a player and 16 seasons as a manager. He appeared in five World Series classics during the 1950s as a player for the New York Yankees, winning four out of five series. In Game 7 of the 1952 World Series, Billy Martin made a spectacular catch of Jackie Robinson's popup with the bases loaded; the catch essentially saved the series for the Yankees. He was named the American League's Most Valuable Player in the 1953 World Series and appeared in the 1956 All-Star Game representing the American League. He made his Major League debut on April 18, 1950, with the New York Yankees at the age of 21. He spent the first seven years of his career as a middle infielder with the Yankees before being abruptly traded to the Kansas City Athletics in 1957 after he was involved in a team nightclub incident. The final five years of his playing career were spent with the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Braves, and Minnesota Twins. He appeared in 1,021 regular season games during his Major League career, finishing with 64 home runs, 333 runs batted in, and a lifetime .257 batting average. He also appeared in 28 World Series games where he drove in 19 runs, including five home runs. He began his managerial career in 1969 with Minnesota, leading the Twins to the American League West title after spending several years in the organization as the third base coach. He returned to the Yankee organization in August 1975 after brief managerial stints with the Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers. He led the Yankees to a World Series title in 1977, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers four games to two. He was fired by George Steinbrenner in July 1979 after he punched a marshmallow salesman in an incident that made national headlines. He was also involved in several highly public confrontations with New York owner George Steinbrenner and slugger Reggie Jackson. Following his dismissal from the Yankees, he took over the managerial duties of the Oakland A's, leading the club to the 1981 American League Western Division title. His style of suicide squeeze and hit-and-run baseball quickly became known throughout the American League as "Billy Ball." He returned to the Yankees in 1983 after being fired by the Oakland A's. The last several years of his managing career were highlighted by several hirings and firings by the New York Yankees organization. He finished his managerial career with 1,253 regular season wins against 1,013 losses and a post-season record of twelve wins and nineteen losses. Billy Martin was killed in an automobile accident in upstate New York on Christmas Day 1989. Following a service at Saint Patrick's Cathedral, he was interred in close proximity to Babe Ruth in Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, NY.