SABR Series: Billy Martin’s Baltimore Brawls with John Burbridge

Join professor and SABR author John Burbridge for a presentation on Billy Martin on Saturday, December 13th from 12-2PM. Free for museum and SABR members, included in admission for all other guests.

Bill Martin’s Baltimore Brawls
Baseball in Baltimore has a rich and colorful history which includes a September weekend in 1985. Those three days became infamous for what occurred off the field with Billy Martin, manager of the New York Yankees, as the main protagonist. Martin and his Yankees had come to Baltimore for a three-game series beginning on Friday, September 20. With Martin at the helm, the Yankees were challenging the Toronto Blue Jays for the American League East lead. However, they had just lost their seventh consecutive game increasing the Toronto lead to five and one-half games. Martin’s weekend resulted in a near-skirmish with a groom and a bar patron on Friday night and a brutal fight with Eddie Lee Whitson on Saturday night. Both incidents occurred at the Cross Keys Inn in northern Baltimore where the Yankees were staying.

To set the stage for the above activities, we need to first discuss what occurred prior to the Friday night game. Whitson, who had signed with the Yankees as a free agent, expected he would start that Friday against the Orioles. However, Martin decided to bypass him probably due to a poor start he had the previous Sunday. Whitson was not very happy with the Martin decision.

The Yankees lost the Friday night game 4-2. Martin and other Yankee coaches and players gravitated to the bar at the hotel after the game. The evening ended with Billy getting into a near-brawl with a groom and bar patron. Cooler heads prevailed and no punches were thrown but the incident became a topic of conversation amongst the Yankee coaches and players including Whitson the next day.

On that Saturday, the Yankees snapped their losing streak and once again Yankee coaches and players including Whitson could be found at the Cross Keys bar after dinner. Whitson who apparently had too much to drink took out his frustrations concerning Martin with another bar patron. When Martin intervened, Eddie Lee and Martin ended up in a brutal fight that began in the hotel bar and continued both in and out of the hotel. As a result, Billy ended up with a broken arm. This was probably the only fight that Martin lost to a player in his career. While all this was occurring, George Steinbrenner back in New York City was wondering what happened to the 1:00 a.m. curfew.

These incidents plus some of the background of both Martin and Whitson including their pugilistic activities will be addressed during this presentation. The games will also be included. Martin and his barroom activities during a September weekend made a lasting contribution to the sometimes strange but wonderful world of Baltimore baseball.

About John Burbridge
Dr. John J. Burbridge, Jr. is currently Professor Emeritus at Elon University where he was both a dean and professor. While at Elon he introduced and taught Baseball and Statistics. He has authored several SABR publications and presented at SABR Conventions, NINE, and the Seymour meetings. He is a lifelong New York Giants baseball fan. The greatest Giants-Dodgers game he attended was a 1-0 Giants’ victory in Jersey City in 1956. Yes, the Dodgers did play in Jersey City in 1956 and 1957. John can be reached at burbridg@elon.edu