74. Mr. Ranger Tom Grieve talks Billy Martin Podcast Por arte de portada

74. Mr. Ranger Tom Grieve talks Billy Martin

74. Mr. Ranger Tom Grieve talks Billy Martin

Escúchala gratis

Ver detalles del espectáculo

Acerca de esta escucha

 Before Billy Martin ever wore the pinstripes as a manager, he guided three different American League clubs. The Twins in 1969; the Tigers from 1971-73 and the Rangers from 1973-75. In each case, Martin did what he would always do: take a losing club and turn them around. The Twins improved 18 games to 97-65 in 1969, and won their division. In 1971, Detroit won 12 more games than they did the year prior and a year later, they went to the playoffs. But his biggest challenge had to be the Rangers, who were an abysmal 57-105 in 1973… and a year later, 84-76… a 28-game improvement. Sports Illustrated called him a fiery genius when he was on their cover in June of 1975 and that’s just what he was. As smart a baseball man as there ever was who wouldn’t take crap from anyone. Not the owner. Not the GM. Not his players. Not the guy at the bar. And he had issues with all of them. But rarely on the field. Once they said ‘Play Ball’ there was no better strategist than Billy. His players weren’t scared of him… but they were scared to lose for him. Billy wouldn’t stand for it. He got the best out of his players because he believed they could be better than they actually were… and more often than not, he was right… and he has the wins to back it up. Tom Grieve played under Martin and had two of his best seasons in the bigs while Billy was his manager. 50 years later, Grieve says that Martin was the best manager he ever played for. He’s not the only one to think that. Tom Grieve played for the Rangers 7 seasons. He would later become their General Manager for 10 years and followed that up by working as a broadcaster for the Rangers for another 22 years… there is a reason he is referred to as Mr. Ranger and is a member of the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame. But he says those years with Martin may have changed baseball in Texas for good, as fans for the first time showed interest in what had been, until that time, a pretty dreadful organization. “Billy revitalized baseball,” according to Mr. Grieve. On the Past Our Prime podcast, Grieve looks back at those years with Martin and talks about how he instilled in them a fear of losing, and a path to winning. He says that Billy believed they could win, much to the disbelief of many on that Rangers roster, and told them so in the first team meeting upon his arrival. And sure enough, wins started piling up, and the Rangers were making believers out of just about everyone, including themselves. Grieve says that the team knew their manager gave them an edge in the dugout and that carried out onto the field. Six weeks after Martin was on the cover of SI he was let go by the Rangers after another disagreement with management. It was a pattern that Martin had his entire career, and would follow him to his next position… as the manager of the New York Yankees… but before Steinbrenner and Reggie and the Bronx Zoo… there was Billy in Texas… and Tom Grieve, “The man who signed Nolan Ryan!” tells us how it all went down on the Past Our Prime podcast… Please review, subscribe, listen, download… whatever you do with a podcast… when you can. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup
Todavía no hay opiniones