Late 1970s New York Yankees a.k.a. Bronx Zoo

[Squirrel Master]

Most of us here at FAN are too young to remember the late 1970s New York Yankees, A.K.A. "The Bronx Zoo". There was the thick headed tyrant, team owner George Steinbrenner who couldnt stand (yet respected) his alcoholic manager Billy Martin. They butted heads constantly, and George fired and rehired Billy several times. Billy Martin, despite being a baseball genius, was a racist and he absolutely hated his superstar batting king Reggie Jackson, and the feeling was mutual. Jackson would routinely hit 10-15 home runs during pre-game batting practice. He'd make a point of his greatness by constantly hitting home runs seemingly just to get Billy to shut up. The respected team captain Thurman Munson kept the team on point before his tragic death in an airplane crash. The Yankees played out their animosity in the media, yet the Yankees won Championships and ruled baseball in the years 1977 and 1978. Their antics sold millions of newspapers, and the men seen below are Hall of Famers now. Martin was rumored to have been considered for rehire as manager just prior to his tragic death by car accident.
R.I.P. Team Captain Thurman Munson, George "The Boss" Steinbrenner and "Number One" Billy Martin.

[Cyno]

As much animosity as there was between Billy Martin and George Steinbrenner, when George learned he died, he stopped everything and went right to helping plan his funeral and making sure everything was in order for his family.

That was Steinbrenner for you. He had that bullish demeanor in public and was ruthless as a baseball owner, but behind the scenes he was a very giving person. I also don't think he ever truly burned a bridge he didn't end up repairing, even if it was decades later.

[Deleted]

Thurman sadly isn't a hall of famer, which he definitely would be in had his career not been tragically cut short.

The most I know about the 77 team was from the ESPN Mini-series "The Bronx is Burning" which showed the team's ups and downs in a year that also saw the city dealing with Son of Sam, the Mayoral race, and the blackout in the summer that caused big riots. And as much as he denies it, I think Reggie would've been the kind of guy to make the 'straw that stirs the drink' comment.

[Squirrel Master]

Bleacher seats at Yankee Stadium cost $1.50 back then in 1977-1978. My brother and I and our 13 year old buddies took the subway from Brooklyn up to The Bronx quite often to see this team perform. What a tremendous amount of pressure they were under to win as a cohesive unit. We knew were seeing history!

[Squirrel Master]

[fw91]

Besides that mr October game. Don’t see why Reggie is a Yankee in the hall of fame. He had better years and longevity in Oakland. Plus he seemed like he hated New York

[Deleted]

Reggie hated leaving Oakland in the first place, but also didn't like how Charlie O. Finley nickel-and-dimed people out of their money when contract time came. He was mad at how the team was being gutted after being 3-time WS champions.
He wanted to stay.

[MrElijah]

Jan 31, 2018 21:31:20 GMT -5 @sandman said:

Reggie hated leaving Oakland in the first place, but also didn't like how Charlie O. Finley nickel-and-dimed people out of their money when contract time came. He was mad at how the team was being gutted after being 3-time WS champions.
He wanted to stay.

I never understood Finley's thinking. You have the only MLB team in history that's NOT The Yankees to Threepeat. Why break em up?

[Deleted]

Feb 1, 2018 11:47:12 GMT -5 MrElijah said:

Jan 31, 2018 21:31:20 GMT -5 @sandman said:

Reggie hated leaving Oakland in the first place, but also didn't like how Charlie O. Finley nickel-and-dimed people out of their money when contract time came. He was mad at how the team was being gutted after being 3-time WS champions.
He wanted to stay.

I never understood Finley's thinking. You have the only MLB team in history that's NOT The Yankees to Threepeat. Why break em up?

Money. Primarily money and the lack of it he actually had. He lost money investing in the ABA (Memphis Tams). He lost money in the NHL (Oakland/California Golden Seals). And he was about to go through divorce proceedings.

And he was an irritating little shit to the managers, calling them at all hours of the night. Woke up Bobby Winkles one time at 7am with a call "Get up! Only whores make a living in bed!"

That's why Dick Williams quit after 1973. "Fellas, you didn't hear this from me. But win, lose or draw, I'm outta here."

[bitteroldman]

Didn't they lose their closer Gossage for most of a season when he broke his hand fighting their 3rd string catcher?

[Deleted]

Apr 1, 2018 22:47:41 GMT -5 bitteroldman said:

Didn't they lose their closer Gossage for most of a season when he broke his hand fighting their 3rd string catcher?

1979, they were falling apart that year.

What hurt was that they had just traded Sparky Lyle to Texas to put an end to any rumors over who the closer was. Then Goose tears a ligament in his thumb and misses 3 months.
Reggie misses a month straining a muscle in his calf. He finds out the Yanks are looking to hire Martin again and says "If they rehire that man, this injury may last the rest of the season."
George got tired of lending money to Mickey Rivers to cover gambling debts and sent him to Texas to reacquire Oscar Gamble.
And Thurman was killed in that plane crash.

[Deleted]

Just a heads-up on a related topic, a movie is being planned on the 1978 season centered around the battles between the Yankees and Red Sox.

[Cyno]

I hope they name the movie "Bucky f***ing Dent."