Birdie Tebbetts notes on 1st Billy Martin hiring-Yanks

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This is your opportunity to own a true and original piece of baseball history. In late July of 1975, the New York Yankees were in turmoil. The new ownership, headed by George Steinbrenner , was unhappy with the performance of both the team and its manager, Bill Virdon , and was anxious to make changes. Birdie Tebbetts , long time ML player, manager, coach and scout, was assigned the task of locating Billy Martin , and negotiating with Billy to become manager of the Yankees. This would become Billy's first of five stints as manager of the Yankees. You are bidding on the original nine hand written pages of notes that Birdie Tebbetts took on his trip to find Billy and eventually sign him to a Yankee contract. The nine pages are written in various colors of ballpoint, some dated and some not, some extremely detailed and some rambling. The extent of the detail can be only briefly described because of time and space constrainsts. Detailed are Birdie's use of Martin's wife and father-in-law to help locate Billy, who was holed up somew in Montana. Billy was found, and a meeting set for a hotel in Denver, CO on Wed., July 30. During the meeting Birdie had a checklist of rules that Billy must agree to before salary negotiations can begin. Birdie marks "OK" next to each rule as Billy agrees. Among them are "No criticism of management" and "Better judgement on booze and broads". Birdie also mentions managers Alston and Berra, and Billy's reply is that they were lucky to have teams. Birdie's notes continue through Martin's contract signing, trip to New York, and end just before Billy's presentation to the press at Shea Stadium. T are also notes on Birdie's recommendations for options other than Martin, namely, Walt Alston, Preston Gomez, Gene Mauch and Joe Gordon, all who are rejected by Gabe Paul and/or George Steinbrenner for various reasons. Birdie also critiques the team's performance. "July 27 - Ball club is dead. Players no extra (or ordinary) effort in key games." He criticizes Virdon's decision to have Munson bunt in the 3rd inning, and his depletion of his bench too early in the game. You'll see phone numbers of motels in the mountains of Montana and Colorado, read Birdie's opinion of his own new contract, and find out how many drinks Billy Martin had on the flight from Denver to New York. The detail is absolutely incredible. Also included are two copies of Birdie's note pages marked "not submitted", that discuss Birdie's opinions on what qualifications are needed for a Yankee manager, and the possibility of hiring Bobby Cox for the job. These two pages are the ONLY copies, the other nine are all ORIGINAL. All sheets are in a plain red binder simply marked "Martin". I removed the sheets only to scan them, and then replaced them in the binder exactly as they were given to me, and as I assume they have rested for almost 31 years. For a Yankee fan, and especially a Billy Martin fan, this is the chance of a lifetime to own the handwritten notes of the man who negotiated the deal with Billy. These sheets was handed to me directly by Birdie's son, George Jr., and the winning bidder will receive his LOA verifying the authenticity of the item. Shipment will be by Priority mail with delivery confirmation, and the cost is $6.00. If you win other items in this weeks' auctions, they'll be included with minimal additional s/h. Insurance is optional, and is billed at cost. Payment by Paypal, cashier's check or money order gets next day shipping. Personal checks under $50 are not held, nor are those from repeat customers. Your money back if not completely satisfied. Please don't bid unless you plan to complete the transaction. You will receive excellent service from me, and in return I expect payment from you within 14 days. After 14 days, I may withdraw the item, relist, and file an Unpaid Item Dispute. All bidders and bidding strategies are welcome, but please email with any questions BEFORE bidding. Thanks for bidding and good luck. Powere... read more

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