But his homecoming 40 years ago helped revive a pathetically cheap and disrespected franchise that still carries some of his tenets.
“Billy Ball: Billy Martin and the resurrection of the Oakland A’s,” authored by Dale Tafoya, highlights how quickly Martin, who grew up in nearby Berkeley, Calif., resurrected a pathetically funded and operated franchise that was sold less than a year after his arrival, only to see Martin’s abundance of power and weaknesses result in his dismissal.
The fact Martin gained so much power over player-personnel decisions in a short time is fascinating, especially after the A’s quickly shifted deep into the computer/analytics age after his dismissal 38 years ago.