If you were looking for a manager for one season to drive a talented but undermotivated team to a championship, this is probably your guy.

The problem with him was that his act seemed to have a pretty short shelf life, and his second and subsequent seasons with the same team were often pretty bad.

This dude won all the way with various teams some of which were motley crews.How did he win with the 1980 A's?The 1974 Rangers?Both of those teams were putrid the year before and Martin made them contend.His most impressive job was in 1972 with Detroit.That team had NOTHING!!That was an old decrepit team yet Billy somehow whipped them to a division title.He made the Yankees into a powerhouse.He was intense to the point of lunacy.That might be the reason why he could not hold a team's attention for more than a year.But for the year,he did a nice job.

Billy could get the job done. He could make a team perform beyond its talents. They broke the mold when they made him, to use a tired cliche, that unfortunately, really fits Billy.

He turned the Twins, Tigers, Rangers, Yankees and A's into winners. Forget that he got hired and fired 5 times by Steinbrenner. The fact is that Billy can manage any ballclub.