Fun times at Fenway

Billy Martin, left, and Reggie Jackson exchanging not-so-pleasant pleasantries

Just another afternoon at the old brawl park for the New York Yankees 48 years ago today at Boston’s Fenway Park.

The altercation starts when Yankees manager Billy Martin unceremoniously pulls Reggie Jackson from the game, believing that his All-Star right fielder is a tad lax in keeping Jim Rice from turning a checked-swing single to right into a double with one out in the sixth inning.

At the same time that he replaces Yankees starter Mike Torrez with Sparky Lyle, Martin sends in Paul Blair to replace Jackson in right field.

Jackson, of course, disagrees with Martin’s assessment of his play and decision to replace him in the middle of an inning, and lets him know about it.

At rather high decibels, too.

And in a cramped dugout and right on national television for all to see.

Only a timely intervention by Yankee coaches Elston Howard, Yogi Berra and Dick Houser keeps Martin from throwing punches at Jackson – or vice versa – in the dugout.

Oh, yeah, the Red Sox win the game 10-4 before a Saturday afternoon crowd of 34,603 at Fenway.

Martin is unapologetic in his postgame comments to reporters.

“If you don’t hustle, I don’t accept it,” Martin says. “If a player shows up the club, I show up the player.”

Billy Martin and Reggie Jackson later in the 1977 season

Some question Martin’s timing – choosing to “show up” Jackson – in the middle of an inning, for all to see during the national telecast and for countless replays that follow then and over the decades since.

Martin, being Martin – and that being forever feisty – bluntly rejects the question of timing.

“Because it’s a TV game,” Martin says, “I’m not going to wait until next week. He showed us up all over the country.”

Eventually, the two combatants make peace.

After that, with Martin calling the shots from the dugout and Jackson hitting other shots out of the ballpark, the Yankees finish the 1977 season by beating the Los Angeles Dodgers for New York’s first World Series title since 1962.