RELIVING YANKEE TOUGHNESS AND HOW IT TRANSLATES TODAY

In May of 1957, several Yankee players went out on the town to celebrate Billy Martin's 29th birthday. A mix of players and wives were in the entourage of celebrants that wound up at famous New York hot spot, the Copacabanna at 10 East 60th Street. Yogi Berra's wife, Carmen, had ordered a cake for the occasion, and she made the point that this was Billy's last chance to celebrate before he gets old!

The pastry chef at the Waldorf baked Billy's cake, and Martin was toasted frequently during and after the birthday dinner.  The revelers had already made a couple of additional stops before arriving at the Copa for the late show that featured Sammy Davis, Jr.   A couple of the Yankees might have already arrived at what Casey Stengel called "whiskey slick" status.  

Something happened that night that still remains unclear 55 years later. Also in the club that evening were several members of an upper Manhattan bowling club, one or more of whom got too smart with the Yankee players and/or made racially disparaging remarks directed at Sammy Davis. Whatever took place, the Yankee party that included Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Hank Bauer, Whitey Ford, Martin, and Johnny Kucks took exception.

 

Both groups adjourned to the cloak room to settle their differences. Mantle testified later in the subsequent grand jury proceedings in June of 1957, that the victim came flying out and landed at his feet. Mantle thought it was Martin and picked him up. (Read HERE.) Upon seeing that it was not Martin, Mickey dropped the unfortunate fellow back on the floor. Mickey testified in court that the gentleman looked like "Roy Rogers rode through the Copa on Trigger and Trigger kicked the guy in the face."

Courtroom witnesses reported that the grand jury members were still laughing when charges were dismissed against suspected culprit, and highly decorated ex-Marine, Hank Bauer. The Copa six, as that group of players came to be known, were part of a four year run from 1955 through 1958 when the Yankees managed to win four consecutive American League pennants and two World Series.

While Bauer, Mantle, Ford, and Martin may have been world class party boys, they were also world class baseball players and laid it on the line every single game.  Manager Casey Stengel said to Hank Bauer, "You gave 110 percent every time you were in the lineup."  Stengel also referred to Bauer as one of his three best players in 1957.  Mickey Mantle was at the pinnacle of his success.  Mantle won the AL MVP award in both 1956 and 1957, and baseball's Triple Crown in 1956 with a 52HR, 130RBI and .353BA year!

In spite of how history has sullied the reputations of these Yankee players, especially Mantle, it is clear to me that the group's bonhomie and "hail fellow well met" approach to life enhanced, rather than hindered, their baseball performance.  (Read HERE.)  

The purpose of rehashing this story is to point out qualities possessed by the Copa six and other Yankees of that era that are seemingly missing on the 2012 squad.  I know the social mores have changed; I have lived through the changes that have occurred since the mid-1950's, but the 2012 Yankees have not shown anything like the toughness and camaraderie of that mid-fifties group.

When I watch Robinson Cano stroll to first base on ground balls, I certainly don't hearken back to the Yankees of the 50's and 60's.  Mickey Mantle, bad knees and all, busted his butt down the first base line almost every time.  The one time he failed to run hard on a ground ball in 1960, it was a national story.  Mantle was pulled from the lineup and publicly rebuked by Stengel.  We sure don't see that kind of behavior from the current Yankee manager when Cano loafs to first.

I have also noticed there are no war vets like Bauer and Jerry Coleman on the 2012 Yankees; There are no military vets at all, as far as I know.  Henry Albert "Hank" Bauer was a genuine WWII hero.  Bauer fought at Guadalcanal and Okinawa.  He earned eleven campaign ribbons, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts during his 32 months of Pacific Theatre combat.  In a desperate fight with the Japanese at Okinawa, Bauer commanded a Marine unit of 64 men.  Only six, including a badly wounded Bauer, survived.

Does anyone really think Hank Bauer could survive that ordeal and not acquire some real leadership skills?  I know society has changed and we will likely never see the Bauer, Mantle, Martin type of players again.  Hard scrabble lives make men tough, video games and cell phones, not so much!  Even so, there is no excuse for failing to face reality and doing your job as well as it can be done.  Today's baseball players are nothing like the men who played the game in post-war America. 

Whereas Yankees like Bauer, Berra, and Martin showed a fighting spirit, real leadership skills, and a strong bond as friends and teammates, the current squad of Yankees has not even demonstrated a sense of urgency during their extended baseball slump and funk.  Manager Joe Girardi seems to spend a lot of his time rationalizing and apologizing for the poor play of his team.  In fact, all we have heard from today's Yankee manager and players are platitudes, excuses, and rationalizations.  These are not good vibes if you are a Yankee fan hoping for more from this team.  Maybe it's just the sign of the times, who knows, but I do find it interesting.

Maybe the modern Yankees need to return to the rich Yankee tradition of a strongly bound team as a first step toward recovery.  Maybe somebody needs to exert some real leadership skill in the clubhouse.  Maybe somebody needs to throw a birthday party, bake a cake, go out to dinner, have some fun.  Maybe the Yankees should have a drink, loosen up a bit and stop trying to protect those well developed corporate images.  Light a fire!  Play some hardball baseball!  Hey... just an observation... it's my take. What do you think? Comment.

--Frank Gentry, BYB Writer

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