Billy Martin (1928–1989) was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and the on-again, off-again manager of the New York Yankees. Known first as a scrappy infielder on the championship Yankee teams of the 1950s, he built a reputation as a manager who would initially make bad teams good, and then be fired amid dysfunction. In each of his stints with the Yankees, he led them to winning records before being fired or forced to resign by team owner George Steinbrenner. Martin led the team to consecutive American League pennants in 1976 and 1977; they lost in the 1976 World Series but triumphed over the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1977, Martin's only World Series championship as a manager. He was forced to resign midway through the 1978 season, returned in 1979, and was fired at season's end. From 1980 to 1982, he managed the Oakland A's, earning a division title with an aggressive style of play known as "Billyball". After the A's fired him, he managed the Yankees three more times.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Martin

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1271:

The Knights Hospitaller surrendered the Krak des Chevaliers to the army of the Mamluk sultan Baibars. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krak_des_Chevaliers

1740:

War of the Austrian Succession: The Royal Navy captured the Spanish ship of the line Princesa, which was later mustered into British service. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Princess_%281740%29

1904:

France and the United Kingdom signed the Entente Cordiale, agreeing to a peaceful coexistence after centuries of intermittent conflict. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entente_Cordiale

1959:

A team of computer scientists and others met to discuss the creation of a common business-oriented programming language that became COBOL. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COBOL

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

comply: 1. To yield assent; to accord; to acquiesce, agree, consent; to adapt oneself, to conform. 2. (archaic) To accomplish, to fulfil. [from late 16th c.] 3. (archaic) To be ceremoniously courteous; to make one's compliments. 4. (archaic) To enfold; to embrace. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/comply

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Each of us believes, quite unconsciously of course, that we alone pursue the truth, which the rest are incapable of seeking out and unworthy of attaining. This madness is so deep-rooted and so useful that it is impossible to realize what would become of each of us if it were someday to disappear.   --Emil Cioran https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emil_Cioran