]–[>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]
on Martin, [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Pioneer League, [>]
Randolph, Willie, [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
and Martin’s death, [>], [>]–[>]
Rasmussen, Dennis, [>], [>]
Rawley, Shane, [>]
Reed, Rick, [>]–[>]
Reedy, Bill, [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>]–[>]
and Martin’s fatal accident, [>]–[>], [>]
Richardson, Bobby, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Righetti, Dave, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Rigney, Bill, [>], [>]–[>], [>]
Rijo, José, [>]
Rivers, Mickey, [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]
Rizzuto, Phil, [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Robertson, Andre, [>]
Robertson, Sherry, [>], [>]
Robinson, Jackie, [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>]–[>]
Rodríguez, Aurelio, [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>]
Roe, Preacher, [>]
Rose, Pete, [>]
Rosen, Al, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]
Rudi, Joe, [>], [>]
Ruppert, Jacob, [>]
Ruth, Babe, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Ryan, Nolan, [>], [>]
Sapir, Eddie, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]
Saturday Evening Post: Martin interviewed for (1953), [>]–[>], [>]
Sax, Steve, [>]
Scarsella, Les, [>]–[>]
Scott, Dale, [>]
Sheehy, Pete, [>], [>]
Short, Bob, [>], [>]
Showalter, Buck, [>]
manages New York Yankees, [>], [>]
on Martin, [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>]
mentored by Martin, [>]–[>], [>]
Silvera, Charlie, [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Sims, Duke, [>], [>]
Sinatra, Frank, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Skowron, Bill (“Moose”), [>]
Steinbrenner, George, [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>]
and Martin’s death, [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>]
on Martin’s drinking, [>]
and Munson’s death, [>]
and Reggie Jackson, [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>]
suspends Reggie Jackson, [>]–[>]
Steinbrenner, Hank, [>]
Stengel, Casey, [>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
background and early career, [>]–[>], [>], [>]
death, [>], [>]
estrangement from Martin, [>], [>]–[>]
as a fighter, [>]
manages All-Star team, [>], [>]
manages New York Mets, [>]
manages New York Yankees, [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
manages Oakland Oaks, [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>]
mentors Martin, [>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
as strategist, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Sweet, Ozzie, [>]–[>]
television: Martin as broadcaster on, [>], [>]
Martin makes beer commercials for, [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]
Texas Rangers, [>], [>]–[>]
Martin manages, [>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Tidrow, Dick, [>], [>], [>]
Tighe, Jack, [>]
Topping, Dan, [>], [>]
Toronto Blue Jays, [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>]
Cox manages, [>], [>]
Torre, Joe, [>], [>], [>]
Uecker, Bob, [>], [>]
umpires: Martin and, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]
Underwood, Tom, [>]
Van Heuitt, Bill (“Babe”), [>]
Veeck, Bill, [>]–[>]
Versalles, Zoilo, [>]–[>]
Virdon, Bill, [>]
Vucinich, Steve: on Martin, [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>]
Walls, Lee, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Wathan, John, [>]
Weaver, Earl: manages Baltimore Orioles, [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]
and Martin, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Weiss, George, [>], [>], [>]
disapproves of Martin, [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>]
West Berkeley, California, [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>]–[>]
resentment of Martin in, [>], [>]–[>]
White, Frank, [>]
White, Roy, [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
White, Sammy, [>]
Whitson, Eddie Lee, [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>]
fight with Martin, [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]
Williams, Ted, [>], [>]
Winfield, Dave, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
charged with cruelty to seagull, [>]
Steinbrenner ridicules, [>]–[>]
Winkler, Gretchen, [>]–[>], [>]
divorce from Martin, [>], [>], [>]
marriage to Martin, [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>]
Wohlford, Jim, [>]
Wolff, Bob, [>]
Wong, Howard, [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>]
Wynegar, Butch, [>], [>], [>]
Yankee Stadium, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>]
“Yankee Way,” [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Yastrzemski, Carl, [>], [>], [>], [>]
Yost, Eddie, [>]
Young, Cy, [>]
Young, Dick, [>], [>]
Zagaris, Mike, [>], [>], [>]
1
Essential Golf
The only thing a golfer needs is more daylight.
BEN HOGAN
GOLF WAS INVENTED by a bunch of bored Scottish sheepherders. Little did they know that their invention would lead us 550 years later to the Technasonic golf ball measurer. What’s the Technasonic? It’s a little portable contrivance that weighs your golf ball and finds its exact equator so you can mark that spot with a felt-tip pen. Then, after teeing up your ball, all you have to do is hit that exact spot over and over to make the ball travel straighter and farther. Because, as we all know, if a golf ball’s true equator could actually be identified, average golfers could always hit that spot. We would never miss it.
Why in God’s name didn’t somebody tell us about this magic equator spot before?
The Technasonic is a golf gadget that thousands of golfers believe they need and will routinely use. It is one of the hundreds of foolish golf devices that real golfers have no use for. Only pretend golfers have a Technasonic. Don’t be a pretend golfer.
Golf is not a simple game. But we need not make it more complicated with things like the Technasonic. We need not make it more complicated with things like overly fancy head covers for our clubs or little clamps on the sides of our golf b
ags where the putter can be snapped into place to keep it from getting mixed up with all the other clubs.
Those little putter clamps actually deprive average golfers of one of the game’s most important emotional releases: slamming the putter back into the bag after a missed 3-foot putt. So don’t get one of those little clamps. You’ll have to slam something else, like your hand, which might break, or you might try to kick your bag, which isn’t advised either since it looks cowardly.
No, a putter aggressively thrust into a padded sleeve of the golf bag is one of the safest things you can do. (Especially if done when no one is looking.)
Being a golfer means understanding all these little nuances of the game. It would be much easier if golf were just about the act of playing the game, like Ping-Pong, where anything goes. You can play Ping-Pong barefoot and in your underwear with the lampshade from last night’s Mojito party still on your head and a frying pan for a paddle. No one really cares. It probably won’t affect your game either. Unless your opponent has a bigger frying pan. Essentially, in Ping-Pong, it doesn’t matter how you dress, it doesn’t matter what brand of ball you play, and it certainly doesn’t matter if your shadow is interfering with your opponent’s next shot.
But golf is not Ping-Pong—thank goodness—and in golf all those things matter to some degree. In golf, you will have to wear pants, shorts, skorts, or skirts, and someone might be counting the number of pockets adorning those garments. You will be expected to play at a certain pace. You will be assigned random gardening-like chores on the golf course, and you must at times acquire the stock-still stance of a Queen’s Guard or be the target of angry stares and muttered grousing.
Sometimes it will seem as if every little thing matters in golf, and that’s your cue that you are finally figuring out the game. It’s also usually the point when someone else tells you that what you need to do is forget all the little things and just play.
“Relax, dude, it’s just a game,” your buddy will say after your third consecutive double bogey.
You will want to scream, shouting to one and all about how you could relax if only your head weren’t filled with five new swing tips, if your designer golf belt weren’t so tight, if your $200 gap wedge didn’t hate you, and if the last three putts hadn’t lipped out. But you will not scream or shout. You will instead do what all real golfers do at times like these. When your buddy isn’t looking, you will slam your putter in your bag.
Now, the path to this golf enlightenment—not fulfillment, mind you, but enlightenment—has many steps. First, you must understand the true essentials of playing golf. In other words, if you’re going to enter the belly of the beast, if you’re going to be a golfer, what are the essential things you need and need to know? This is no minor thing. The average golfer spends about $600 a year on his or her golf game, and that’s not counting greens fees. The average beginning golfer spends more than twice that, about $1,350, during the first year of playing the game. So this isn’t trivial.
Let’s start by debunking some myths. Here, for example, are the three most overrated golf essentials: tees, the golf bag, and everything someone else tells you on the golf course.
People actually pay money for tees, which are no more than little pieces of wood or plastic. I have never understood this. Keep your head down after you tee off (not a bad idea in general) and you will find so many discarded, perfectly good tees you won’t be able to keep all of them in one golf bag.
But people think tees are important. Well, some people. Did you know that lots of British golfers don’t even use tees? It is perfectly legal to smack the ground on the tee box with your club, raising a little tuft of grass that will form a mound that makes a perfect tee. Place the ball on that mound. If you are a golfer with a certain type of swing fault—like an open clubface at impact—the mound might even straighten out the face of your club and help you hit the ball straighter. In fact, until late in the nineteenth century, when the first tee was devised and patented, making a mound with their club or their hands was how all golfers began every hole.
Now, it is understandable that some people find solace in the look of a ball resting on a tee. It does usually breed confidence—who couldn’t hit a ball perched in the air? And, with modern drivers that resemble a grapefruit pierced with a stick, it is necessary to get the ball teed up at least a few inches off the ground. This helps the launch angle characteristics of some drivers as well.
So in that case, we need tees, including a few 4-inch tees for our drivers. Again, you will find these on the ground, too. Plus, many golf courses, particularly resorts or private clubs, give them away in the pro shop.
But if you are a beginner or have lost your old golf bag or just feel the desire to buy some tees, when you go to the store or go online to purchase some, you’re going to discover that the seemingly simple world of the golf tee has gone high-tech and—like so much else in golf—has gotten highly complicated.
There are now hundreds of kinds of tees made. There are tees designed to better the environment and tees made to better your breath (seriously). There are personalized tees, unbreakable tees, biodegradable tees made of cornstarch, pronged tees, and brush tees, with thin bristles like those on a toothbrush that hold up the ball.
Lest you think this is some kind of alternative niche golf spinoff, consider this: The United States Golf Association, which authorizes tees as conforming or not conforming to the Rules of Golf, commonly receives sixty new tee design applications annually. An Internet search of the United States Patent Office archives for golf tee patents returned a list of 1,298 since 1976.
More than 1.5 billion tees are sold globally every year. If that seems high, do a little math. There were about 500 million golf rounds played in the United States alone last year. A third of those rounds were only nine holes, so that adds up to about 8 billion holes played in the United States. That’s a lot of broken or lost golf tees. And a big business.
Never mind that you could use a thimble, a AAA battery, or a plastic shot glass to tee up your golf ball and probably play just fine. The problem is that those things are household items, and like the old wooden golf tee, they aren’t technologically advanced. And since we have technologically advanced drivers, hybrids, irons, putters, and golf balls, it figured we would soon have to have technologically advanced golf tees. And that’s at the crux of the golf tee brand boom. The new devices, of course, promise to help you hit the ball farther and straighter.
Take the Zero Friction tee, which has three prongs that hold up the ball instead of the little concave cup atop a traditional golf tee. Golfers using this tee will gain 4 yards of distance and 5 yards of accuracy, the company contends, because its tee reduces contact between the ball and the tee.
“With our tee, you hit more pure ball and significantly less tee,” John R. Iacono, the founder of Excel Golf Company, which makes the Zero Friction tee, told me. Iacono said his golf company had revenues of $5 million in 2009.
Iacono said Excel Golf had independent testing to back up its claims of distance and accuracy gains. Throughout the tee industry, there are companies that boast of test results showing the gains an alternative tee can produce. There is the Launcher tee, which has a 36 percent smaller “ball nest” and cites evidence that drives travel 8 yards farther and 50 percent straighter. The Stinger tee also has a smaller area upon which to rest the ball. Its proposed distance gain? Fourteen yards.
I have tried most of these tees. They are undeniably more durable because they are made of modern composites. It’s hard to tell if they help you hit the ball any straighter or farther. A repeatable swing would help with the experiment; let me know if you find one.
At the USGA, they have the robots and machinery to validate or reject the claims of manufacturers. But the USGA does not release the findings of those tests. They do test the tees to see if they conform to the Rules of Golf. And what does the rule book say about tees? Not much.
A tee must not be bigger than 4 inches and mus
t not be designed to help with the line of play. In other words, it can’t have an arrow or pointer attached, and it must not be designed to “influence the movement of the ball.”
What does that last part mean?
A general interpretation would be that the tee can’t help a golfer hit the ball farther or straighter. Dick Rugge, the senior technical director of the USGA Test Center, said that about 80 percent of the tees sent to his office, including tees like the Zero Friction and the Launcher, are assessed as conforming to the Rules of Golf. Rugge wouldn’t say much more than that. Asked if that meant these new tees helped players hit the ball farther, Rugge answered, “Our testing finds they don’t influence the movement of the ball.”
Hear the inference being screamed in that sentence?
Now there are tees sold, and used by a very few recreational golfers, that will influence the movement of the ball, mostly by helping to cure a slice or hook. These tees have a little half-sphere attached to the top that rests on the ball. The half-sphere takes much of the nasty sidespin off the ball that your open or closed clubface puts there at impact. These tees do not conform to the rules. They are illegal in competition.
You don’t see many golfers using them because you might as well throw the ball down the fairway.
The biggest problem with alternative tees is the cost. Some sell for $3 to $4 each. Other tees, like the Zero Friction tee, cost considerably less, with a package of thirty-five or fifty retailing for about $7.
Billy Martin Page 66
