from the New York Times
Surprise Package by Arthur Daley
Orlando, Fla., March 26 - When Billy Martin played second base for the Yankees, he was such a firebrand that even Casey Stengel accepted with amusement occasional explosive impertinences from his saucy young favorite. No other Yankee dared talked back to the boss. But Billy the Kid was too smart ever to overdo it and it was the front office that finally exiled him as a trifle too hot to handle.
Martin is now Cal Ermer's first lieutenant as coach of the Minnesota Twins and has mellowed so much that he has taken on the attitude of a Dutch uncle. His prize nephew as of the moment is Rod Carew, rookie of the year in the American League last season and the starting second baseman on the All-Star team.
At this time a year ago the Twins desperately needed a second baseman so that they could release Cesar Tovar for duty elsewhere. It seemed inconceivable that Carew, a 21-year-old greenhorn from the low minors, could make the leap to the majors. After a brief time, though, Martin said to Sam Mele, then the manager, "I think the kid can make it." Calvin Griffith agreed and Griff not only owns the ball club but had personally scouted the boy. These factors gave his opinions an extra weight. Since Carew was a willing worker, that endeared him to Martin, also a willing worker. Billy gave him the facts of life.
"Son," said the coach, "if you want to make this ball club as a regular, you've gotta listen to me and you've gotta hustle. One thing more. Don't ever lie to me. If you won't admit mistakes to yourself or me, you're going backwards."
"One day I'd been giving him hell and I walked over to him. 'Rod, I want to shake your hand,' I said. 'Why?' he asked me. 'If you can take what I have been giving you, I know you'll fight your way onto this ballclub.' I gotta confess I was giving him a bit of the con when he needed it most, but it worked.
"I thought he had good range in the field and a lively bat. What I didn't like was the fact that he didn't handle a ball to his right very well, that he had trouble coming in on a slow grounder and that he didn't know how to get out of the way of a base-runner on a double-play. The last thing I worried about was his own base running. Maybe I was misled by his 52 steals that year. I learned differently.
"He would foolishly go for an extra base when he had no chance of making it. He was so green that he didn't even know the runner approaching third was supposed to get the play from the third-base coach, me.
"The worse came one day when he was the runner on second with two out. The batter hit a grounder and should have been forced at first to end the inning. But he was safe on a close play and I'm trying to wave Carew in. He saw me too late and was thrown out at home. I lit into him.
"'In this game,' I said, 'you take nothing for granted. You can't assume the batter will be thrown out at first. On a close play the first baseman will usually turn to argue with the umpire, forgetting that you are racing home with a run.' I'm glad to say that Carew learned fast."
ROD CAREW, TWINS 2B