It was Billy Martin‘s 29th birthday. And his favorite drinking buddy, Mickey Mantle, decided that they should celebrate in style at the ritziest and most exclusive club in New York, the Copacabana. Yogi Berra, Hank Bauer, Whitey Ford, and Johnny Kucks joined the party as well as some of the wives. Before the night was out, all hell would break loose, and Billy Martin would wind up being traded (ostracized might be a better word) to Kansas City. Bauer was taken into custody; hefty fines would be issued by the Yankees, and manager Casey Stengel would get into a shouting match with Yankees owner, George Weiss because his favorite player (Martin) had been traded.
Yankees History: A Birthday Party Nightclub Brawl (1957)
