The Copacabana Incident, May 1957: Billy Martin Made the Scapegoat!

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The Yankees’ Infamous “Copacabana Incident, 1957

“Nobody did nothin’ to nobody!” –Yogi Berra, speaking about the Copacabana Incident

Our readers who are Yankee fans will certainly remember this one…

It was Billy Martin’s 29^th birthday, May 27, 1957. A group of Yankees, including Martin, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Hank Bauer and their wives decided to celebrate by taking in Sammy Davis, Jr.’s show at the Copacabana nightclub in Manhattan. Before the night was over, the players unexpectedly ended up in a drunken melee with a bunch of bowlers from the Bronx. The next day’s newspapers jumped on the incident and led with unflattering headlines. The Yankee brass was not pleased and viewed the incident as highly damaging to the team’s image. And of course it was Billy Martin’s fault…a known hot-head with the reputation of being able to “make a bad situation worse,” as Branch Rickey once famously said of Leo Durocher.   

Martin, the hero of Yankee World Series victories in 1952 and ’53, became the scapegoat for the incident, viewed by Yankee GM George Weiss as the probable instigator. With Martin’s fiery history, there was undoubtedly some merit to the assertion. Weiss always viewed the tight-wired Martin as a bad influence on the team and especially on Mickey Mantle, and had been looking for an excuse to dump him. Now he had it. On June 15, he sent Martin packing in an eight-player trade to the Kansas City Athletics.

Click on image below to see a short video of Mickey Mantle’s version of what happened in the Copacabana Incident: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuGnaUIBQrA

Click on this link to see a photo tribute to Billy Martin, who was made the scapegoat of the Copacabana Incident:

During the show at the Copa, a group of heavily-soused bowlers from the Bronx entered the nightclub apparently celebrating their success in their bowling league. They got loud, foul-mouthed, obnoxious, and some even started heckling Sammy Davis performing on the stage, including, some claimed, racial epithets. The Yankees, being fans of Sammy, took offense, with Bauer reportedly saying: “Would you guys mind keeping it down, we’ve got our wives here.” One thing led to another, things got heated, tempers flared, and before anyone knew it, fisticuffs were flying.

There are numerous versions of what happened next, but the brawl resulted in one of the bowlers, a Bronx deli owner, ending up with a concussion and a broken jaw. Ex-marine Hank Bauer was thought to be the Yankee most likely to have punched the guy out, although Bauer denied the charge. As expected, his Yankee teammates supported him. A lawsuit was brought against Bauer on the basis of felonious assault; and some of the Yankees, including Mantle, were called to testify before a grand jury. Below is an excerpt from Mickey Mantle’s testimony:

“ ‘Well,’ asked a grand juror, ‘did you see a gentleman lying unconscious on the floor near the Copa entrance?’ ‘Yes I did,’ Mantle answers. ‘All right, do you have an opinion as to how this could have happened?’ Mantle thought about the question and then, with a serious look on his face, said ‘I think Roy Rogers rode through the Copa, and Trigger kicked the man in the head.’ The Grand Jury broke out laughing, and an hour later the district attorney threw out the case for insufficient evidence.”

Despite the case being dismissed, harsh punishment was meted out. Mantle, Berra, Bauer, Ford and Martin were fined $1,000 each; while Johnny Kucks, a young pitcher, was fined $500. Later, on October 31, Yogi Berra claimed the team returned fine money to players involved in the altercation.

The Copa incident also led to a famous quote by Yankee manager Casey Stengel.  When asked why he dropped Bauer to eighth in the lineup but left Mantle in his familiar third spot, “I’m mad at Mantle, too, for being out late. But I’m not mad enough to take a chance on losing a ball game and possibly the pennant.” 

 Ironically, on June 16, 1957, Billy Martin’s first game for the A’s happened to be against the Yankees. Martin had two hits, including a home run, and scored three runs in a 8-6 loss. The Yankees went on to win the American League pennant and lost the World Series to the Milwaukee Braves in seven games.

-Gary Livacari

Photo Credits:  All from Google search; Vidoe found on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuGnaUIBQrA

Information: Excerpts edited from article on the Copacabana incident by Mark Ahrens; and from “Mickey Mantle America’s Prodigal Son” by Tony Castro.

 

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