Billy Wants a Rematch, For Pete’s Sake

Billy Martin, who has never run away from a fight, has thrown a verbal punch at the champion Cincinnati Reds.

“I made a New Year’s resolution”, announced the Yankee’s manager at a sports dinner. “I want the Reds to win the pennant, cause we’re going to win ours. I just don’t want any team in the National League….I want the Reds. I want to take Pete Rose’s ugly face and stick it in the mud. And when we win we’re going to pop off like they did.”

“I never tried to tell anyone I wasn’t ugly. It’s his prerogative to say it. We just expected more of a challenge,” Rose responded. “We played the second best team in baseball in the playoffs (Philadelphia) anyway.”
“I’m the guy they boo in New York, Los Angeles and Timbuktu. I don’t like anyone I play against to like me. It doesn’t bother me.”

NYT Boeck 1/22/77

Police Blotter

A two-gun pizza parlor owner and the man alleged to have robbed his store were both arrested last night following a holdup at Louis Pizza at 944 Columbus Avenue. The owner, Michael Gritsipis, 44, was arrested because he used an unregistered pistol in attempting to foil the holdup. He had another weapon, which was registered, but he grabbed the wrong one as he struggled with the robber in the store. Michael Cruz, 25, was nabbed by police at St Luke’s Hospital, where he had gone for treatment of a gunshot wound. Gritsipis, whose store had been robbed 3 times in the last year had obtained a permit for a 9 mm Luger. He also bought, but did not register, a .41-caliber automatic. “I wouldn’t be here if I had used the Luger,” he said later, “I used the wrong gun.”

Mike Pearl New York Post Jan 77