November 18, 2025

The Gospel of Billy Martin | Billy Martin Jr.

55 minutes

On this episode of Your Dark Companion, Mike and Grubes attempt to start a normal show… so naturally the entire tech setup revolts, Billy Martin Jr. disappears into the Riverside void, and we end up with six and a half minutes of chaos, Titanic on recorder, and a heartfelt discussion on moldy elementary school instruments.

When Billy finally makes it back from the digital afterlife, we get an incredible sit-down with the son of one of the most infamous managers in baseball history, Billy Martin Sr. Billy Jr. walks us through how his dad helped keep the Rangers in Arlington, turned Texas into a real baseball town, tortured umpires on the field and then bought them drinks off it, and why “flush the toilet” is the only way to survive a 162-game season.

We also get into Billy Jr.’s life as an agent, why Pete Incaviglia might be the best manager MLB will never hire, how analytics and gut should coexist, and what it feels like to turn the same age your dad was when he passed. It’s funny, inside-baseball nerdy, surprisingly tender, and very, very Rhyner.

⏱ CHAPTERS

Formatted how you’ve been using them:

00:00:00 - Cold Open: Lightning Strikes & Ticket Nonsense

00:01:04 - “172 of These Bad Boys” – Mike Actually Likes Podcasting

00:01:34 - Riverside Betrays Us: Billy Vanishes Mid-Intro

00:02:00 - Stuff, Stuff, Stuff: Mike’s Improv Theme Song

00:02:48 - Titanic on Recorder & The Curse of the Moldy Instruments

00:04:10 - “This Feels Like a Bust” – Ash, Shoopy & Live Panic

00:06:08 - Cowboys, Show Banking & Mild Bickering

00:07:13 - Billy Returns from the Void (For Real This Time)

00:08:00 - Introducing Billy Martin Jr: Son of a Baseball Lightning Bolt

00:09:27 - How Billy Martin Helped Keep the Rangers in Arlington

00:11:21 - Showing Texas What Winning Baseball Looked Like

00:13:24 - What Billy Was Really Like at Home (No, He Didn’t Kick Dirt on the Kids)

00:14:02 - Umpires, Fights & Why They Secretly Loved Him

00:16:03 - “Flush the Toilet” – How a Manager Survives 162 Games

00:18:06 - Bar Stories, Jimmy Piersall & Running the Bases Backwards

00:22:03 - From Clubhouse Kid to Agent: Launching Pro Agents

00:23:24 - Mike Hargrove, Rookie of the Year & the Human Rain Delay

00:24:43 - Cheating, Can Lids & Why It’s “As Old as Cracker Jacks”

00:26:03 - Bunt, Win, Repeat: Billy’s 7th-Inning Chess Moves

00:27:39 - Pete Incaviglia: Indie-Ball King & Why MLB Won’t Call

00:29:12 - Labor Wars, Salary Caps & Why Baseball Isn’t Football

00:31:11 - Killing the Minors & Scouts to Save Pennies

00:33:28 - College Coaches to MLB: Will Players Even Respect Them?

00:36:02 - Cashman, Boone & Managing Without Ever Managing

00:39:28 - Mickey Mantle on Billy: Always Looking for an Angle

00:42:11 - Personality Managers vs Spreadsheet Managers

00:44:37 - Analytics vs Gut: Alex Cora, Bluffing the Computers

00:52:00 - Turning the Age His Dad Was When He Died

00:53:15 - Birthday Reflections & an Open Invite to Come Back

00:54:20 - Where to Find Your Dark Companion & How to Keep It Alive

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By Mike Rhyner

44 ratings