Patron Involved in Fight Says Martin Intervened

A Binghamton, N.Y., attorney said he was the “unidentified patron” in a Baltimore hotel bar who inadvertently sparked the fight between New York Yankees’ Manager Billy Martin and pitcher Ed Whitson.

Albert J. Millus Jr., 29, told the Binghamton Press that he was being held by the throat by Whitson, although he did not know exactly who the player was, when Martin interceded early Sunday morning in the bar of the Cross Keys Inn.

Millus, who described himself as “a great Yankee fan,” had gone to Baltimore to see the series with the Orioles, said he and a friend were sitting in the bar when Whitson, after sitting unobtrusively with a foursome at an adjoining table, suddenly became agitated. The pitcher pointed at Martin, Millus said, and in a raised voice said, “There’s the s.o.b. who’s causing my problems.”

Then, Millus said, Whitson realized that he was being watched intently from close range. Pointing his finger in Millus’ face, he asked angrily what business it was of his. “I told him that if I was making $90,000 a year (I thought he was a rookie, and I thought $90,000 was the salary minimum), I wouldn’t be acting like a little kid,” said Millus, who is a slender 160 pounds compared to Whitson’s listed 6-3 and 200 pounds.

He said that Whitson then grabbed him by the throat, where Millus still displays a small purple bruise, at which stage Martin rushed to the table to break it up and said, “Eddie, you’re drunk; you don’t need this.”

“Whitson was going crazy by then,” Millus said.

Companions quickly broke up the scuffle and hurried both Yankee participants out of the bar.