Editor’s note: This July, as Colorado Springs gears up for its 150th birthday on the 31st, The Gazette has prepared a series of articles on the history of our city. Check back for fascinating glimpses into the people and events that have shaped Colorado Springs into the landmark it is today.

Colorado Springs has been home to many famed sports personalities during its 150-year history, from race car driver Bobby Unser, to basketball Hall of Famer Rick Barry, to the late National Football League wide receiver Vincent Jackson. But perhaps the most colorful of them all was a gifted and complicated Major League Baseball player and manager who was stationed at Fort Carson more than 65 years ago.

Two years after being named Most Valuable Player of the 1953 World Series, New York Yankees second baseman Billy Martin found himself wearing Army green as a soldier in Colorado Springs.

Baseball fans old enough to remember Martin’s exploits on and off the diamond might have trouble imagining him responding to orders with a crisp hand salute and a loud “yes, sir!” Not to worry, though — Martin, who had a long and famous history of issues with authority, remained true to form during his time in the Army.

In 1951, during the Korean War, Martin was drafted into the military but gained a hardship discharge after two months. When he was drafted again three years later, he applied for another discharge but was denied. While stationed at Fort Ord in California, he complained that he hadn’t been allowed to play on the post’s baseball team.

“Apparently all this got to (post commander) McClure, because three days later, I was transferred to Fort Carson,” Martin wrote in his autobiography, “Number 1.”

“He moved me right out of there.”

Martin drove to Fort Carson in a new baby-blue Cadillac convertible, a gift he received after winning the World Series.

“When I arrived there I was immediately put in a KP (kitchen police, or kitchen patrol) unit,” Martin wrote. Kitchen duty was considered an undesirable assignment and was often reserved for troublemakers.

Martin served as the player manager for the post baseball team. During his time there, the team had a 25-4 record and beat a number of minor league teams including the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, according to Martin.

“I had no aspirations to be the manager, but I was the only major leaguer,” Martin wrote. “The other guys were a bunch of guys who wanted to play.”

Despite getting into a handful of fistfights while stationed at Fort Carson, Martin was eventually promoted to corporal and was discharged in 1955. He was awarded a Good Conduct Medal.

“Now there’s one for the books,” Martin wrote in his second autobiography, “Billyball.” “‘Bad Boy’ Billy Martin with a good conduct medal from the U.S. Army. Who would ever believe that? But it’s true.”

After his discharge, Martin continued playing professional baseball until 1962 and went on to a long and often controversial career as a manager, including five stints with the Yankees. He became notorious throughout the league for arguing with umpires, clashing with ownership, getting into the occasional brawl — and winning baseball games.

At the time of his death in a single-vehicle crash on Christmas Day, 1989, Billy Martin was rumored to be preparing to manage the Yankees for the sixth time. He was 61 years old.