Dave Boswell, Pitcher Who Tussled With Billy Martin, Is Dead at 67 Dave Boswell won 20 games to help take the Minnesota Twins to an American League division championship in 1969. He pitched in a World Series when he was only 20. But for many he is most remembered as a combatant on the list of Billy Martin's greatest fights. Boswell, who died on Monday at 67 in Joppa, Md., was flourishing in the summer of "69, having won 12 games under Martin, who was the Twins" manager. Then came a fight on Aug. 6 at a Detroit bar after a Twins game against the Tigers. Accounts differed. Martin said he had confronted Boswell at the bar after the Twins" pitching coach, Art Fowler, reported to him that Boswell had refused to run his customary laps before the game that evening. Boswell then got into a fight outside the bar with Bob Allison, a Twins outfielder, who, as Martin told it, was trying to calm him. Martin said that when he got outside, Boswell hit him as well, at which point Martin's peacemaking efforts collapsed, as did Boswell. Martin retaliated by landing "about five or six punches to the stomach, a couple to the head, and when he came off the wall, I hit him again," he told The Associated Press, adding, "He was out before he hit the ground." Boswell told The Minneapolis Tribune that he had indeed hit Allison, but denied going after Martin. He complained that Martin "really mauled me." He received numerous stitches in his face, and Martin had his right hand stitched up. Boswell was fined for the incident, but no action was taken against Martin. Boswell returned to the mound nearly two weeks later. In his second outing back, the Yankee pitcher Bill Burbach hit him on his helmet with a pitch in the eighth inning. The designated hitter rule, relieving pitchers of batting duty, had not yet been established in the American League. Boswell was taken out, but he shrugged off the blow, saying, "Heck, I was hit harder in Detroit." A hard-throwing right-hander, Boswell finished the 1969 season with a 20-12 record and 190 strikeouts as the Twins captured the A.L. West title. But he hurt his shoulder pitching in the 11th inning of a scoreless duel against the Baltimore Orioles" Dave McNally in the American League Championship Series. The Twins were swept in three games, and Boswell's career was ruined. He won only four more games. Martin was fired by the Twins soon after their 1969 season. David Wilson Boswell was born in Baltimore on Jan. 20, 1945. He made his major league debut with the Twins late in the 1964 season, pitched against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1965 World Series and had a career record of 68-56 for eight major league seasons, seven with the Twins and his last season with the Tigers and the Orioles. After retiring, he worked for breweries and as a baseball tutor for young players. Boswell's death was announced by his son Jason, who said the cause was a heart attack. He is also survived by his wife, Eleanor, known as Lou; his son Daniel; a daughter, Christina Boswell; his sister, Barbara Hatfield; and six grandchildren. In the aftermath of the 1969 fight, Boswell said he would soon move on. "This will be my last year with the Twins," The A.P. quoted him as saying. But he was still with Minnesota in 1970, when he had a 3-7 record, unable to overcome his shoulder injury. The Twins released him in the spring of 1971, and he was picked up by the Tigers. He went on to pitch briefly for their new manager, Billy Martin.