Casey Stengel
From BR Bullpen
Charles Dillon Stengel (The Old Perfessor)
- Bats Left, Throws Left
- Height 5' 11", Weight 175 lb.
- Debut September 17, 1912
- Final Game May 19, 1925
- Born July 30, 1890 in Kansas City, MO USA
- Died September 29, 1975 in Glendale, CA USA
Inducted into Hall of Fame in 1966
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[edit] Biographical Information
"I had many years that I was not so successful as a ballplayer, as it is a game of skill." - Casey Stengel
Casey Stengel was an above-average ballplayer who later became a great manager. He was also famous for his quotations (some of which appear below).
As a player, Stengel played for five teams in a 14-year career. Although he became famous later in life as an American League manager, his whole career as a player was spent in the National League. He broke in with Brooklyn, and greatly admired teammate Zack Wheat's ability. He was three years younger than Wheat. Jake Daubert was also on the team.
Stengel's best year in baseball was 1914 with Brooklyn, when he was fifth in the league in batting, first in on-base percentage, and seventh in slugging.
In 1916, Brooklyn won the pennant, but lost the World Series 4-1. In Brooklyn's only win of the Series, Stengel batted third in the lineup, behind Daubert and ahead of Wheat.
In 1918, he left Brooklyn, and although he was to play eight more years, in only two of those eight years did he play in 100+ games. He was with Pittsburgh and Philadelphia first, but landed with John McGraw's New York Giants towards the end of the 1921 season.
As a part-time player, he played on the Giants teams that won the World Series in 1921 and 1922, and continued to win the National League pennant in 1923. While not appearing in the Series in 1921, he hit over .400 in both the 1922 and 1923 Series. He hit game-winning home runs (one inside-park) to win 2 games Giants won in 1923 World Series. He holds the distinction of hitting the first World Series home run ever hit in Yankee Stadium, which opened in 1923.
In 1924, he was a regular player again with Boston of the National League, and then played briefly in 1925 as his playing career ended.
Although he is most famous for managing the Yankees, he actually started his major league managing career with two of his old teams, Brooklyn (1934-36) and Boston (1938-43), never finishing higher than 5th in the league, before coming to the Yankees in 1949. Stengel also managed for years in the minors, mostly in Toledo but also in Milwaukee and Worcester - and, most famously, in Oakland.
Immediately prior to managing the Yankees, he was manager of the minor league Oakland Oaks in their legendary 1948 season. That was the year that the "Nine Old Men", including Ernie Lombardi and Nick Etten, won the league championship and the Governor's Cup.
He won the World Series in each of the first five years while he managed the Yankees. Although he is best known as the manager of Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, and Yogi Berra, he had a constantly changing roster other than his few core players, and even Mantle and Ford were not on the team when he first won the Series in 1949.
Oddly enough, his winningest year as a manager was in 1954 when the Yankees won 103 games, but finished 8 games behind the great Cleveland Indians team of that year.
He finished his managerial career with the expansion Mets, and it was from that time when most of his quotations came. The Mets finished last each year for him.
Casey Stengel holds the major league record for most wins (37) and games (64) managed in World Series play. He is also the only manager to win five consecutive World Series (from 1949 to 1953).
Casey was a fine ballplayer before becoming a manager, he was speedy and once hit an inside-the-park home run in a World Series game.
Stengel was forced to retire from the Mets dugout in August 1965 after he broke his hip in a fall. He was 76 at the time. The next year, Stengel was elected to the Hall of Fame as the Hall created a rule known as the Casey Stengel Rule, allowing him to be elected immediately because of his age.
He used his baseball earnings to buy a bank, and served late in life as the bank president, deciding on loans and other banking matters.
He was famous for his quotations, some of which are as follows:
"Being with a woman all night never hurt no professional baseball player. It's staying up all night looking for a woman that does him in."
"Can't anybody here play this game?"
"No, even my players aren't players."
" The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided."
"We are in such a slump that even the ones that aren't drinkin' aren't hittin'."
[edit] Notable Achievements
- NL On-Base Percentage Leader (1914)
- Won two World Series with the New York Giants (1921 & 1922; he did not play in the 1921 World Series)
- 3-time ML Manager of the Year Award (1949, 1953 & 1958)
- AL Pennants: 10 (1949-1953, 1955-1958 & 1960)
- Managed seven World Series Champions with the New York Yankees (1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956 & 1958)
- 100 Wins Seasons as Manager: 1 (1954)
- Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1966 (special election)
| Preceded by Max Carey | Brooklyn Dodgers Manager 1934-1936 | Succeeded by Burleigh Grimes |
| Preceded by Bill McKechnie | Boston Bees-Braves Manager 1938-1942 | Succeeded by Bob Coleman |
| Preceded by Bob Coleman | Boston Braves Manager 1943 | Succeeded by Bob Coleman |
| Preceded by Bucky Harris | New York Yankees Manager 1949-1960 | Succeeded by Ralph Houk |
| Preceded by N/A | New York Mets Manager 1961-1965 | Succeeded by Wes Westrum |
[edit] Further Reading
- Steven Goldman: Forging Genius: The Making of Casey Stengel, Potomac Books, Dulles, VA, 2005.
- Casey Stengel's All-Time All-Stars The Southpaw
[edit] Related Sites
Baseball Almanac Graphic on HOFers who Served in the U.S. Armed Forces
