Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (July 30, 1890 – September 29, 1975), nicknamed "The Old Professor", was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
major leagueMajor League or major league, first coined by Major League Baseball, can refer to a number of things.-Team sports:* Major League Baseball, the highest level of play in professional baseball in North America....
baseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The goal is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot square, or diamond...
player or manager from 1912 until 1965. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966.
Stengel was born in
Kansas CityKansas City is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties. It is one of two county seats of Jackson County, the other being Independence, just to the city's east...
, and was originally nicknamed "Dutch", a common nickname at that time for
Americans of German ancestryGerman Americans are Americans of German descent. They form the largest self-reported ancestry group in the United States, outnumbering the Irish and English. They account for 50 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population...
. After his major league career started, he acquired the nickname "Casey", which originally came from the initials of his hometown ("K. C."), which evolved into "Casey", influenced by the wide popularity of the poem
Casey at the Bat"Casey at the Bat", subtitled "A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888", is a baseball poem written in 1888 by Ernest Thayer. First published in the San Francisco Examiner on June 3, 1888, it was later popularized by DeWolf Hopper in many vaudeville performances.In the poem, a baseball team...
. In the 1950s, sportswriters dubbed him with yet another nickname, "The Old Professor", for his sharp wit and his ability to talk at length on anything baseball-related.
Although his baseball career spanned a number of teams and cities, he is primarily associated with clubs in New York City. Between playing and managing, he was connected with all four of New York's major league clubs. He was the first of four men (through the 2007 season) to manage both the Yankees and the Mets. (
Yogi BerraLawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra is a former Major League Baseball player and manager. He played almost his entire career for the New York Yankees and was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in 1972...
,
Dallas GreenGeorge Dallas Green is a former pitcher, manager, and executive in Major League Baseball. After playing for the Phillies and three other teams, he went on to manage the Phillies, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets, and managed the Phillies when they won their first World Series title in...
, and
Joe TorreJoseph Paul Torre is the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers and a former Major League Baseball player. He played for the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, and the St. Louis Cardinals. Upon his retirement as a player, he later managed all three teams.Torre also managed the New York Yankees...
are the others. Like Torre, he also managed the Braves and the Dodgers.) He ended his baseball career as the beloved manager for the expansion
New York MetsThe New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. The Mets are a member of the East Division of Major League Baseball's National League....
, which won over the hearts of New York due to their "lovable loser" image and the unique character of their veteran leader.
Early career
Stengel was athletically inclined and played various sports in grade school and high school, including baseball, football and basketball. He had no particular illusions of sports as a long-term profession, and he had aspirations of a career in dentistry. As described in his autobiography, on pages 58 and 75-76, that he saved enough money from his early minor league experience in 1910-1911 to train to become a dentist. He had some problems due to the lack of left-handed instruments and the training was a struggle. Meanwhile, his minor league career picked up, as he was drafted by the
Brooklyn DodgersThe Los Angeles Dodgers are a Major League Baseball team based in Los Angeles, California, USA. The team is in the Western Division of the National League. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming the Brooklyn...
and spent most of the 1912 season playing for the
Montgomery, AlabamaMontgomery is the capital, second most populous city, and the fourth most populous metropolitan area in the Southern U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. The city population was 201,568...
, club in the
Southern AssociationThe Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. From 1936 — as an A1 and then a Class AA league — the Southern Association was two steps below the major leagues...
. He had "a pretty good year" with Montgomery, batting .290 with a reputation as a good base stealer. He was brought up to the Dodgers late in the season, and baseball soon became his primary occupation.
In 1914 he got in touch with his baseball and football coach from Kansas City, Bill Driver, who was the football and basketball coach at the
University of MississippiThe University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1848, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford and three branch campuses located in Booneville, Tupelo, and Southaven...
. Stengel coached the Ole Miss baseball team to a 13-9 record. This is where he earned the nickname "The Professor".
Major League playing career
Stengel was an outfielder on several teams in the
National LeagueThe National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league...
beginning on September 17, 1912: the Brooklyn Dodgers from -17; the
Pittsburgh PiratesThe Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions, in addition to the distinction of playing in the first modern World Series. The Pirates are also often...
in and ; the
Philadelphia PhilliesThe Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and are the defending World Series champions. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern...
in and part of ; the
New York GiantsThe San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California who currently play in the National League West Division. One of the oldest baseball teams, the Giants hold the honor of having won the most games of any team in the history of baseball...
from 1921 to ; and the
Boston BravesThe Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. From to the present, the Braves have played in Turner Field....
in and . He played in three
World SeriesThe World Series has been the annual championship series of the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada since 1903, concluding the postseason of Major League Baseball...
: in
1916In the 1916 World Series, the Boston Red Sox beat the Brooklyn Robins four games to one.Casey Stengel shined on offense for the Robins in the 1916 Series but the Red Sox pitching core ultimately proved too much for the denizens of Flatbush...
for the Dodgers and in
1922In the 1922 World Series, the New York Giants beat the New York Yankees in five games...
and
1923In the 1923 World Series, the New York Yankees beat the New York Giants in six games. This would be the first of the Yankees' 26 World Series championships...
for the Giants.
He threw left-handed and batted left-handed. His batting average was .284 over 14 major league seasons.
He was a competent player, but by no means a superstar. On July 8, , discussing his career before the
United States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
's
Estes KefauverCarey Estes Kefauver was an American politician from Tennessee who opposed the concentration of economic and political power under the control of a wealthy, exclusive elite and favored racial equality. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1939 to...
committee on baseball's
antitrustUnited States antitrust law is the body of laws that prohibits anti-competitive behavior and unfair business practices. Antitrust laws are designed to encourage competition in the marketplace....
status, he made this observation: "I had many years that I was not so successful as a ballplayer, as it is a game of skill."
On the other hand, he once joked: "I was such a dangerous hitter I even got intentional walks during batting practice."
Nonetheless he had a good World Series in a losing cause in , hitting two home runs (one of which was the first World Series home run in Yankee Stadium history) to win the two games the Giants won in that Series. He was traded to the perennial second-division-dwelling Braves in the off-season, a fact which apparently stung him. Years later he made the pithy comment "It's lucky I didn't hit three home runs in three games, or McGraw would have traded me to the 3-I League."
In 1919 Stengel of the Pittsburgh Pirates was being taunted mercilessly by fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers, his old team. Somehow Casey got hold of a sparrow and used it to turn the crowd in his favor. With the bird tucked gently beneath his cap, Casey strutted to the plate amidst a chorus of boos and catcalls. He turned to the crowd, tipped his hat and out flew the sparrow. The jeers turned to cheers, and Casey became an instant favorite.
New York Yankees
Stengel became better known for managing than for playing. His first managerial positions were on the Brooklyn Dodgers (1934-1936) and Boston Braves (1938-1943), where he was not very successful, never finishing better than 5th in an 8-team league. As he said in 1958, "I became a major league manager in several cities and was discharged. We call it discharged because there is no question I had to leave."
Stengel demonstrated he could be successful as a manager of a team having worthy talent. In , Stengel was hired as the manager of the
minor leagueMinor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in North America that compete at levels below that of Major League Baseball. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses, and many are members of Minor League Baseball, an umbrella organization for leagues...
Milwaukee BrewersThe Milwaukee Brewers were a Minor League Baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They played in the American Association from 1902 through 1952.-A Milwaukee Tradition:...
, over the strenuous objections of club owner
Bill VeeckWilliam Louis Veeck, Jr. , also known as "Sport Shirt Bill", was a native of Chicago, Illinois, and franchise owner and promoter in Major League Baseball. He was best known for his flamboyant publicity stunts, and the innovations he brought to the league during his ownership of the Cleveland...
(who was serving in the South Pacific with the Marines at the time, and therefore unable to prevent the hiring). Veeck was proven wrong as Stengel led the Brewers to the American Association pennant that year. In Stengel managed the
Oakland OaksThe Oakland Oaks were a minor league baseball team in Oakland, California that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 through 1955, after which the club transferred to Vancouver, British Columbia...
to the
Pacific Coast LeagueThe Pacific Coast League is a minor league baseball league operating in the West, Midwest, and Southeast of the United States. Along with the International League and the Mexican League, it is one of three leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League...
championship. This caught the attention of the
New York YankeesThe New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York and are a member of Major League Baseball's American League East Division...
, who were looking for a new manager.
Despite a good deal of initial skepticism in the press, Stengel was hired as the skipper of the Yankees in 1949, and finally had a chance for success at the major league level. When he took the reins of the Yankees, he made this observation: "There is
less wrong with this team than any team I have ever managed." That would prove to be an understatement.
He and the Yankees swiftly proceeded to win record numbers of championships. Stengel became the only person to manage a team to five consecutive
World SeriesThe World Series has been the annual championship series of the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada since 1903, concluding the postseason of Major League Baseball...
championships (1949-1953), and under his guidance the 1950s Yankees became a juggernaut. After the streak ended with the Yankees failing to make the playoffs in 1954, Stengel and the Yanks continued their dominance, going on to win two more World Championships (1956 and 1958), and five more American League Pennants (1955-1958, 1960). As manager of the Yankees, Stengel gained a reputation as one of the game's sharpest tacticians: he
platoonedThe platoon system in baseball is a method of designating two players to a single defensive position -- usually one right-handed and one left-handed. Typically the right-handed half of the platoon is played on days when the opposing pitcher is left-handed and the left-handed player is played...
left and right-handed hitters extensively (which had become a lost art by the late 1940s), and sometimes pinch hit for his starting pitcher in early innings if he felt a timely hit would break the game open.
Stengel was a master publicist and promoter, especially for his teams. He was a captivating raconteur and especially during the years of success with the Yankees had the New York media eating out of his hand. He became as much of a public figure as many of his star players such as
MantleMickey Charles Mantle was an American baseball player who was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974....
. He appeared on the cover of national, non-sports, magazines such as Time Magazine. His apparently stream-of-consciousness monologues on all facets of baseball history and tactics (and anything else that took his fancy) became known as "Stengelese" to sportswriters. They also earned him the nickname "The Old
PerfesserThe meaning of the word professor varies. In some English-speaking countries, it refers to a senior academic who holds a departmental chair, especially as head of the department, or a personal chair awarded specifically to that individual...
".
In the spring of , after the Yankees had won four straight World Series victories he made the following observation, which could just as easily have been made by The Perfessor's prize pupil,
Yogi BerraLawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra is a former Major League Baseball player and manager. He played almost his entire career for the New York Yankees and was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in 1972...
: "If we're going to win the pennant, we've got to start thinking we're not as smart as we think we are."
Although Stengel benefited from the Yankees' deep pockets and ability to sign players, he was a hands-on manager: The 1949 Yankees were riddled by injuries, and Stengel's platooning abilities played a major role in their championship run. Platooning also played a major role in the 1951 team's World Series run. With
Joe DiMaggioJoseph Paul "Joe" DiMaggio , born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, Jr., was an American baseball player for the New York Yankees. He was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955...
declining rapidly and
Mickey MantleMickey Charles Mantle was an American baseball player who was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974....
yet to become a powerhouse, the Yankees were weak offensively. Stengel, leaving his solid pitching alone, moved players in and out of the line-up, putting good hitters in the line-up in the early innings and benching them for good fielders later. The strategy worked: The Yankees beat the
Cleveland IndiansThe Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field . The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
for the pennant in September and took the Series from the
New York GiantsThe San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California who currently play in the National League West Division. One of the oldest baseball teams, the Giants hold the honor of having won the most games of any team in the history of baseball...
four games to two.
Aside from "Stengelese", Casey's sense of humor would be displayed in various ways. One story is repeated in
Lost Ballparks (Lawrence S. Ritter, Viking Studio Books, 1992, p. 35), in which Stengel plays with fans of the
Chicago White SoxThe Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
in 1960, the first year of
Comiskey ParkComiskey Park was the ballpark in which the Chicago White Sox played from 1910 to 1990. It was built by Charles Comiskey after a design by Zachary Taylor Davis, and was the site of four World Series and more than 6,000 major league games...
's "exploding scoreboard", then a novelty and an annoyance to some visiting teams. The scoreboard would light up, make noise, and shoot off fireworks whenever a Sox player would hit a home run. According to the book, on the Yankees' "first visit" to Chicago that year, Stengel and the Yankees waved some sparklers after
Clete BoyerCletis Leroy "Clete" Boyer was a former Major League Baseball player.A third baseman who also played shortstop and second base occasionally, Boyer played for the Kansas City Athletics , New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves...
hit a home run. While the sparkler waving actually did happen, it wasn't until the Yankees second visit to Chicago that this took place, a Friday night game on June 17.
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=196006170CHA
After losing to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1960 World Series after a ninth-inning game-winning home run by Bill Mazeroski, Stengel was involuntarily retired from the Yankees, because he was believed to be too old to manage. As reported in Ken Burns' PBS video, "Baseball," Stengel remarked that he had been fired for turning 70, and that he would "never make that mistake again." Over the years Stengel's tactical genius kept the Yankees in many games they might have otherwise lost. It was under Stengel's leadership that the Yankees won 10 Pennants and seven world championships in 12-years, from 1949-1960; the only years during that span that they did not win the AL Pennant and appear in the World Series were 1954 and 1959. However, in the 1960 Series, Stengel’s moves allowed a perceived inferior Pittsburgh team to win in seven games. He held Whitey Ford out until Game 3, which only allowed the league's best pitcher to pitch (and win) two games. Art Ditmar started game 1 and he lost. There has never been any logical explanation why Ford didn’t pitch Game 1. He had pitched a couple innings of relief just 3 days earlier, but it had been a week since his last starting assignment. Another “mistake” that Stengel made was pinch hitting for slick fielding but light hitting Clete Boyer early in game 1. This kind of move was typical Stengel and over the years marked his method of success. But the pinch hitter didn’t come through this time and Boyer could be seen slowly and disheartened retreating toward the dugout dragging his bat behind him. This rankled the Yankee brass who wanted to see players like Boyer developed. Young players like Kubek, Richardson and Boyer made it known they didn’t feel comfortable with Stengel and he was let go.
Casey's Amazin' Mets
Stengel was talked out of retirement after one season to manage the
New York MetsThe New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. The Mets are a member of the East Division of Major League Baseball's National League....
, at the time an expansion team with no chance of winning many games. Mocking his well-publicized advanced age, when he was hired he said, "It's a great honor to be joining the Knickerbockers", a New York baseball team that had seen its last game around the time of the
Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
.
The Mets proved to be so incompetent that they gave Stengel plenty of fresh Stengelese material for the New York City newspaper writers. "Come see my "Amazin' Mets," Stengel said. "I've been in this game a hundred years, but I see new ways to lose I never knew existed before." On his three catchers: "I got one that can throw but can't catch, one that can catch but can't throw, and one who can hit but can't do either." Referring to the rookies
Ed KranepoolEdward Emil "Ed" Kranepool, also known as "Steady Eddie", is a former major league baseball player for the New York Mets....
and Greg Goossen in 1964, Stengel observed, "See that fellow over there? He's 20 years old. In 10 years he has a chance to be a star. Now, that fellow over there, he's 20, too. In 10 years he has a chance to be 30." Kranepool never became a star, but he did have an 18-year major league career.
However, one of his most famous comments was actually a misquote. After an exasperating loss, he complained, "Can't anybody play this here game?" This colloquial expression was altered and later became the title of
Jimmy BreslinJimmy Breslin is an American columnist and author. He has written numerous novels, and columns of his have appeared regularly in various newspapers in his hometown of New York City...
's book about the first-year Mets,
Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?."
Though his "Amazin'" Mets finished last in a ten-team league all four years, Stengel was a popular figure nonetheless, not least due to his personal charisma. The Mets themselves proved to be as lovable, due in part to Stengel's charisma and the "lovable loser" charm that followed the team around in those days. Fans packed the old Polo Grounds (prior to Shea Stadium being built), many of them bringing along colorful placards and signs with all sorts of sayings on them.
Warren SpahnWarren Edward Spahn was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for 21 seasons, all in the National League. He won 20 games each in 13 seasons, including a 23-7 record when he was aged 42. Spahn was the 1957 Cy Young Award winner, and was the runner-up three times, all...
, who had briefly played under Stengel for the 1942 Braves and for the Mets, commented: "I'm probably the only guy who worked for Stengel before and after he was a genius."
Stengel's retirement, announced on August 30, 1965, followed a fall at
Shea StadiumWilliam A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea , was a stadium located in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964 to 2008...
, in which he broke his hip.
Awards
His uniform number 37 has been retired by both the Yankees and the Mets. It is the only number ever to have been issued only once by the Mets. The Yankees retired the number on August 8, 1970, and dedicated a plaque in Yankee Stadium's
Monument ParkMonument Park is an open-air museum containing a collection of monuments, plaques, and retired numbers honoring distinguished members of the New York Yankees, as well as other events that took place at the stadium and in the city...
in his memory on July 30, 1976. The plaque reads "Brightened baseball for over 50 years; with spirit of eternal youth; Yankee manager 1949 - 1960 winning 10 pennants and 7 world championships including a record 5 consecutive, 1949 - 1953." In addition to his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966, he was inducted into the
New York Mets Hall of FameThe New York Mets Hall of Fame was created in 1981 to recognize the careers of former New York Mets players, managers, broadcasters and executives...
in 1981.
Stengel is the only person to have worn the uniform (as player or manager) of all four Major League Baseball teams in New York City in the 20th century: The
New York GiantsThe San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California who currently play in the National League West Division. One of the oldest baseball teams, the Giants hold the honor of having won the most games of any team in the history of baseball...
(as a player), the
Brooklyn DodgersThe Los Angeles Dodgers are a Major League Baseball team based in Los Angeles, California, USA. The team is in the Western Division of the National League. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming the Brooklyn...
(as both a player and a manager), the
New York YankeesThe New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York and are a member of Major League Baseball's American League East Division...
(as a manager), and the
New York MetsThe New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. The Mets are a member of the East Division of Major League Baseball's National League....
(also as a manager). Of this factoid, Stengel would often say, "You can look it up."
In 2009, in an awards segment on the MLB Network titled "The Prime 9," Stengel was named "The Greatest Character of The Game." He received this award for not only his playful personality on the field, but also his off-field contributions to the community.
Death
Casey was admitted to Glendale Memorial Hospital in
Glendale, CaliforniaGlendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It lies at the eastern end of the San Fernando Valley, is bisected by the Verdugo Mountains, and is a suburb in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
on September 14, 1975 after feeling ill. It was there that he learned he had cancer of the lymph glands. He died there of cancer 15 days later on September 29, 1975. Stengel was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery,
Glendale, CaliforniaGlendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It lies at the eastern end of the San Fernando Valley, is bisected by the Verdugo Mountains, and is a suburb in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
. His wife, Edna, whom he had married in 1924, died three years later and was interred adjacent to him. A plaque at the cemetery reads in part "For over sixty years one of America’s folk heroes who contributed immensely to the lore and language of our country’s national pastime, baseball".
The
Casey Stengel Plaza outside
Shea StadiumWilliam A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea , was a stadium located in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964 to 2008...
's Gate E was named after him, as is the New York City Transit's
Casey Stengel Depot across the street from Citi Field.
Other references
- Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia, by David Pietrusza, Matthew Silverman and Michael Gershman, ed. (2000). Total/Sports Illustrated.
- Casey at the Bat: The Story of My Life in Baseball, by Casey Stengel and Harry T. Paxton, Random House, 1962.
External links