Panorama Community Magazine
Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel — " r o s s e f o r P d l O e "Th cHugh
By Rev. Connell A. M
Casey Stengel was born in Kansas City, Missouri on July 30, 1891 and died September 29, 1975 in Glendale, California. Charles Dillon Stengel got his nickname of Casey because of being born in Kansas City. Most of us know about his managing career with the Yankees but not much about his playing career. Casey played in the Majors for 14 years, and while not a superstar, he was a better than average player. Stengel appeared in 1,277 career games with 1,219 hits and 60 homeruns. He played in 12 games in 3 World Series, batted .393 and won 2 games for the Giants with homeruns. Casey played for 5 different National League teams: Brooklyn 1912-17, Pittsburgh 1918-19, Philadelphia 1920-21, the Giants 1921-23 and the Braves in 1924-25. Casey was always a colorful figure even during his playing days. In all, including Minor League managing, Stengel spent 53 years in baseball. Casey Stengel’s years as a Major League manager were far from successful. He initially managed Brooklyn from 193436 and the Boston Bees from 1938-43. None of these teams finished in the Frist Division and only one of the Boston teams finished over .500. Throughout his life, Stengel was totally dedicated to baseball and his wife, Edna. Before his success in baseball, Stengel spent some time while in the Minors studying Dentistry. Casey was a clown as a player as well as when he managed. He always had a ton of stories and spoke a dialect which was called “Stengelese” by sportswriters. On one of his last Major League stops as a player, Casey found a manhole on the field, and while people were not paying attention, he lifted the manhole cover and hid in the hole and casually popped out and made the catch of a lazy pop to right field. When he
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returned to Brooklyn after being traded to Pittsburg, he was roundly booed. Casey hid a sparrow under his hat and calmly removed his cap when he came to bat, and the crowd burst into laughter. Stengel learned the most when he played for the great Giant manager, John McGraw who is tied with Casey for the most pennants won at 10. He learned about platooning players which he himself as a player, detested. Casey would use the platoon system nearly 30 years later as a Yankee manager. Casey Stengel holds the distinction of hitting the first World Series homerun in Yankee Stadium, an inside the park, to win a Series game against the Yankees. Casey also won another game with a homerun although the Yankees won the 1923 Series 4 games to 2. After the Series, Casey was traded to Boston and batted .280 in 1924 but played only 12 games in 1925 before taking a managerial Minor League job with Worcester and serving as Club President. He continued to manage in the Minors until he became Dodger manager in 1934. After being fired in 1936, Stengel managed the Boston Bees from 1938 through 1943. Charlie Grimm hired Casey to be a Minor League manager after Boston let him go. Casey did well as a Minor League manager skipper. In 1948 with the Oakland Oaks, Casey was named Minor League Manager of the Year. To the surprise of all, George Weiss, a longtime friend and Yankee GM though Stengel was a fine manager and hired him to manage the Yankees. Casey went on to win 10 Pennants and 7 World Series. Casey managed the Yankees for 12 seasons. Casey Stengel’s career spanned the era from Christy Mathewson to Tom Seaver. Stengel won 5 straight Pennants and World Series from 1949 through 1953. The 3 Series the Yankees lost were to
APRIL 2022
