Casey Stengel Baseball Biography - Photos and MLB Manager Career

Casey Stengel Biography

Historic MLB Career of 

The Player, The Manager, The Legend

As a baseball player Casey Stengel was a clown on and off the field. So this made Stengel an unlikely choice to manage the most successful team in MLB history.  As a baseball player, he was better known for his jokes than for his baseball intellect.  He once won over a crowd of angry fans by taking off his cap when he came to the plate, allowing a bird he had hidden underneath it to fly away.  People laughed, but nobody took him seriously.

After retiring as a baseball player, Casey Stengel managed for nine seasons in the minors, then got his big league shot with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1934. In three years, Stengel's struggling teams finished no better than fifth and he was let go.

With the Boston Braves from 1938 to 1943, he fared even worse.  Things got so bad that when he was accidentally hit by a taxi and broke his leg, the driver was voted MVP by Boston fans.  Labeled a loser, he was back in the minors by 1944.

The New York Yankees saw something special in the old man.  He had led the Oakland Acorns to the top of the Pacific Coast League in 1948, and the following season, Casey Stengel was wearing pinstripes in the Major Leagues.  The media screamed that he had a poor track record and was over the hill at 58. Stengel immediately shot back in a resilient fashion, "They don't hand out jobs like this because they like your company.  People here think I can produce." Produce, is exactly what he did.

Stengel earned the respect of the players immediately, organizing spring training with military type discipline.  He got the most out of his team by driving home fundamentals in workouts twice a day and by juggling his lineup to keep his players sharp.  Stengel's platooning helped the NY Yankees overcome a plague of injuries and take the 1949 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Over his next 11 seasons, the New York Yankees won NINE more pennants and six titles.  Casey Stengel became one of the most remarkable managers in history. Ultimately in the end, Casey Stengel had the last laugh.

Casey Stengel Timeline Biography

• Born : July 30, 1890
• Age 10 : Given the Nickname Dutch by his friends in reference to his ancestry.
• Age 14 : Becomes star baseball player at Central High School.
• Age 18 : Drops out of school to pursue his baseball career.
• Age 20 : Enrolls at Western Dental College in KC but decides his hands are too big for dentistry.
• Age 21 : Spotted by a Dodgers scout while playing in Aurora, Illinois.
• Age 22 : Called up to the Brooklyn Dodgers late in the season from Montgomery, Alabama of the Southern League
• 1912 : Makes Major League debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers going 4-4 in his first game.
• 1923 : Hits .417 in World Series against the Giants
• 1934 : Goes 71-81 in first year as manager of the Dodgers.
• 1952 : Manages the New York Yankees to fourth straight World Series win.

Casey Stengel Framed Photographs and Autographed Merchandise

Casey Stengel Framed Photos and Autographed Merchandise