Casey Stengel: Number 37 And The Field Of Dreams

For a kid born in the 1940's and growing up in Lefty Grove's Georges Creek Valley in Maryland, playing baseball was supposed to be a natural. In fact it was so natural it's a strong tradition even to this day. It didn't work out that way for me.  Rotten vision and breaking any number of "Coke bottle bottom" glasses rendered me useless - and expensive - on a baseball field. In fact that's why I didn't play sports, much to my disappointment. On the other hand, I followed baseball just as fiercely as my pals, collecting hundreds of baseball cards, listening to and later watching the Washington Senators and the Baltimore Orioles, and arguing about those Yankees, love 'em or hate 'em. 

Playing outfield for the Brooklyn Dodgers, 1915

Ah, the Yankees. Love or hate for them really doesn't matter today. It's simply a great day in baseball history for a beloved man of the game who happened to do well, His name was Casey Stengel, born on July 30, 1890, in Kansas City. He began his professional career as a right fielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers, then played for several teams before moving into managing in 1925. Stengel became manager of the Yankees in 1949 and won the World Series championship. They won again in 1950. And 1951, 1952, and 1953. It's a record of consecutive wins that still stands. He went on to win two more championships with them in 1956 and 1958.

The "Old Perfesser" in 1949

You look up and down the bench and you have to say to yourself, 'Can't anybody here play this game?' There comes a time in every man's life and I've had plenty of them.

In 1960 he retired from the game only to return two years later as manager of the "Lovable Losers", the New York Mets. Fans loved them and their coach who captivated the press and broadcast media with his quips and comments delivered in his famous "Stengelese" style nurtured over his rich career.

 

The Yankees retired his number 37 in 1970. The Mets did the same five years earlier. He was the first baseball personality to be so honored by two teams based only on his management skill.

To learn more about Casey Stengel, visit his Baseball Hall of Fame page here. The page links to some good multimedia features as well. Link to Wikipedia's extensive biography here. The Baseball Almanac has a great list of memorable quotes here. 

If you want to honor the man go to a baseball game this weekend. If that can't happen gather the family, especially the grandfathers, fathers and sons, and watch Field of Dreams (1989). Chances are, Casey will enter the conversation.






Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
New York Yankees manager Casey Stengel in a 1949 issue of Baseball Digest, public domain
Playing outfield, Library of Congress photo, public domain

Text: wikipedia.org