What a life Casey Stengel had! He lived to the ripe of age of 85, passing away in 1975, and he spent about 50 of those years in baseball. He always had a reputation, deservedly, as a clown who like to have fun with the game, but at the same time he was a serious life-long student of the game, and he loved the game of baseball. His passion for the game was unsurpassed.
He played and managed for a number of teams. After 3 years of managing the Oakland team in the old Pacific Coast League and winning its championship in 1957, he was hired for the DREAM job of managing, that of managing the most storied team in the history of major league baseball, the New York Yankees. His good fortune came because he was a long-time friend of George Weiss, who by chance became the Yankee general manager in 1948.
So at the age of 58 Casey Stengel began his march to baseball immortality with the 1949 season. Under Stengel the Yankees won 5 straight World Series championships. That's still the record and I can't imagine it will ever be surpassed.
Casey Stengel won 10 American pennants in 12 years of managing the Yankees. He was fired after losing the Series to the Pirates in 1960. He concluded his career by managing the hapless expansion NY Mets from 1962 to 1965. The Mets were woeful but nobody blamed Stengel.
The usual 5-yr. waiting rule was waived and Casey was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1965.
In the annals of baseball history, there is only one Casey Stengel. I can still see him on the game of the week charging the mound as the Yankee manager to change pitchers. He was known for how he charged the mound.
To this point, this is the definitive biography of this baseball great.
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