Stengel, Casey

Casey Stengel, byname of Charles Dillon Stengel, (born July 30, 1891, Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.—died September 29, 1975, Glendale, California), American professional baseball player and manager whose career spanned more than five decades, the highlight of which was his tenure as manager of the New York Yankees, a team he guided to seven World Series titles. A colourful character, he was also known for his odd sayings, called “Stengelese.”

Stengel was a left-handed outfielder for the National League Brooklyn Dodgers (1912–17) and later played for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1918–19), the Philadelphia Phillies (1920–21), the New York Giants (1921–23), and the Boston Braves (1924–25). In 1923 he hit .339 for the New York Giants and won two World Series games with two home runs, only to be overshadowed by the young Babe Ruth, who won the series with three for the New York Yankees.

In 1932 he became a coach and later a team manager with an undistinguished record, with the Brooklyn Dodgers (1934–36) and the Boston Braves (1938–43), until his appointment as interim manager of the Yankees in 1949. During his 12 years with the Yankees, he led the team to 10 American League pennants (5 of them in consecutive years) and to 7 World Series championships (1949–53, 1956, and 1958). He retired after the 1960 season but returned two years later to manage the New York Mets, an expansion team that became known as the “Lovable Losers.” Under Stengel, the Mets lost more than 400 games before he retired in 1965. Thereafter he became vice president of the Mets.

Stengel was also known for his showmanship and his misuse of the English language, called “Stengelese” (for example, “I’ve always heard it couldn’t be done, but sometimes it don’t always work”). He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966.