Show and/or tell of your Casey Stengel stuff

[tedzan]

Casey is the subject of quite a few BB Trivia Q's ..........

Who is the only BB guy to ever wear all four NY team's uniforms ?

Who hit the 1st World Series HR in Yankee Stadium ?

Who hit the 1st HR in Ebbets Field ?

Who is the only BB player to tip his cap to the crowd and have a sparrow fly out of it ?


Anyhow, there are some rare cards of Casey; and, all kinds of stories regarding him....so, show or tell us of your's ?






TED Z

[ullmandds]

I love this supposed type I image of the docta!!!

[Leon]

Not many sets made in 1944......Grand Studios.....

[calvindog]

[smtjoy]

[GoldenAge50s]

While I have several of Casey's 1950's issues, my best experience is a story:


Back in 1957, after my Jr yr in HS, 5 of us drove to Cleveland for a 4 game weekend series--Yankees @ Indians. We stayed downtown @ the Hotel Cleveland, where most visiting teams stayed.

We got there early Fri afternoon and the lobby was a busy place as we checked in. We got on a crowded elevator for our rooms and as the operator (yes, they had elevator operators back then!) started to close the door he abruptly reopened them again & said "There's room for one more, Mr Stengel.

We all pushed back & Casey ambled in, stood right tight in front of me & there I was, looking straight down on top of Casey's snow-white, balding head!


Got my weekend off to a great start, rubbing shoulders w/ Casey Stengel!

[rustywilly]

by a '51 Bowman, a '61 Scoops and finally settled on this Exhibits issue - my favorite of the bunch:

[doug.goodman]

Baseball Monthly supplement

[Bob Lemke]

56 Stengel front.jpg

56 Stengel back.jpg

[bcbgcbrcb]

Here's mine, the second earliest card picturing Stengel after his T210. Casey is pictured just above his initials, lying on the ground........

[ls7plus]

Some wonderful and really rare cards there! Thanks for posting the '23-'24 Exhibit, Mark. That's a very difficult card to find, and I know how you love your portraits. But the '53 Bowman black and white, for me, really captures an entire era!

Regards,

Larry

[yanksfan09]

1916 D381 (Actually a 1 line Fleischmann variation)

[Brian Van Horn]

.

[frankbmd]

and I go way back. We met back in '57.

[HRBAKER]

Mark,
That Exhibit is a beaut!

[RGold]

[ethicsprof]

when I was playing little league baseball in the early 60's, I---like a few of my buddies---decided to send letters to some of our favs.
It was in '62. I sent out numerous notes and received three responses:
one note from Gil Hodges who was convalescing after an illness; one note from another Met, the perfessor par excellence; and an autographed photo from Dodger Duke Snider. I loved them more than even my baseball cards at the time and still have all three items, beautifully framed. I have no recollection of who else I sent notes to---perhaps because they didn't answer me.
all the best,
barry

[Cat]

[tjb1952tjb]

it's the only Stengel card I have....................

[triwak]

My only Stengel, and well loved.

[Big Six]

with Zach Wheat...love this shot and wonder what kind of stories they were sharing that day...

[Fuddjcal]

In the early 1970's, I would go to Dodger Stadium every Sunday that they were in town with my grand-pa. His brother had Season Tix on the field and it was too hot on Sunday afternoon for him. It was 1971 (I was 10) and sitting directly next to me is this old man baking in the sun in a old sports coat that looked like a horse blanket.

My grand-pa whispered" That's Casey Stengel". Who the hell is Casey Stengel I thought, but I could see in my Grand-pa's eyes, this was someone special. I got to talk to him through out the game and he loved it that my real name was Charles, like his. He took my program and wrote... To Chuck from Casey Stengel and "To Charles from Charles Casey Stengel, Good luck". He just scribbled on it everywhere. I couldn't believe all the fuss and fans coming to get his autograph. He never took a break in the 90-100 degree heat and we didn't leave until the very end. I was hooked! I loved that old guy! My grand-pa filled me in on the details and of course I read everything I could about him afterwards.

While I cherished that program, it somehow was misplaced or stolen. I have every other damned program and ticket stub, but the story and memories are part of what cemented me as a baseball fan and are memories I hold sacred and cherish to this day.

Here is my collection of the "Old Perfessor" (I love how he spelled it) Thanks for bringing back that special memory of me and my grand-pa today. I needed a good cry.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Fuddjcal

In the early 1970's, I would go to Dodger Stadium every Sunday that they were in town with my grand-pa. His brother had Season Tix on the field and it was too hot on Sunday afternoon for him. It was 1971 and sitting directly next to me is this old man baking in the sun in a old sports coat that looked like a horse blanket.

My grand-pa whispered" That's Casey Stengel". Who the hell is Casey Stengel I thought, but I could see in my Grand-pa's eyes, this was someone special. I got to talk to him through out the game and he loved it that my real name was Charles, like his. He took my program and wrote... To Chuck from Casey Stengel and "To Charles from Charles Casey Stengel, Good luck". He just scribbled on it everywhere. I couldn't believe all the fuss and fans coming to get his autograph. He never took a break in the 90-100 degree heat and we didn't leave until the very end. I was hooked! I loved that old guy! My grand-pa filled me in on the details and of course I read everything I could about him afterwards.

While I cherished that program, it somehow was misplaced or stolen. I have every other damned program and ticket stub, but the story and memories are part of what cemented me as a baseball fan and are memories I hold sacred and cherish to this day.

Here is my collection of the "Old Perfessor" (I love how he spelled it) Thanks for bringing back that special memory of me and my grand-pa today. I needed a good cry.

Thanks for sharing Chuck. The stories and memories such as these are certainly some of the best things which this board has to offer. It almost brought a tear to my eye just reading your post. (seriously)

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by GoldenAge50s

While I have several of Casey's 1950's issues, my best experience is a story:


Back in 1957, after my Jr yr in HS, 5 of us drove to Cleveland for a 4 game weekend series--Yankees @ Indians. We stayed downtown @ the Hotel Cleveland, where most visiting teams stayed.

We got there early Fri afternoon and the lobby was a busy place as we checked in. We got on a crowded elevator for our rooms and as the operator (yes, they had elevator operators back then!) started to close the door he abruptly reopened them again & said "There's room for one more, Mr Stengel.

We all pushed back & Casey ambled in, stood right tight in front of me & there I was, looking straight down on top of Casey's snow-white, balding head!


Got my weekend off to a great start, rubbing shoulders w/ Casey Stengel!

Nice story.....it reminds me of my "elevator story" back in 1990. I was at the "500 HR" show in Atlantic City and when I entered a jammed pack elevator, towering above
the crowd was Ted Williams. I greeted him...."Hi Ted". With a nice smile, he returned the greeting. Ted got off at the next floor and several of the people in this elevator
asked me if he was some kind of celebrity ?

When I answered "Ted Williams", they were surprised. The thought occurred to me that 25 people in an elevator attending a BB card and celebrity show and not a single
person in that elevator recognized Ted Willians......you figure it (I cannot).


TED Z

[deebro041]

Not really a Casey Stengel item but here is a game ball from The Little World Series between The Toledo Mud Hens and The Buffalo Bisons in 1927. Casey managed the winning team Toledo Mud Hens.

[CW]

Great items from a great figure of the game, guys! I'll shoot Al C. a PM about this thread and see if he can add anything -- he should still have a pretty cool group of Stengel pieces from the man's personal collection.

[GoldenAge50s]

Your Williams story reminds of a time in Houston when I was the only one who spied (or even noticed) Willie Mays in a hotel lobby, so I felt compelled to approach him & ask for an auto as he left the front desk & headed for the elevator.

I did it descreetly so as not to call attention to him and he still bitched & moaned that someone recognized & bothered him, but I got the auto nonetheless!

[FrankWakefield]

I like them all... very nice red border up there, Cat.

I don't think there's a W514 yet, so here's one cut a bit close...



And I can offer a 1943 Dodgers scorecard.

Inside, where the game was scored, there are 7 autographs, all in pencil. 5 players, a coach, and a manager, all with the Boston Braves. The main reason I got the scorecard was because it was signed by Hugh Poland, a Kentucky fellow who caught a bit. He attended Western Kentucky University, and as I understand, he lettered in everything... baseball, football, basketball, track, wrestling... I stayed in a dorm named after him when I attended college there. The coach's signature is George Kelly, the Hall of Famer. And the manager, #32, was Casey Stengel.


Great Stengel stuff, guy!!! I think the 3rd baseball book I read, as a kid, was Allen's Now Wait a Minute, Casey. I still have a copy on the bedroom bookshelf. Might be time to reread it. An entertaining book.

[brianp-beme]

Here is his W503:

Brian

[kdixon]

Casey and Zach and I am not sure who the guy with the glasses is. I am sure someone else knows, this was in 1970.wheat stengle hof.jpg

[kdixon]

Here is Mckechnie, Wheat, Casey and Roush at Shea Stadium

[kdixon]

Here is a news clipping signed by Wheat and Casey.

[kdixon]

Another Casey with Wheat

[Al C.risafulli]

I'll shoot Al C. a PM about this thread and see if he can add anything

Thanks, Chuck!

A few years ago I picked up a couple of piles of correspondence from Casey's estate. They included a lot of letters, telegrams and postcards that had been sent to him over the years by fans, celebrities, players, and family members. I spent a lot of time with them and eventually put them in a 5" binder, in plastic sheets, sorted in chronological order. When you read the binder, which begins with letters from the 1920s and ends with letters of condolence that were sent to his wife Edna after Casey passed in 1975, it reads like a great biography of Stengel's life.

It fascinated me, so along the way I've picked up other Stengel-related memorabilia: team photos, wire photos, programs, etc. I don't have a lot of stuff, but the stuff I have makes for an interesting picture of a great manager's life.

Here are some highlights:

These are some Mayos that were owned by Stengel at some point. They were all framed, mounted on cardboard, many trimmed. Whoever came into possession of them pulled them off the cardboard and had them slabbed individually. I'd rather have the bunch all mounted the way they were, but this is cool anyway.



This is a story written by Casey himself, about the first time he faced Walter Johnson at an exhibition game in 1912. I don't know what Casey wrote this for - a newspaper? Book? Some sort of tribute to the Big Train? It's still one of my favorite pieces.



In 1932 the Max Carey-managed Brooklyn Dodgers finished in 3rd of 8 teams. Stengel was a coach on that team, and as you can see, at the end of the season he was forced to take a pay cut. Stengel came back in 1933, and was made manager for the 1934 season.



If you don't think that athletes care about "bulletin board" quotes that come from other athletes, you're wrong. Back at the beginning of the 1934 season, when asked about the Stengel-managed Dodgers, Giants manager Bill Terry said "The Dodgers? Are they still in the league?"

The last two games of the 1934 season, the Dodgers faced the Giants, with the Giants running neck-and-neck with the Cardinals for the NL Pennant. Stengel received tons of letters from fans, encouraging him to beat Terry. He saved dozens of them - not only during 1934, but he saved them for HIS ENTIRE LIFE. Don't tell me that "bulletin board" quotes don't mean anything to the players.



Of course the Dodgers won both games against the Giants, which enabled the Cardinals to win the pennant and go on to face the Tigers in one of the most memorable World Series in history. Casey saved a bunch of his congratulatory letters as well:



The last letter I have that was sent to Casey himself was sent by legendary coach Rod Dedeaux in early September, 1975, wishing him the best. Casey died on September 29.

-Al

[tedzan]

Thanks Al

For for sharing with us some of your really great Casey Stengel items.


TED Z

[FrankWakefield]

Great Johnson / Stengel letter... wow.

In the back of my mind are pieces of a story about Stengel, at the end of his playing days, also being a player, manager, and general manager for a team. I think it was Toledo. He got crossways with the owner. So he figured out a plan. As Manager he'd release himself as a player, and send that in to the National office. Then, as GM he'd fire himself as Manager. Then as GM he wrote the owner a letter of resignation.

He was a unique baseball personality.

[7nohitter]

Al,

That stuff is incredible...and knowing that Stengel kept it shows the "beyond the game" value it had for him.

Ok...and I have to know...those pics of Stengel and Wheat in their later years....isn't that EXACTLY how baseball-lifers should look????

[Gary Dunaier]

Here's a check Casey Stengel wrote October 12, 1961 - two days after the expansion draft in which the players who would comprise the inaugural 1962 Mets were selected. Note the reference to the Mets in the lower left corner -six months before the team's first game!

[turtleguy64]

One of my treasured items.My father in 1965 finally took a vacation out to S.F. Knew next to nothing about baseball.But he did know the likeness of Stengel from the newspapers.He is in the looby of Jack Tarr Hotel which happened to be Mets hotel when they played on the coast.He sees Stengel come into the lobby in a.m. Father runs to service desk,buys a postcard of the hotel,approaches Stengel and asks for an autograph for "his son." Stengel says why sure.And what team does your son like? Phillies,was the reply.Stengel writes ,Join the Mets,david.Then coaches and players begin filtering in.Stengel starts handing pen and postcard to each of them .i end up with a postcard that has Berra,Spahn,Coleman,Bearnarth,etc. on it.Loved that postcard.

[FrankWakefield]

Wow.... nice story on the postcard. Any chance of a scan being posted?

Reminds me of my only trip to Dodger Stadium... the Phillies were in town. It was 1964, I think. I was a Cardinals fan. I didn't know much, but I thought I knew to cheer for the team in red, so I did. There weren't many Phillies fans at that game... the Phillies won. Those 60's Dodgers could play some ball.

[philliesphan]

a fairly obscure Casey Stengel card. Very hard to find him as a Philadelphia Phillie:

[tedzan]

Here's my Casey signature in my 1961 OLD TIMER's Photo Album....that includes 83 ballplayers autographs.

Rube Marquard, Zach Wheat, and Ray Schalk are my Album's first autographs (circa 1960's).






TED Z

[turtleguy64]

I will try and post a photo of this great signed Stengel signed postcard.I try not handling it too much.

[paul]

Here's one you don't see too often -- the colorized 1940 Play Ball.

[MikeGarcia]