Show and/or tell of your Casey Stengel stuff

[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!