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Casey Stengel
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Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (July 30, 1890 – September 29, 1975), nicknamed "The Old Professor", was an American baseball player and manager from the early 1910s into the 1960s. He was born in Kansas City, and was originally nicknamed "Dutch", a common nickname at that time for Americans of German ancestry. After his major league career started, he acquired the nickname "Casey", which originally came from the initials of his hometown ("K. C."), which evolved into "Casey", influenced by the wide popularity of the poem Casey at the Bat. In the 1950s, sportswriters dubbed him with yet another nickname, "The Old Perfessor", for his sharp wit and his ability to talk at length on anything baseball-related.
Although his baseball career spanned a number of teams and cities, he is primarily associated with clubs in New York City. Between playing and managing, he was connected with all four of New York’s major league clubs. He was the first of four men (through the 2007 season) to manage both the Yankees and the Mets. (Yogi Berra, Dallas Green, and Joe Torre are the others. Like Torre, he also managed the Braves and the Dodgers.) He ended his baseball career as the beloved manager for the expansion New York Mets, which won over the hearts of New York due to their "lovable loser" image and the unique character of their veteran leader.
Source: Wikipedia
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Stengel was the youngest of three children and was an avid athlete in his youth, playing on the basketball, football and baseball teams at Central High School in Kansas City, Mo.
Stengel quit high school at 19 and went on to play professional baseball. He joined the Kansas City Blues of the American Association. He played in the outfield, but in 1910 he was sent to Kankakee, Ill., of the Northern Association. Later, he was sent to Shelbyville, Ky. then to the Maysville, Ky., team of the Blue Grass League. Stengel was not batting very well at the time, but he exhibited much heart and passion for the game. He joined the Dodgers in 1912 and finished his season with a .316 batting average.
Young Stengel was really starting to become a big name on the field, and in 1913 he demanded, and received, a ,100 contract. The money proved worth it, as Stengel hit the first home run out of Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field that year while batting .272 overall. The next two years he continued to bat for Brooklyn and partly due to his exceptional leadership skills and natural drive for the game, he helped the Dodgers win the 1916 National League pennant.
The runs continued to be scored, but in 1917, Stengel was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Stengel played for the Pirates for 39 games before he went into the U.S. Navy to serve his country and coach the baseball program at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. In 1919 he went back to the Pirates, but was soon traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. He postponed playing on the Phillies until 1920, but then he was traded again to the New York Giants.
Stengel’s time with the Giants was beneficial for the team, as he had a batting average of .368 and .339 during the 1922 and 1923 seasons. He even had an on base percentage of over .400, and helped contribute to the Giants’ 1922 World Series victory.
Charles "Casey" Stengel made clowning around on the baseball diamond commonplace, long before the famed San Diego Chicken hatched out of its egg. Commonly known as the "Old Perfessor," he will forever be remembered for his comical antics. Before his career in baseball, he was a dentist in his hometown of Kansas City. He once said, "I was not very good at pulling teeth, but my mother loved my work."
Prior to ever writing his first lineup card as a manager, Stengel actually had a fairly successful playing career. He played in three World Series with the Giants and was a top-notch outfielder with the Dodgers, Pirates, Phillies, Braves and Giants. In a game with Montgomery of the Southern league, Stengel lowered himself in an outfield manhole when no one was looking. As a fly ball sailed in his direction, he magically appeared out of the ground to shag it. The crowd gave him a standing ovation, and "Ol’ Case" had pulled off another one.
Stengel’s success as a manager far outweighs the notoriety he received as a player. After stints with Brooklyn, Boston and Milwaukee of the American Association, he landed the job with the New York Yankees. He won 10 pennants in 12 years, including five straight world championships. Following three dismal seasons with the expansion New York Mets, Stengel finally called it a career. He died in 1975 at the age of 85. Baseball surely misses this great player and manager, but mainly the smile he brought to everyone’s face.
Souce: caselstengel.com
Anti Ahmadinejad rally
Image by maryatexitzero
From the 925 Rally Coalition:
Join us to raise your voice of conscience against religious appeasers of tyrant Ahmadinejad!
On Thursday, Sept 25, at 6pm in New York City at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, The American Friends Service Committee, Mennonite Central Committee, Quaker UN Office, Religions for Peace, and the World Council of Churches-UN Liaison Office will be honoring Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at an Iftar (dinner to break the day’s Ramadan fast). Other organizations, political leaders and media have also been invited. Read the Text of the Invitation.
These religious leaders are about to betray their brethren across all religions, parties, and countries by honoring the tyrannical regime of Ahmadinejad and the Iranian mullahs of this terrorist state.
At the same time, Women United, the Jewish Action Alliance, Stand With Us, Center for Security Policy, the Catholic League, the The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Alliance of Iranian Women and over 30 organizations of all faiths and political affiliations will hold an interfaith rally to counter this betrayal of principles, to protest Ahmadinejad’s presence at the United Nations, and to oppose Iran’s nuclear weapons program and outrageous threats against the USA and America’s ally, Israel. See the full list of participating organizations HERE , updated daily. UPDATE – RAIN OR SHINE, THE RALLY WILL GO ON! WEATHER REPORTS DAILY ON THIS PAGE…
