Stengel: His Life and Times

by Robert W. Creamer

One of the most endearing of American heroes, Casey Stengel guided the New York Yankees to ten pennants in twelve seasons. Here is the brilliant manager stripped naked—the person underneath all the clowning, mugging, and double-talking. Robert Creamer shows us Casey at twenty-two, famous from his very first day in the big leagues. We see Casey’s playing career fall apart as he is traded, shunted to last-place teams, hampered by injuries, considered finished—until he bats a glorious home run in the 1923 World Series. Here are Casey’s managing successes and failures—dismissed by the Yankees, he returns to the limelight with his new and inept New York Mets, the team he single-handedly lifts into the nation’s consciousness.

“I’m a man that’s been up and down,” Casey said in a serious moment. Certainly his knack for bouncing back made him a legend in our national pastime. Here are the stories and gags, the Stengelian style, the full dimensions of the man.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Biography, Nonfiction

349 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Robert Watts Creamer was an American sportswriter and editor. A longtime staffer at Sports Illustrated, he was among the first people hired for the magazine and he worked as a senior editor until 1984.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful gem of a biography about one of baseball’s most legendary figures. Stengel’s list of accomplishments are too great to list here from his 55 years in professional baseball. The man from Kansas City’s career intersected with so many other Hall of Famers and his five straight World Championships at the helm of the New York Yankees will likely never be broken.

Stengel was also a good major league ball player in his own right and of the managers elected to the Hall of Fame only John McGraw had a better playing career. In three World Series as a player in the 1910’s, Stengel batted nearly .400 and won several games with home runs, a rare feat in the the dead ball era.

5 Stars. Creamer was a fine historian and a colorful writer. I came away from this book feeling like I knew Casey Stengel the person. There is a lot of baseball history in this book.

[Arthur Pierce · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard for me to accurately judge this book because I didn't actually read it, I listened to it on Audible, and it is so poorly read (by Peter Coleman) that much of the potential enjoyment was lost. It's pretty clear the reader knows nothing about baseball; he constantly mispronounces names of prominent figures including Warren Spahn (which he pronounces "Span"), Bill Veeck ("Veek"), Don Newcombe ("New-comb"), etc. (He also sloppily calls Grover Cleveland Alexander "Grover Cleveland Anderson" at one point, but gets it right the rest of the time.) I know these things are put together in a hurry, but a minimal about of research
when there was any doubt whatsoever could have saved his performance.
The book is a little odd on that the author does the standard season-by-season survey of his subject's career until he gets to 1954, then goes into a more general appraisal of Mr. Stengel's methods (skipping over some pretty important seasons entirely), before resuming his season-by-season approach with 1960. None-the-less, this would probably have been an entertaining book if i'd just read the darn' thing instead of depending on a non-baseball historian to read it to me.

[Chris Schaffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creamer is an excellent writer and takes a similar approach to the book on Stengel that he did with his book on Babe Ruth. For as famous as he was and for as many years he spent in baseball, he doesn't give the reader the ponderous, season-by-season chronicle that you might have expected. It covers his life and career excellently, from his upbringing in Kansas City, first years in baseball, major league career and ultimately his managerial career. Even gives the reader some good doses of 'Stengelese.' A good read for baseball season.

[Grindy Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little skimpy and underwhelming. Far too much of this bio concentrates on Stengel's playing career at the expense of his managerial life. Stengel is worthy of a much deeper, richer biography than this.

[Ken Heard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creamer's look at Stengel's life is a somewhat simplistic take on his career. If you want more depth, read Marty Appel's biography on the comic, yet genius, coach. However, Creamer does a decent job and doesn't portray Stengel simply as a clown. He does, as one Goodreads reviewer noted, gloss over Stengel's years as a coach. For instance, one chapter boils down several of the Yankees' consecutive World Series victories rather than look at each season separately.

But there are some good moments, too. I thought Creamer did an excellent job in scribing Stengel's youth and his minor league and major league playing days. He was a good, scrappy player. Stengel has seen it all; he was around during the inception of the Federal League, Babe Ruth, the integration of baseball, the increase in players' salaries when he was coaching, the Mets.

Creamer maintains a fair balance between whether Stengel was a goofball or genius coach. Some say anyone could have led those Yankees' teams to pennants what with the talent they had. But Stengel had a hand in it and he developed platooning positions, he jostled players at different positions due to injuries and he kept on winning. Creamer does note Stengel's ego after his first year coaching in New York. The first year, Stengel is seen as nervous and afraid. After winning the Series that year, Stengel became more obnoxious, full of himself and bragging of himself the following season.

Creamer also includes most of Stengel's testimony in early antitrust baseball hearing in the U.S. Senate and he is sure to include Mickey Mantle's follow up testimony after a long, rambling monologue presented by Stengel. "I pretty much agree with what Casey says," Mantle replied, drawing laughter.

This is a fun book to read if only to get the feel for the eras Stengel played and coached in. If you want more substance, though, read Marty Appel's work on him.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic read, a funny and gifted ballplayer and coach hits home on Casey's passion and love for his game of baseball. From Kansas City to Philadelphia, Brooklyn to the Big Apple and New York Giants, Milwaukee, San Francisco and parts of California and finally the Toledo Mud Hens this is a delightful read on Casey that any reader will cherish. The paths he crossed with great ball players of any race or creed is simply fantastic but one thing will always stand out, whether in his playing, coaching and befriending and guiding young ballplayers is his never ending love for the game.

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Creamer, as he did with Babe Ruth a decade earlier, provides an illuminating account of Casey Stengel's life, without falling into the trap of being swamped by his last years as an entertainer/manager for the Mets. Stengel was a complex personality, and Creamer does not pull any punches. Very much worth reading.

[Tad Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best subjects imaginable for a sports book, and Creamer does it justice.

[George Hancock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book about Casey Stengel by a noted Sports Illustrated writer. Interesting how Stengel acquired his Casey nickname.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful biography of an interesting and quirky man.

[Martin Bihl · Rating 3 out of 5]

For my review, please visit: https://the-agency-review.com/stengel

[Aaron Million · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining, though not particularly penetrating, look at one of baseball's most successful managers. Creamer traces Stengel from his youth in Kansas City, his climb through the minor leagues (what passed for minor leagues at that time), his up-and-down career as a player, and then his star-crossed career as a big league manager.

Creamer hits on all of the points that you would expect him to in a typical biography: elements of Stengel's personality, his genius for learning from wise baseball men like John McGraw, his particular focus on developing young players, his relationships with general managers and owners, and his odd, confusing way of speaking. Yet, he does not really dive too deeply into any one of these areas. Example: Stengel had a difficult, somewhat distant relationship with Mickey Mantle. Creamer touches on it, but does not go into detail; this is unlike what Jane Leavy does with her The Last Boy - a superb biography of Mantle.

Creamer breezes through all of the baseball seasons that Stengel was a part of - and there were many as he came up with Brooklyn in 1910 and did not retire until 1965. I would have preferred more discussion of his abilities as a player. Also, his seasons being manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers and Boston Braves - almost all pretty bad - aren't given a great deal of coverage. And several of the dynamic Yankee teams of the 1950s are discussed only in relation to what the end result was in October. While Creamer did not do a bad job, I thought that Stengel provided him with plenty of material to be able to do more.

Grade: C+

[Marshall Merims · Rating 4 out of 5]

So another book about baseball yesteryear has been absorbed into this guy’s brain. The latest one about the very long and colorful life of Casey Stengel (player, manager, and Hall of Famer). This was not an autobiography like most of my other baseball books so I was concerned about how well I would like it (being written by someone else), but my concern evaporated soon after getting through a couple of chapters. The author created a chapter for each unique segment of Casey’s life and career: growing up in Kansas City, living some years in the Quad Cities (John Deere country), his 14 year National League playing career, his 6 years managing the minor league Toledo Mud Hens, his 9 years managing sub .500 teams in Brooklyn and Boston, managing post-WWII in the minors again, his amazing 10 World Series appearances in 12 years managing the Yankees, and his 3+ years managing the hapless fledgling Mets. Known for his memorable quotes (like Yogi Berra), this one is a classic: The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate me away from those who are still undecided. This book gets 4 baseballs out of 5!

[Scott Breslove · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at the life and times of Casey Stengel. Some of the baseball gets glossed over, seasons running into each other and kind of confused, but overall it seems to work. Nothing special or amazing, but a good, strong book about a great baseball man.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rich history of a figure who was prominent in baseball for a phenomenally long time. A look just not at the changes in baseball, but the changes in the country during this time. Hundreds of nuggets about Stengel, that even a contemporary fan would not know, and not all complimentary or sanitized. Well researched and well written.

[San · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this man and this book. I was so sad at the end when he died. I kept hoping that maybe he was still alive and at 125 years old and I could go and visit him in June... Best baseball book I've read to date.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful, straightforward bio of the beloved manager of the Dodgers/Yankees/Mets, etc. who served in baseball continuously from 1910 through 1965.

[Dick Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good bio of Casey, with most of the time spent on the period when he was not managing the Yankees, making it much more interesting.

[Randy Cauthen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but a littlpe overhyped; I'd been led to believe it was the best baseball book ever.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful.

[Nancy McDonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Engaging bio of a baseball legend. Particularly enjoyed some the anecdotal stories.

[Ronald · Rating 2 out of 5]

not as good as Creamer's book Babe; read some time in 1986