Stengel: His Life and Times |
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Editorial Review / Publisher's Information:
Product Description
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.
Amazon.com Review
From its original publication in 1984, Creamer's superb portrait of one of the game's most cherished characters was quickly acknowledged as a masterwork of sports biography. Its opening line--"Casey Stengel naked was a sight to remember"--helped establish the complex and often contradictory personality that Creamer strips from its façade by work's end. Stengel worked to build his image as the game's crazy clown prince, but he was always crazy like a fox, remarkably resilient, quietly brilliant, and always entertaining, from the day he broke into the majors with Brooklyn in 1912 to the afternoon he finally hung up his uniform as the loveable manager of the hapless Mets in 1964. His record of success as manager of the Yankee juggernaut from 1949 to 1960 remains one of baseball's unapproachable legacies: 10 pennants and seven World Series titles, including five in a row. "Casey could be wildly amusing," Creamer writes, stating the obvious, "but," he continues, "there was a burning ambition in him too." By displaying the former--especially in the form of his own confusing use of words, dubbed Stengelese by the beat writers whose job it was to interpret him--Stengel was able to let the latter sneak up on the opposition undetected. It was part of his myth and part of his mystery, both of which Creamer exposes with great skill, real respect, and obvious affection. --Jeff Silverman
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Customer Reviews:
• Yankee Fan
14 July, 2009
This is one of the best baseball books I have ever read. Not only is it a book about the life of Casey Stengel, but it is a good history of the game of baseball. It provides laughs in every chapter, entertaining stories as well as history of baseball. I would say that every Yankee fan ought to have a copy.
- Amazon Customer Review
• Stengel, The Legend
08 January, 2010
A thoughtfully detailed account separating the real Stengel from Stengel the legend. Creamer did his homework in thoroughly researching Casey Stengel the ballplayer (he was very good) as well as Casey Stengel the manager(including his remarkable run with the 1950's Yankees). The book is full of all the color (as well as Casey's lies) that you would expect from a major league baseball career that spanned over 50 years; beginning in the dead-ball era and ending with the "Old Perfessor's" stint as skipper of the Amazing Mets. This book is highly recommended by anyone who loves the history and anecdotes of our glorious national pastime.
- Amazon Customer Review
• Great Reading
18 April, 2007
Excellent. Well written, gives a good history yet moves right along.This guy had an amazing career and an amazing record.This is a must read for anyone interested in baseball.
- Amazon Customer Review
• Casey Was A Character
25 November, 2007
Enjoyed reading this book almost as much as Harry Potter.
It's funny how nowadays you can't get away with jumping up into the stands and punching fans.
Well written and well told story.
- Amazon Customer Review
• Deciphering Stengelese
07 February, 2009
I've read and re-read Stengel's 1958 Congrsssional Testimony and still don't get it - I guess I agree with...Mickey.
Creamer's clean, simple style, lends much needed clarity to the infield dust surrounding many of Casey's exploits, in and out of Baseball.
Not a long book - in fact, could have made a nice series for the New Yorker magazine, but it's a fine place to start for Stengel/Yankee/BB fans in general.
His relationship with the Commerce Comet (MM) is nicely described, though perhaps a bit superficial. Why couldn't the "Perfessor" reach the kid with all the talent? Why would Mantle rebel against the "Father figure", when he worshipped his "real" Dad, who died very young (and was laregely responsible for turning Mickey into perhaps the most venerated athlete in history).
His genius also did not seem to extend to the pitchers - if he under-used someone like Ford in the regular season, that's one thing. But why not make him available to pitch a complete game to end the Series, if needed?
Another area which warranted more exposition was the recall to BB to be Manager of the new "Bums" in town, the Metropolitans. The first, crazy year (1962) was one thing. But why allow yourself to finally retire as a sideshow?
The book is very enjoyable - perfect for a Maine to Florida plane trip. Short on those long lists we love to stare at for hours on end.
- Amazon Customer Review
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