TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

August 8, 1970 — The Yankees, five years after the Mets bestow the honor to their first skipper, retire Casey Stengel’s uniform #37, during Old Timers Day at the Stadium. The ‘Old Perfessor’, who won seven World Series during his twelve-year tenure with the team, managed the Bronx Bombers from 1949 to 1960.

The Casey Stengel legend is well-known among baseball enthusiasts. A prime contender for the title of greatest manager ever, his greatest fame came from managing the Yankees to ten pennants and seven World Championships between 1949 and 1960. His quotes, delivered in a personal language dubbed "Stengelese," are famous for their practicality, humor, and longwindedness.

Stengel's story begins in late 1912, when the rookie — renamed for his hometown of Kansas City — went 4-for-4 in his first game to set a since-broken record. He became Brooklyn's regular centerfielder in 1913, then shifted to right field the following year. When Wilbert Robinson took over as manager in 1915, Stengel's real education began. Through long practice, he became an expert at playing the tricky caroms off Ebbets Field's oddly angled wall — a skill he'd later pass on to a young Mickey Mantle before the 1952 World Series.

A hard-swinging line-drive hitter, Stengel played fairly regularly for Brooklyn until 1917, hitting .364 in his first taste of postseason play in 1916. He bounced from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia to the New York Giants, where he came under the wing of John McGraw — the man who taught him most about managing. As a backup outfielder, Stengel rode three straight Giants pennants (1921–23), highlighted by two dramatic game-winning home runs in the 1923 World Series, including a limping, inside-the-park shot in Game One (sportswriters blamed his age; really, his shoe was falling apart).

After a final stop with the Boston Braves, his playing career ended in 1925.

Stengel's managerial apprenticeship started in the minors with the Toledo Mud Hens, followed by stints as Brooklyn Dodgers manager (1934–36) and Boston Bees manager (1938–43) — neither of which produced much beyond losing seasons. He returned to the minors, winning pennants with Milwaukee (1944) and Oakland (1948), the latter under GM George Weiss.

That relationship paid off in 1949, when Weiss, now running the Yankees, hired Stengel to replace Bucky Harris. Baseball insiders, judging him by his losing track record, dismissed him as a clown. He answered with a World Championship in year one — the first of an unprecedented five straight titles, breaking McGraw's own pennant streak.

Stengel inherited a powerhouse built around Joe DiMaggio, but within three years reshaped it into something new. Rather than stacking stars everywhere, he built around just three: Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and Whitey Ford. Everyone else competed for playing time under his platoon system — a strategy borrowed from his own days being platooned by Robinson and McGraw. Some players, like Hank Bauer and Gene Woodling, chafed at the reduced at-bats; others, like Billy Martin, treated Stengel almost like a father.

His pitching staff — Ford, Vic Raschi, Allie Reynolds, and Ed Lopat — never had a fixed rotation and were all used in relief, a hallmark of Stengel's unconventional approach.

The Yankees kept winning through the decade, interrupted only by the Al Lopez–managed Indians (1954) and White Sox (1959). New York returned to the top in 1960 but lost the World Series to Bill Mazeroski's Pirates — and Stengel was fired days later for being "too old." His response: "I'll never make the mistake of being seventy again."

Over 12 years in New York, he set records for championship years managed, consecutive first-place finishes (5), World Series games managed (63), and World Series wins (37), winning seven titles in all.

In 1962, at 71, Stengel took over the brand-new New York Mets, reuniting with Weiss as GM. The Mets lost 120 games — one of the worst seasons in baseball history — but Stengel's endless stream of one-liners ("Can't anybody here play this game?") made the team beloved anyway.

A broken hip forced his retirement in mid-1965, a week before his 75th birthday. He spent his later years working at a bank in Glendale, California, with a sign on his desk reading "Stengelese Spoken Here." Casey Stengel died on September 29, 1975 — leaving behind a fitting self-summary: "There comes a time in every man's life, and I've had plenty of them."

Todays Podcast

August 8, 1903, tragedy strikes the Baker Bowl in Philadelphia when a walkway at the top of the stands suddenly collapses, killing 12 fans in attendance and injuring 282 others. The incident, which occurs when fans rush to the walkway to witness a street brawl, mars a doubleheader between the hometown Phillies and the Boston Braves. The second game is canceled and Philadelphia’s remaining home games are played at the American League’s Columbia Park.

August 8, 1913 – Cecil Travis, lost nearly four years lost to World War II, and frozen feet suffered in the Battle of the Bulge, may have cost Cecil Travis a chance at the Hall of Fame. Despite that interruption, his career record still shines. A hard-hitting infielder, Ted Williams later compared Cecil’s swing to John Olerud’s. In 1941, Travis finished third to Joe DiMaggio and Williams in American League Most Valuable Player Award voting, batting .359 with 218 hits. His lifetime .314 average is one of the highest ever recorded by a shortstop

August 8, 1920 — Detroit Tigers pitcher Howard Ehmke wins the American League’s shortest game ever when he defeats the New York Yankees, 1 – 0, in one hour, thirteen minutes. With no outs and two on in the 5th inning‚ the Yanks fail to capitalize as Ping Bodie falls for the hidden ball trick applied by 2B Ralph Young.

August 8, 1934, Hall of Fame manager Wilbert Robinson dies in Atlanta at the age of 71 after suffering a stroke. Robinson won a total of 1,399 games in 19 major league seasons. “Uncle Robbie” the jovial and bemused managed the Brooklyn franchise for 18 of those seasons, leading the team to National League pennants in 1916 and 1920 and he went 7 for 7 in one game with Baltimore, which still stands as a major league record.

August 8, 1946 — A bloop single in the 7th inning by former battery-mate Frankie Hayes deprives Bob Feller of a no-hitter against the White Sox. Hayes was traded by Cleveland in June‚ just weeks after hitting a homer in Feller’s April 30th no-hitter. It is the 8th one-hitter of Feller’s career. His 10 games of less than 2 hits betters Addie Joss’s old mark of 9.

August 8, 1947 — At Wrigley Field Schoolboy Rowe of the Phillies pinch hits for Johnny Sain to become the first major leaguer to appear in different All-Star Games representing teams from the National League and American League. Rowe batted for sain in the bottom of the 9th, with the NL down 2-1, he flew out to right to end the game against Joe Page.

Johnny Mize homered off Spec Shea, 4th inn, for the only run for the NL. The Al scored a single run in the 6th and 7th.

August 8, 1956 — Robin Roberts gets his fourth victory in the past ten days when the Phillies beat New York at the Polo Grounds, 8-3. Philadelphia’s shortstop Ted Kazanski becomes just the fourth player in franchise history to hit an inside-the-park grand slam off Jim Hearn to pace the attack.

August 8, 1976, the Chicago White Sox become the first team in major league history to wear short pants in a game. The White Sox debut their Bermuda shorts – the brainchild of owner Bill Veeck – in the first game of a doubleheader against the Kansas City Royals. It will be the only regular season game in which the White Sox wear shorts.

August 8 1977, popular Chicago Cubs’ slugger Ernie Banks is inducted into the Hall of Fame, helping to draw a then-record 27 Hall of Famers to Cooperstown for the event. Martin Dihigo, Pop Lloyd, Al Lopez, Amos Rusie, and Joe Sewell are also inducted.

August 8 1988, lights are used for the first time in the history of Wrigley Field. The Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies play 3 1/2 before being rained out.

August 8 1997 Randy Johnson becomes the first pitcher to strike out 19 batters in a game twice in one season when he fans 19 Chicago White Sox in a 5 – 0 victory.

August 8 1998 – Behind Rafael Palmeiro’s 35th home run‚ the Orioles defeat the Twins‚ 6 – 3‚ despite 5 hits by Minnesota DH Paul Molitor. Molitor also swipes his 500th base. He’s the 6th player with 500 steals and 3000 hits.

August 8 2004 – The Red Sox defeat the Tigers‚ 11 – 9‚ despite 7 Detroit home runs. Tim Wakefield records the win for Boston despite tying a major league record by allowing 6 of the homers. Wakefield is the 6th modern pitcher to yield 6 round-trippers‚ but the first since Philadelphia’s George Caster did so 64 years ago against the Red Sox. The last pitcher to give up 6 homers and still win the game was Brooklyn’s Hollis Thurston in 1932.

 ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA

TRIVIA ANSWER: BURLEIGH GRIMES

Stengel managed BRO 1934-36. After pitching from 1916-1934, Grimes was the Dodgers skipper 1937-38.

- #1 In the 4th inning of G #5 of the 1920 WS (10-Oct-1920), CLE’s Jim Bagby hit a 3-run HR off Grimes following an IBB to catcher Steve O’Neill.  It was the first home run ever hit by a pitcher in World Series play.  Final score: CLE 8, BRO 1.

- #2 Grimes exceeded 200 IP 1918, 1920-1931, leading in 1923 (327), 1924 (310⅓) & 1928 (330⅔).

Thank you Horsehide Trivia

JOIN CLASSIC BASEBALL BROADCASTS TODAY