Casey Stengel: Baseball's Greatest Character

In 1962, my Dad took me to a Doubleheader at the Polo Grounds where the New York Mets were playing the defending National League Champion Cincinnati Reds. The Mets won the first game, and before the 2nd one, I walked down to the edge of the Mets Dugout, peeked in, and saw Casey Stengel looking out at the field, seemingly lost in thought. He was the oldest man that I had ever seen in a Baseball uniform, and his face was craggy and exuded many miles of character. It made a profound impression on me. The Mets proceeded to win the 2nd game in 14 Innings on a Frank Thomas Home Run, and I became a devout Mets fan for life on that day. It started with Casey Stengel, and Marty Appel's wonderful book brings Casey to life in all it's dimensions. I learned so much about his early years in the book, and also about his times of success and failure. In many ways Casey was perceived as larger than life, but he had foibles and deficiencies as well, and Mr. Appel's account is well-rounded. This is a terrific and engaging book.

Casey Stengel has been a hero of mine for many years. He persisted in the face of numerous challenges (read: genuinely awful ball clubs), and he did so with humor and elan. He loved baseball and gave it everything he had. This new biography gives Stengel fans a chance to relive most of the choice anecdotes from his long, varied, storied career, but it offers little that is new. The author justifies this new effort because an unpublished memoir written by Edna Stengel that was not available to other biographers was available to him. Edna's notes reveal three truths: 1.) Edna reveled in the glory of being Mrs. Casey Stengel; 2.) she and Casey actually spent very little time together throughout the course of their marriage, and 3.) her declining years were even more heart-rending than was previously known to the public. But with the exception of that third item, the other knowledge could be easily inferred from Robert Creamer's excellent--and in this reviewer's opinion, superior--biography, entitled Stengel: His Life and Times. That said, it's always a fun ride to revisit Casey, and I will credit Appel's version with one hilarious tidbit that I honestly did not know: Stengel's first professional baseball club was nicknamed the Lunatics. Give Appel a read and you'll see why that's fitting.

This book is the complete story of Casey Stengel from his upbringing in Kansas City to his dominance of world of baseball in New York. It is interesting to see how many great baseball players Stengel played with and managed over the years. Once his glory days were over with the Yankees he helped rebuild interest in National League baseball in NewYork after two baseball teams left the city for the west coast. The original Mets were love able because of the personality of Casey Stengel. This book is a fascinating history of how one man dominated the sport of baseball over the years. Casey Stengel was an ambassador for baseball and sports in general prior to ESPN and the MLB network. This book makes it clear that there will never be another Casey Stengel in any sport. This book is a must read for any sports fan and required reading for any Met or Yankee fan.

I grew up in the NY area towards the end of Stengel's Yankee career and was an active baseball fan when he took over the helm for the Mets. I was never a huge Stengel fan as he seemed more of a "clown" than a baseball genius so I was interested to read this book and to learn more about the man who is legend. At the close of the book, I set it aside with one thought: "Wow!" While it helps to be a baseball fan to get the most out of Appel's work, this book successfully works on many levels. For me it was less about baseball and more about a man and wife that lived a life they loved, faced adversity but persevered, and ultimately must have closed their lives without regret because they were able to live their lives focused on what they loved. Stengel was very good at what he did for a living, loved the career that he chose, and shared it with a woman he adored.A wonderful, well written work by Marty Appel.

For those of youse growing up as Yankees &/or Mets fans in the 1950's-60's, you recall Casey as the craggy faced skipper who spoke Stengelese. This book gives a much fuller and nuanced look at the Old Perfesser. It starts with his playing days and describes his talent and personality as a major leaguer. Mr. Appel then spends considerable time talking about Casey's ups and downs as a minor league manager. Included are how he dealt with players, coaches, owners and GMs, showing sides of him that are unknown to the general baseball fan.He goes on to recount Casey's managerial time in the majors, describing the above-mentioned relationships, showing his character strengths and flaws; his showmanship, and his catering to various sportswriters. Yet we're always brought back to the great baseball mind Casey had. He also talks about Casey's post managerial life and the long married life he had with his sometimes suffering wife, Edna.Many of Casey's mentioned quotes are priceless. You could look it up.Though the book is 400+ pages, its a fast read, not because it is facile but because of Mr. Appel's breezy and enjoyable writing style.I take leave of this review with 3 words that will live in history, Let's Go Mets.

Appel's time with Stengel helped make this book a very interesting read but he obviously minutely researched the early career of the man and honored his playing career as well as his salad days at Yankee manager. I learned what a good player Casey was as well as an appreciation of the fact that his early reputation as a bit of a clown was probably not justified. Fortunately Appel and Casey himself are able to detail how the man was able to overcome the various labels applied to his early managerial career especially. His application of platoon baseball lives to the present while his ability to earn substantial monies outside the game attest to the fact that he was nobody's fool! Appel brings the total man, inside and outside of baseball to life.

This book offers some new info on Casey's private life, but quickly glosses over his playing career and earlier managing career before the Yankees. For that, 'Forging Genius' by Steven Goldman is the book to read, and probably the best book on Stengel. Appel's book would have to be twice as long (if due only to the long involvement of Stengel in our national pastime and his years in the spotlight) to be called definitive, but , with other Stengel books, helps fill in the picture.

Bought as a present. Recipient happy.

His name is familiar from his Yankee connections but there is so much more to this man. From his early days in the National League, where he hit the first World Series home run in the new Yankee stadium - an inside-the-parker, no less - to his efforts for the "amazin'" Mets, his career as player, manager and character represents baseball in the 20th century. The author had access to private family papers, and uses them, and his wide and deep knowledge of the game to portray a unique man.