Casey Stengel

Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel was an American Major League Baseball outfielder and manager, born on July 30, 1890, in Kansas City, Missouri, and died on September 29, 1975, in Glendale, California. His nickname derived from the abbreviation K.C. for his hometown. He played fourteen seasons in the majors between 1912 and 1925 for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Giants, and Boston Braves, posting a career batting average of .284 and helping the Giants reach the World Series in 1922 and 1923.

His managerial career began with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1934 and the Boston Braves through 1943, with mostly losing records. The turning point came in 1949 when the New York Yankees hired him to replace Bucky Harris. Over twelve seasons in the Bronx through 1960, Stengel led the Yankees to ten American League pennants and seven World Series championships, including an unmatched five consecutive titles from 1949 to 1953.

After the Yankees released him following the 1960 World Series loss to Pittsburgh, the expansion New York Mets hired him in 1962 as their first manager. The team lost a modern-record 120 games that season, but Stengel's malapropism-laden press conferences, which reporters dubbed "Stengelese," turned him into a beloved ambassador for the new franchise. He retired in 1965 after breaking his hip.

The Baseball Hall of Fame waived its mandatory five-year waiting period to induct him in 1966, and the Yankees retired his number 37.

The name Casey is an Irish surname turned given name, from the Gaelic Ó Cathasaigh, meaning "descendant of Cathasach," with cathasach itself meaning "vigilant" or "watchful." He carried it as a man whose every move on the bench seemed to anticipate the next pitch.