Charles Dillon Stengel (1890 - 1975)

Born 30 Jul 1890 in Kansas City, Missouri

Ancestors

Husband of Edna Mae (Lawson) Stengel — married 18 Aug 1924 in Belleville, St. Clair, Illinois, United States

Died 29 Sep 1975 at age 85 in Glendale, California

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Biography

Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel nicknamed "The Old Perfessor", was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and manager. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966.

Casey was the youngest of three children born to Louis E. Stengel and Jennie J. Jordan Stengel. He had one older sister, Louise born in 1886 and an older brother Louis Grant born in 1887. All the children were born in Missouri.

Both Casey's father and mother were born in Iowa. His paternal grandparents were born in Germany and his maternal grandparents were born in New York and Pennsylvania, according to the 1900 US Census. Casey's father worked in collections at the time of the Census.

Casey was a multi-sport athlete in high school and in 1910 he signed a minor league baseball contract with the Kansas City Blues, then one of the top minor league teams. His goal was to save enough money to attend college for dentistry which he started in the 1910 off season. However, there were few left-handed tools available for dentists in the early part of the century and training was a struggle. He returned to baseball, playing in the outfield in 1911 and remained active as a player and manager until his retirement in August, 1965.

Casey made his debut in the Major League for the Brooklyn Dodgers on September 17, 1912. He also played for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1918–1919); Philadelphia Phillies (1920–1921); New York Giants (1921–1923) where he won his first of 8 World Series Titles; and the Boston Braves (1924–1925). He retired as a player in 1925 having a career batting average of .284 and hitting 60 home runs.

In 1934 he began a storied career as a manager first for Brooklyn Dodgers (1934–1936) and then the Boston Braves (1938–1943). His greatest success came with the New York Yankees (1949–1960) where he won five consecutive World Series Titles from 1949-1952 and then added two more in 1956 and 1958. He remains the only manager to win 5 consecutive titles. He ended his managerial career with the expansion team New York Mets (1962–1965), retiring just one month after breaking his hip when he fell off of a bar stool. As a manager Casey had a .508 winning record - 1905 wins to 1842 loses.

Casey was known as a hands on manager, using situational pitching and pinch hitters as the game demanded. He moved players around - referred to as "platooning" - to match up with opponents. He was known as one of the games finest tacticians.

Casey married Edna Lawson in 1924 and they had a 51 year marriage before Casey death in 1975. In 1973, Edna suffered a stroke and was moved to a convalescent home. Casey was diagnosed with cancer of the lymph nodes in mid-September, 1975 and died 15 days after getting the diagnosis. Edna died three years later. They are buried together at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Glendale, California.

== Sources ==

• Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Stengel

"United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K3RJ-ZPP : 12 December 2014), Charles D Stengel, 1917-1918; citing Kansas City no 13, Missouri, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1509 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,683,386.

"United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3ZM-Y2Z : 20 January 2015), Charles D Stingel in household of Louis E. Stingel, Precinct 6 Kansas City Ward 7, Jackson, Missouri, United States; citing sheet 1B, family 19, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,240,862.

"United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M2YX-K5R : 29 October 2015), Louis E Stengel, Kansas Ward 10, Jackson, Missouri, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 137, sheet 7A, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,374,800.

"United States Census, 1920", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8HG-D2C : Thu Dec 21 10:40:25 UTC 2023), Entry for Louis E Stengel and Jennie Stengel, 1920.

"Illinois Marriages, 1815-1935", , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HSNT-9PPZ : 22 July 2021), Charles D. Stengel, 1924.

"United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVJG-PMW2 : 16 March 2018), Charles Dillon Stengel, 1924; citing Passport Application, New York, United States, source certificate #481660, Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925, 2648, NARA microfilm publications M1490 and M1372 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

Society for American Baseball Research - article entitled Casey Stengel, written by Bill Bishop - http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bd6a83d8