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The Great 1964 Feud Of MLB Legends Casey Stengel And Jackie Robinson
Two of the most famous figures in baseball squared off against each other in the press
Casey Stengel was an above average big-league outfielder before becoming an all-time great manager, winning 10 pennants and seven World Series. Unfortunately, his final act was managing the lowly expansion New York Mets during the last four years of his illustrious career with uninspiring results. This lackluster performance drew some surprisingly sharp public criticism from fellow baseball legend Jackie Robinson leading to a nasty little feud.
As a player, the left-handed Stengel lasted 14 seasons (1912–1925) as an outfielder, hitting a combined .284 with 60 home run and 535 RBIs for five teams. A jokester with an eclectic personality, on the face of it he may not have seemed like a logical choice for an effective skipper but it turned out he was thoroughly a baseball man and a masterful leader.
Stengel managed for nearly a decade with the Brooklyn Dodgers and Boston Braves, finishing with a winning record just once. He then signed on to lead the New York Yankees, where he won his 10 pennants over the next 12 years. Leaving the team after the 1960 season, he was about to turn 70 and widely thought to be too old to continue managing.
