Customer Reviews

Stengel: His Life and Times

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4 star:		(3)
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Picked up this book because I enjoyed Creamer's book on Babe Ruth and Stengel is just as good, maybe better.
You'd almost expect a book on Stengel to skip the earlier years in favor of his coaching years but this book doesn't. Stengel's early years are entertaining and provide a good look into the teens, 20's and 30's of baseball so if that's what you're after then you'll like this book. You'll probably also be surprised at the life that Stengel lived, there's so much more to this man than I expected - what a full life he lived. He was the Ulysses of baseball....as if the Gods of Baseball decided to pluck this Chaplin-like soul and make him wander through the game for a lifetime. Creamer really delivers.

This is a solid biography of one of baseball's most colorful characters. Charles "Casey" Stengel (1890-1975) spent parts of six decades in the big leagues in a career that lasted from 1912 until 1965. Stengel was a bit clownish and he spoke in a distinctly non-articulate style ("Stengelese"), but he was also an extremely intelligent man. The author details Stengel's youth in Kansas City and early ambitions to become a dentist. We get a descriptive look at his 14-year playing career with several national league teams. We get an equally effective look at his managerial tenure with the mediocre Brooklyn Dodgers (1934-36 )and Boston Braves (1938-1943), the powerhouse Yankee teams from 1949-1960, and the woeful expansion New York Mets from 1962-1965. There are many smiles (and a couple frowns) for readers as these pages examine a complex and colorful man.

Author Robert Creamer uses straightforward readable prose, and the result is a very good and informative biography. Readers should also like his biography on Babe Ruth, and his look at the 1941 baseball seasons.

"Stengel: His Life and Times" is no mere biography. It is a chronicle, not only of the earlier days of baseball, but of America itself. As a biography, it is superlative. As a history book, it stands on it's own merits.

I've read and re-read Stengel's 1958 Congrsssional Testimony and still don't get it - I guess I agree with...Mickey.
Creamer's clean, simple style, lends much needed clarity to the infield dust surrounding many of Casey's exploits, in and out of Baseball.
Not a long book - in fact, could have made a nice series for the New Yorker magazine, but it's a fine place to start for Stengel/Yankee/BB fans in general.
His relationship with the Commerce Comet (MM) is nicely described, though perhaps a bit superficial. Why couldn't the "Perfessor" reach the kid with all the talent? Why would Mantle rebel against the "Father figure", when he worshipped his "real" Dad, who died very young (and was laregely responsible for turning Mickey into perhaps the most venerated athlete in history).
His genius also did not seem to extend to the pitchers - if he under-used someone like Ford in the regular season, that's one thing. But why not make him available to pitch a complete game to end the Series, if needed?
Another area which warranted more exposition was the recall to BB to be Manager of the new "Bums" in town, the Metropolitans. The first, crazy year (1962) was one thing. But why allow yourself to finally retire as a sideshow?
The book is very enjoyable - perfect for a Maine to Florida plane trip. Short on those long lists we love to stare at for hours on end.

Excellent. Well written, gives a good history yet moves right along.This guy had an amazing career and an amazing record.This is a must read for anyone interested in baseball.

A thoughtfully detailed account separating the real Stengel from Stengel the legend. Creamer did his homework in thoroughly researching Casey Stengel the ballplayer (he was very good) as well as Casey Stengel the manager(including his remarkable run with the 1950's Yankees). The book is full of all the color (as well as Casey's lies) that you would expect from a major league baseball career that spanned over 50 years; beginning in the dead-ball era and ending with the "Old Perfessor's" stint as skipper of the Amazing Mets. This book is highly recommended by anyone who loves the history and anecdotes of our glorious national pastime.

This is one of the best baseball books I have ever read. Not only is it a book about the life of Casey Stengel, but it is a good history of the game of baseball. It provides laughs in every chapter, entertaining stories as well as history of baseball. I would say that every Yankee fan ought to have a copy.

In STENGEL, Creamer traces the life of baseball legend Casey Stengel, from his youth in Kansas City through his baseball career. Included are dozens of anecdotes which reveal insight into the character of the man known and loved by millions of baseball fans spanning several generations.

Enjoyed reading this book almost as much as Harry Potter.
It's funny how nowadays you can't get away with jumping up into the stands and punching fans.
Well written and well told story.

Growing up in NY in the early 1960's I remember Casey vaguely as the manager of the Yankees (really Ralph Houk was manager in my early years) but more as the comic elderly leader of those miserable Mets. While I learned later of his great career as manager of the Yankees, somehow he was always portrayed as the marginal player who excelled as a bench leader. Creamer works hard to dispel this perception (which maybe only I had) and repeatedly stresses Casey's fine playing career. I appreciated gaining this new insight and found it a valuable addition to our understanding of Casey's wonderful career as a manager and ambassador of the game.