Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 111

After holding out for better pay, Stengel signed with the Dodgers for 1913 and he won the starting center fielder job. The Dodgers had a new ballpark, Ebbets Field, and Stengel became the first person to hit a home run there. It was during the 1913 season that Stengel acquired the nickname "Casey." There are varying stories of how this came to be, though his home town of Kansas City likely played a prominent role, as he had "Charles Stengel — K.C." stenciled on his bags. Although he missed 25 games with injuries, he hit .272 with 7 official home runs in his first full season as a major leaguer. Prior to 1914 spring training, Stengel coached baseball at the University of Mississippi. Though the position was unpaid, he was designated an assistant professor for the time he was there, something that may have been the source of Stengel's nickname, "The Ol' Perfessor."

The Dodgers were an improving team in Stengel's first years with them, and he was greatly influenced by the manager who joined the team in 1914, Wilbert Robinson. Stengel also avoided a holdout in 1914 when Dodgers owner Charlie Ebbets was anxious to put his players under contract lest they jump to the new Federal League, and nearly doubled Stengel's salary to $4,000 per year. Both Brooklyn and Stengel started the season slowly, but both recovered with a hot streak that left the Dodgers only 4 games