Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 129

in the Yankees to allow the appointment of Stengel, who aided his own cause by winning the championship with Oakland during the time the Yankee job stood open. Del Webb, who owned part of the Yankees, had initial concerns but went along. Yankee scouts on the West Coast recommended Stengel, and Webb's support helped bring around co-owner Dan Topping.

Stengel was introduced as Yankee manager on October 12, 1948, the 25th anniversary of his second World Series home run to beat the Yankees. Joe DiMaggio attended the press conference as a sign of team support. Stengel faced obstacles to being accepted.

Harris had been popular with the press and public, and the businesslike Yankee corporate culture and successful tradition were thought to be ill matched with a manager who had the reputation of a clown and who had never had a major league team finish in the top half of the standings. Stengel's major league

baseball involvement had been in the National League, and there were several American League parks in which he had neither managed nor played.

Stengel tried to keep a low profile during the 1949 Yankee spring training at St. Petersburg, Florida. But there was considerable media attention as Stengel shuttled rookies from

one position on the field to another, and endlessly shuffled his lineup. He had the advantage of diminished expectations, as