Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 133

six games, and hit .370 for the rest of the season, to end at .301 and win the slugging percentage title at .585. The younger players on the 1950 team included Billy Martin and Whitey Ford. The ascendance of these rookies meant more of the Yankees accepted Stengel's techniques, and diminished the number of those from the McCarthy era who resented their new manager. The Detroit Tigers were the Yankees' main competition, leading for much of the summer, but the Yankees passed them in the middle of September to win the pennant by three games. In the 1950 World Series, the Yankees played the Phillies, another of Stengel's old teams. The Yankees swept the four games from the surprising “Whiz Kids.“

“He's just a green pea out there. But he'll be back soon, and you'll see something.” - Casey Stengel on sending Mickey Mantle to the minor leagues.

Before spring training in 1950, the Yankees had pioneered the idea of an instructional school for rookies and other young players. This was the brainchild of Stengel and Weiss. Complaints from other teams that the Yankees were violating time limits on spring training and were using their money for competitive advantage led to modifications, but the concept

survived and was eventually broadly adopted. Among those invited to the 1951 early camp was 19 year old Mickey Mantle, whose