Casey Stengel, playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers

Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (born July 30, 1890 or 1891, died September 29, 1975) was a famous baseball player and manager. He got the nickname "Casey" from Kansas City ("K. C."), Missouri, where he was born.

He played on several teams in the National League beginning on September 17, 1912: the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1912 to 1917; the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1918 and 1919; the Philadelphia Phillies in 1920 and part of 1921; the New York Giants from 1921 to 1923; and the Boston Braves in 1924 and 1925. He played in three World Series: in 1916 for the Dodgers and in 1922 and 1923 for the Giants.

He is better known for managing than playing. His first managerships were on the Brooklyn Dodgers (from 1934 to 1936) and Boston Braves (1938-1943), where he was not very successful, never finishing better than fifth in an 8-team league. In 1949 he became manager of the New York Yankees, where he set records for championships, being the only person to manage a team to five consecutive World Series championships, and won two additional world championships and three additional league pennants afterward. While managing the Yankees he gained a reputation as one of the game's sharpest tactictians: he platooned left and right handed hitters extensively (which had become a lost art in the late 1940s), and sometimes pinch hit for his starting pitcher in early innings if he felt a timely hit would break the game open. He was also known as a wit and raconteur, whose stream-of-consciousness monologues on all facets of baseball history and tactics (and anything else that took his fancy) became known as "Stengelese" to sportswriters. They also earned him the nickname "The Old Perfesser".

After being involuntarily retired from the Yankees in 1960 as too old, he went on to manage the New York Mets, at the time an expansion team with no chance of winning many games, from 1962 to 1965. Though the Mets finished last in a 10-team league all four years, Stengel was a popular figure nonetheless, not least due to his personal charisma. His retirement followed a fall at Shea Stadium, in which he broke his hip.

His uniform number 37 has been retired by both the Yankees and the Mets. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966 and inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1981.

Stengel is the only person to have worn the uniform (as player or manager) of all four Major League Baseball teams that played in New York City in the 20th Century (while each team was in New York City): The New York Giants (as a player), the Brooklyn Dodgers (as both a player and a manager), the New York Yankees (as a manager), and the New York Mets (also as a manager).

He died in Glendale, California and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Glendale, California.