Final Card - Casey Stengel

Here is the final card for long-time New York manager Casey Stengel (#135).

Casey hailed from Kansas City (hence the nickname “Casey”) and later was known as “The Old Perfessor”.

Stengel was an outfielder for the Dodgers, Pirates, Phillies, Giants, and Braves from 1912-1925. He was a regular in 1913-17, 1920, and 1924. In 1914 he hit .316 and led the NL with a .404 on-base percentage.

After retiring as a player, Casey managed the Brooklyn Dodgers (1934-36) and Boston Braves (1938-43), before moving on to the scene of his greatest triumphs.

Stengel managed the Yankees from 1949 to 1960. In those 12 seasons, the Yankees won the AL pennant TEN times and were World Champs 7 times (including 5 straight from 1949-53).

The Yankees fired him after losing the 1960 World Series to the Pirates, and he hooked on with the expansion Mets 2 years later (probably more for name recognition and ticket sales than anything else. He was 71 years old when the Mets hired him.)

Stengel retired as Mets manager in August 1965, after breaking a hip.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame (as a manager) in 1966, and passed away in 1975 at age 85.

Final Card - Warren Spahn

Here is the final card for hall-of-fame pitcher Warren Spahn  (#205). This card is one of three Spahn pieces in my collection. Spahn is featured as a player/coach, one of 3 cards in the 1965 set with that designation (Yogi Berra and Nellie Fox were the others).

Warren began his major-league career back in 1942, with the Boston Braves. After his rookie season, he missed 3 years to military service during World War II before returning to the Braves in 1946.

Spahn played for the Braves through the 1964 season, missing the Boston-Milwaukee-Atlanta trifecta by 2 years (something only accomplished by Eddie Mathews).

Spahn won 20 or more games 13 times, including a 6-year streak from 1956-61. He led the NL in wins 8 times, and his career high of 23 wins was achieved twice – in 1953 at age 32, and in 1963 at age 42! He won the Cy Young Award in 1957, and was the runner-up in '58, '60, and '61.

1965 was Warren’s last season, which he split between the Mets and Giants.

Warren was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973. He passed away in 2003 at age 82.

A few years ago, I was watching Bob Costas interview Willie Mays on the MLB Network, and the subject of a 16-inning duel in July 1963 between Spahn and Juan Marichal came up. Both pitchers went the distance, but at some point Giants’ manager Alvin Dark was going to lift Marichal from the game. The 25-year-old Marichal told Dark "See that guy on the mound? He's 42 years old. There's no way I'm coming out of this game before he does!"