Dynasty - Excerpt
Dynasty: The New York Yankees 1949-1964
Overview & Peter Golenbock Comments
An Excerpt from Dynasty
Casey and The Mick
Mantle, like DiMaggio, was a perfectionist. When he performed below his self-imposed standards, he could fly into fits of uncontrollable rage. Mantle would throw bats and helmets, punch the metal sign on the wall of the dugout that warned the players about socializing with fans, and kick the watercooler. He was some kind of RA! Stenbgel would become livid when he saw Mantle jeopardize his career by punching the wall or kicking the metal watercooler. "If you get hurt," Casey would say, "it's going to cost you plenty." After one such outburst Stengel went over to the bat rack and handed the kid a bat. "Here," the Yankee manager said, "Why don't you bang yourself on the head with this? If you're so intent on ending your career, you might as well do it quickly and get it over with."
In one game after Mantle struck out, he violently slammed his bat into the bat rack and threw his helmet down. Stengel went up to him and said, "Now Ignatz, this stuff costs money. The next time they strick you out and you get mad, think. Think." The next time Mantle batted, he satruck out again. He came back to the dugout and gently laid his bat and helmet down, and walked to the end of the dugout where Stengel was sitting. Mantle put his face about three inches from Casey's and said, "Ha ha ha, I struck out again." Stengel and the rest of the Yankees roared.
Stengel, though he constantly criticized Mantle, loved him as a son much as he did Martin and Berra. From the beginning Stengel seemed to take a special pleasure in Mantle's development, and though he was quick to criticize the young star, he usually did so for a reason.
"Know when he gets careless?" Stengel would say. "It's when some humpty-dumpty pitcher gets him out. Then he picks up his glove and trots out to center field -- talkin' to hisself all the way. He keeps sayin', `How did that bum get me out.' He keeps thinking about it. Then, all of a sudden, he says, `Uh oh, there goes the ball,' and somebody on the other team has himself a triple. He gets careless, but he ain't dumb. Why, he's only 25, and he's smarter than I was when I was 30."
Part of Stengel's genius was that on the Yankees everybody, from the batboy to the biggest star, was treated alike. With Casey there were no stars on the Yankees, and as a result no one, including Mantle, ever overestimated his own importance. Even after Mantle won the triple crown in 1956, a season where he led the league in almost all batting categories, Stengel still found a way to tell Mantle that he better not become swell-headed, At the end of the season a reporter asked the Yankee manager, "Who is the greatest center fielder, Mantle or DiMaggio?" Stengel responded, "I'd have to say DiMaggio because he played right-handed and the park wasn't built for him and he didn't need a manager." Actually Stengel's reasons were fictitious, and it is doubtful whether he was really telling the truth when he chose DiMaggio over Mantle. Stengel merely wanted Mantle to know that there were still future goials to be sought. Stengel didn't want Mantle to become complacent. The kid had just won the triple crown. Stengel now wanted him to achieve the goal of becoming the greatest center fielder in the eyes of manager Stengel, a much tougher task. Stengel was challenging him and slapping him down at the same time.
Stengel knew Mantle's moods and understood him as a parent understands his own child. Stengel would deliberately agitate Mantle to make him angry, and when he knew Mantle's legs were killing him, he was always able to get Mickey to play. Before a game Stengel would write Mantle's name on the lineup card and then go into the clubhouse to talk to his star. "Well, I guess I better keep you out today," Stengel would say. This, of course, would irritate Mantle, touching his pride. "Goddamn it, Case, put me in," Mantle would say. "You sure you want to play?" Stengel would ask, knowing the answer. Mantle's name was already written on the card. Casey would walk away and give a little wink.