Casey at the bat

Casey Stengel often is remembered either as the New York Yankees’ aging manager during the late 1950s or as the New York Mets’ unofficial, Yoda-like mascot of a manager in the early 1960s.

Either way, we remember Casey as, well, being old. Really old.

There is a time, though, when old Casey is young Casey, and young Casey is a fine player in his own right.

One of the finest moments in his 14-year playing career comes 100 years ago today as Stengel – playing for the New York Giants – hits the first World Series homer in what then is a brand-new Yankee Stadium.

Stengel’s homer is an inside-the-park drive as he lines a two-out pitch from Bullet Joe Bush into the left-center field gap and scampers home before the relay throw reaches Yankees catcher Wally Schang.

Stengel’s ninth-inning homer before a Wednesday afternoon crowd of 55,307 in the Bronx snaps a 4-4 tie and gives the Giants a 5-4 victory and a 1-0 lead in the 1923 Series.

The Yankees ultimately win the Series in six games behind Babe Ruth’s three homers over the final five games.

Despite hitting .417 against the Yankees in the Series, those six games are the last in Stengel’s three-year stay with the Giants, who after the 1923 season trade him to the Boston Braves.

By then, Stengel is 33 years old.

He plays for another full season with the Braves before returning to the minor leagues and beginning his four decades as a manager.

Stengel spends 25 of those seasons managing in the major leagues with 12 of those summers coming in the Bronx, where from 1949-60 the Yankees win 10 pennants and seven World Series titles, as well as earn Stengel enough accolades for him to reach the Hall of Fame in 1966.

“The key to being a good manager,” Stengel says, “is keeping the people who hate me away from those who are still undecided.”