Casey Stengel and Mickey Mantle
Tonight is Baseball’s All Star Game and it got me thinking about some of the baseball greats I have seen. And, I thought of Casey Stengel and Mickey Mantle appearing before a Congressional Committee on July 9, 1958, that was investigating the need for baseball antirust legislation. Here is an excerpt from their testimony:
Senator Langer: I want to know whether you intend to keep on monopolizing the world’s championship in New York City?
Mr. Stengel: Well, I will tell you. I got a little concern yesterday in the first three innings when I saw the three players I had gotten rid of, and I said when I lost nine what am I going to do and when I had a couple of my players I thought so great of that did not do so good up to the sixth inning I was more confused but I finally had to go and call on a young man in Baltimore that we don’t own and the Yankees don’t own him, and he is doing pretty good, and I would actually have to tell you that I think we are more the Greta Garbo type now from success.
We are being hated, I mean, from the ownership and all, we are being hated. Every sport that gets too great or one individual – but if we made 27 cents and it pays to have a winner at home, why would you have a good winner in your own park if you were an owner?
That is the result of baseball. An owner gets most of the money at home and it is up to him and his staff to do better or they ought to be discharged.
Senator Kefauver: Thank you very much, Mr. Stengel. We appreciate your presence here. Mr. Mickey Mantle, will you come around? . . . Mr. Mantle, do you have any observations – with reference to the applicability of the antitrust laws to baseball?
Mr. Mantle: My views are just about the same as Casey’s.
This was abstracted from Baseball’s Greatest Quotations by Compiled by Paul Dickson © 1991 by Paul Dickson
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