Quote of the Day (Baseball’s Casey Stengel, on How Leo Durocher Couldn’t Slug With Fists or Bat)

“That fresh boob is lucky I didn’t knock out his few brains with that bat, but nothing like that was necessary. He can’t hit any harder with his fists than he can with a bat.”—Then-Brooklyn Dodger manager (and future New York Yankee skipper) Casey Stengel (pictured), on a May 12, 1936 beneath-the-stands altercation with light-hitting St. Louis Cardinal infielder (and future manager) “Leo the Lip” Durocher, originally in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, quoted by John Swanberg, “Men of Summer,” The New York Times Book Review, Apr. 2, 2017

Think I could let Opening Day go by for the Yankees without genuflecting reverently towards their past?

Well, maybe not so reverently, judging from today’s quote. But a few choice words from Casey Stengel, over a decade before his glory days with the Bronx Bombers, were irresistible.

You can be sure that Leo Durocher gave his side of the story to waiting reporters, and that Stengel didn’t come off anywhere so well as his own account suggested.

But let it also be said that the Ol’ Professor wasn’t the first Yankee employee who took exception to the antics of “Leo the Lip”—nor would he be the last person associated with major league baseball to regard him balefully.

None other than Babe Ruth accused him of stealing his watch. Durocher’s vehement denial might have to be taken with a grain of salt, considering that the telephone-and-bell system he rigged up in Polo Ground offices enabled his New York Giants to storm back against the Dodgers and win the 1951 pennant.

Ultimately, Stengel had the last laugh on his hated rival, being still alive for his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The controversial Durocher wasn’t around to enjoy his own induction in 1994.

Catcher and broadcaster Joe Garagiola wrote a book, Baseball Is a Funny Game. In the case of Stengel and Durocher, it was also a scrappy one.

Play ball!