“I could not have done it without the players.” — New York Yankees manager Casey Stengel, after winning the 1958 World Series.

The World Series is now underway and Tampa Bay is facing Milwaukee. The Brewers have appeared in one World Classic in 1982 when that team featured Hall of Famer Robin Yount. Appearing in two seasons, 2008 and 2020, the Tampa Bay Rays lost to the Phillies and then the Dodgers to remain winless on the big stage.

If anyone knows World Series play, it would be former New York Yankees manager Casey Dillon Stengel. “Old Case,” as he was often called, was on nine World Championships, seven as a manager and two as a player. But before you write him off as a comic and a destroyer of the English language, consider the following: Stengel was a very good major league outfielder. He played in the bigs for over 14 seasons, during which he posted a lifetime batting average of .284.

His batting average in 12 World Series games was .393. His winning percentage as a big league manager is .508. During his seven wins as the skipper of the New York Yankees, he put together the impossible. His teams from 1949-1953 captured five consecutive World Series crowns. This has not been accomplished before or since and most likely will never be done again. Yankee opponents hated to see names like Mantle, Maris, Berra, Ford, Skowron, Kubek, Richardson, Boyer, Bauer, Howard and on and on find their names in the lineup card.

How hard is it to win a World Series? Atlanta Braves former manager Brian Snitker said it was hard just to win a major league game and much harder to win a World Series. You might guess that of course the Yankees have more titles at 27 than any other club. The Cardinals have 11 and the Red Sox and Dodgers nine.

Remember the Oakland A’s in the ’70s when they were a dominant winning machine? Those teams won three straight in 1972 through 1974, led by manager Dick Williams first, and Alvin Dark in ’74. Manager Tony LaRussa put together the ultimate championship team in 1989. Superstars wore the green and yellow uniforms back then. Rickey Henderson, Dennis Eckersley and Jose Canseco were some of the standouts on those clubs.