Born on this day in Kansas City, Missouri, Charles Dillon Stengel (1890-1975), "the 'Ol' Perfesser" was best known for managing baseball's New York Yankees in the 1950s. He won 10 pennants and seven World Series with New York from 1949-1960-- the best of all time.

"The key to being a good manager," said the colorful leftie, "is keeping the people who hate me away from those who are still undecided."

From stellar winning with the Yankees, he moved over to the Mets and became their first manager in 1962. That year his record was 40-120, the worst of all time. "They've shown me ways to lose I never knew existed," he said.

Stengel was idiosyncratic and rarely "played by the book." With his first-class baseball mind, he made things up as he managed, literally inventing the hit-and-run and setting up his defenders for the double-play. "Managing," he said, "is getting paid for home runs someone else hits."

Inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1966, he said philosophically, "I want to thank all my players for giving me the honor of being what I was." When he died, both the Mets and Yankees retired his uniform No. 37.

"Now there's three things you can do in a baseball game," he once explained, "you can win or you can lose or it can rain."

More STENGEL Quotations

You can't worry about them second-guessers.