Sport: Old Age Benefits

Yankee Manager Casey Stengel, a man who got to fame in the sere and yellow leaf, was naturally jubilant about winning the World Series, but, at 59, he was a little undecided about his future. After the last game in his team’s clean sweep, Casey surprised sportwriters by saying, “I don’t know whether I’m coming back next year … it will depend upon my health.” Last week Stengel got just what the doctor ordered: a two-year contract making him the highest-paid manager in baseball history. True to a modern baseball custom much favored by front offices, Casey would not reveal the exact terms. The best guess: $65,000 a year plus a possible $15,000 more in profit-sharing bonuses.

Another manager was not so jubilant. For the first time in twelve years, the St. Louis Cardinals had finished in the second division. This week Manager Eddie Dyer made an expected announcement. Said Eddie: “I am not a candidate for the job of managing the Cardinals in 1951.”