The mildly interesting tale of The Sadecki Spot!! Part II > The Dream

Researching for this series of posts on 

The Sadecki Spot I did a lot of Googlin', mostly for photos. I found many of The Old Perfessor where he himself appears at The Spot.

I had a dream the other night and in it Casey Stengel came to me and asked why am I looking at so many pictures of him. I told him I was a fan and wanted to know more about him. 

He said "What do ya mean kid, I've been dead a hundred years." I said "No Casey, you will live on forever through pictures like these and through footage and articles and quotes. You are like the grandfather of the Mets." 
He said,"Really...?"

"...Lemme tell you something about those Mets. I loved em. They were my Amazin' Metsies. Amazin,amazin,
amazin,amazin. 
I say that four times cause I managed them four years. Three and a half years, actually, and I never had a bench. Mr.Weiss had a bench, ya know, down in the spring camp. I wanted a bench and I told him and Weissy says "No, they will always think of you as a Yankees manager, Casey, not a Mets manager. You don't want them to remember you for that. This team is going to be a losing team until we get up some steam. You just get them out of the starting gate. The fans will come out to see you, the great Yankee skipper Casey Stengel."" 

Mets general manager George Weiss on his bench.

I waited for Casey to take a breath. He didn't. 

"So I says I don't want anything to do with them bum Yankees. They put me out to pasture. Said I'm too old to be on the field! I'll show 'em. Gimme a bench." And George says "No. Years from now people will forget all about these lowly Met years. You'll be remembered for the Yankees.

I'd like a bench please, right over there.

Your name will be on a Hall Of Fame plaque that says Yankees." and I says "George, thats all well and good, and I hope that comes to be, I'm proud of those years, but right now I'm here and I'm not too old to give these people what they want, and that is National League baseball! They don't want me. I'm a side show. So I'm gonna put on a great show and make this team mine. I still have some good years left. Gimme that bench over there." and Wiessy says "You don't need a bench Casey. You got an office." and I says... 

"Mr. Weiss, without a bench I can't manage a team." And I was right. I had a team full of bench players and no bench." "

Casey gets his bench.

Casey peruses the deed to his bench.

Joe Pignatano, the only major league player to end his career by hitting into a triple play, which he did while playing for the Mets in the eighth inning on September 30, 1962.

The mildly interesting tale of--The Sadecki Spot!!--Part I

It's time to check out

The SADECKI SPOT!!!

First we'll type "Huggins-Stengel Field, St. Petersburg, Florida..." in the specialized search engine....
click,click,clickity,click,click,click....

Wow, look at these photos!

And this info!

What!? The Yankees?!! Gah!

1925-1942

The New York Yankees christened the facility in 1925 under manager Miller Huggins. Supposedly, they had moved from their previous home in New Orleans to keep Babe Ruth's partying tendencies in check. After the passing of their great manager, the field was renamed Miller Huggins Field in 1931. Featured during this time were Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe DiMaggio.

Back in those days, when Ruth was in his Yankee prime, the park lacked an outfield fence. During one practice game in 1925, Ruth unaccountably abandoned his rightfield position near the lake and retired to the dugout.

"What's going on?" roared Miller Huggins, the Yankee manager who treated Ruth as a spoiled upstart.

"I ain't going out there anymore," Ruth responded in a  slightly shaken voice, "An alligator just came out of that lake!"

World War II

When World War II came to the forefront, travel restrictions became an issue, so the Yankees decided to practice in Atlantic City for the next few years, returning to Crescent Lake in 1946.

1946-1961

After things had calmed from the war, the New York Yankees would return to Crescent Lake and continue their tenure in St. Petersburg, Florida. During the majority of this time period, they were led by manager Casey Stengel. 

Players during this era were Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Yogi Berra. 

Yankee general manager George Weiss hired Casey Stengel as manager in October 1948. Stengel's Yankees won the World Series five consecutive times (1949–1953), the only time that has been achieved. The team won ten pennants in his twelve seasons, and won seven World Series. With a third-place finish in 1959, and a loss in the 1960 World Series, Casey was dismissed by the Yankees at age 70.

The team moved operations to Fort Lauderdale, Florida following the 1961 season.

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A new age had begun!

1962-1987
The new New York Mets would take over operations in Crescent Lake under their newly hired manager Casey Stengel, and in 1963, the field was renamed Huggins-Stengel Field. 

Like their predecessors, they'd practice in Crescent Lake, then take their games a couple miles down the road to Al Lang Stadium. 

Notable Mets players who trampled on the "spot"over the years were Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Dwight Gooden, and Darryl Strawberry.

From Al Moran to Wally Backman.

Al got down a little lower than Wally.

As far as I know there is only one photo of Bob Botz in a Mets uniform and here it is twice.

Only two players have hit a home run into Lake Crescent.

Babe Ruth and Dave Kingman.

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In Part Three of The Mildly Interesting Tale of The Sadecki Spot we will go back in time.
Don't question it!!!

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Credits:
Most of the text was lifted right off the
wikiP page for Huggins Stengel Field.