<P> James noted that Stengel was not only the most successful manager of the 1950s, he was the most dominant manager of any single decade in baseball history . Stengel used his entire squad as Yankee manager, in contrast to other teams when he began his tenure, on which substitutes tended to get little playing time . Stengel's use of platooning meant more players saw more use, and he was generally more prone to put in a pinch hitter or replace his pitcher than other managers . Although only once in Stengel's time (1954) did the Yankees lead the league in number of pinch hitters, Stengel was known for using them in odd situations, once pinch - hitting for Moose Skowron in the first inning after a change of pitcher . Additionally, according to James, Stengel "rotated lineups with mad abandon, using perhaps 70 to 100 different lineups in a 154 game season . Although Stengel was not the first Yankee manager to use a regular relief pitcher--Harris had seen success with Joe Page in 1947--his adoption of the concept did much to promote it . </P> <P> Stengel often rotated infielders between positions, with the Yankees having no real regular second baseman or shortstop between 1954 and 1958 . Despite this, the Yankees had a strong defensive infield throughout . Stengel gave great attention to the double play, both defensively and in planning his lineup, and the Yankees responded by being first in the league in double plays as a defense six times in his twelve - year tenure, and the batters hit into the fewest double plays as a team eight times in that era . Having had few players he could rely upon while managing Brooklyn and Boston, Stengel treated his Yankee roster with little sentimentality, trading players quickly when their performance seemed to decline, regardless of past accomplishments . Assured of quality replacements secured by the Yankee front office, the technique worked well, but was not a success with the Mets, where no quality replacements were available, and the technique caused confusion and apathy among the players . </P> <P> Appel wrote of Stengel, "He was not a man for all seasons; he was a man for baseball seasons ." Stengel remains the only manager to lead his club to victory in five consecutive World Series . How much credit he is due for that accomplishment is controversial, due to the talent on the Yankee teams he managed--Total Baseball deemed that the Yankees won only six games more than expected during the Stengel years, given the number of runs scored and allowed . According to Bak, "the argument--even among some Yankees--was that the team was so good anybody could manage it to a title". Rizzuto stated, "You or I could have managed and gone away for the summer and still won those pennants ." Appel noted, "There was no doubt, by taking on the Mets job, he hurt his reputation as a manager . Once again, it was clear that with good players he was a good manager, and with bad players, not . Still, his Yankee years had put him so high on the list of games won, championships won, etc., that he will always be included in conversations about the greatest managers ." </P> <P> Bill Veeck said of Stengel in 1966, soon after the manager's retirement, "He was never necessarily the greatest of managers, but any time he had a ball club that had a chance to win, he'd win ." Stengel's American League rival, Al Lopez, once said of him "I swear I don't understand some of the things he does when he manages". Though platooning survives, Stengel's intuitive approach to managing is no longer current in baseball, replaced by the use of statistics, and the advent of instant replay makes obsolete Stengel's tendency to charge from the dugout to confront an umpire over a disputed call . </P>

Baseball player traded from dodgers to pirates in 1918