January 27, 1944: Lou Perini, Guido Rugo, and Joe Maney gain control of the Braves and relieve manager Casey Stengel of his duties.

Man, talk about a monumental mistake. However, at the time that Casey Stengel was fired by the Braves, he was nothing more than a so-so manager. In his first nine seasons as a skipper, he won 581 games with the Dodgers and Braves organization, but never placed higher than fifth, obviously not leading to any post-season baseball. Once he was let go by the Braves, he didn’t lead a team for another six years- until the Yankees gave him a chance in 1949.

The Bronx Bombers did have some successful seasons after Joe McCarthy made his exit in 1946, but in that three year span, they had three different men manage the team. They needed someone to be a stabilizing factor, someone who could bring sustained success to an already prestigious organization.

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