Bowled over by Cowboys’ operation

WHEN Casey Stengel was fired by the New York Yankees just days after Bill Mazeroski’s game-winning home run secured a dramatic 1961 World Series for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the legendary manager was informed he was too old to continue in the post.

It mattered little that he had overseen an astonishing period of success which had delivered seven World Series between 1949 and 1958. He had committed that most human of errors: turning 70. In so doing, he swore he would “never make the mistake of being 70 again”.

The newly-founded New York Mets didn’t see his age as being a problem, hiring Stengel who would go on to revel in the absurdity of his new ball club, telling reporters that they should come and see his “amazing Mets”: “Been in this game 100 years, but I see new ways to lose ‘em I never knew existed before.”