From the Lighter Side! “Casey Stengel Commits a Baseball No-No…And Lands In Hot Water!”

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Another Edition of: From the Lighter Side!

“Casey Stengel Commits a Baseball ‘No-No’…And Lands a $500 Fine!”

Yes….that’s Mets’ manager Casey Stengel posing with the 1962 “Rheingold Girl,” Kathy Kersh in an ad for the Mets’ sponsor, Rheingold beer.  Unfortunately for Casey, he was fined $500 for the seemingly innocent photo. Can you guess why?

Before I tell you the reason, here’s a little background.  

In 1962, the Mets’ debut year, Rheingold beer reportedly paid $1.2 million for the right to be the team”s principal sponsorship, plus they threw in another $200,000 for promotional tickets. Seems like “chicken feed” in today’s megabucks baseball world, doesn’t it? As the season wore on, more ads featuring Casey and Miss Kersh appeared, along with color posters and counter displays.

To be selected as the yearly Rheingold girl in the 1960’s was definitely a big deal. According to longtime New York sportswriter Dan Daniel, nearly 400 young lasses annually auditioned for the job. The lucky Miss was selected by thousands of votes cast at taverns throughout the metropolitan New York area. It was definitely career-enhancing, as winner could usually look forward to at least short-lived fame as a model or actress. 

Kathy Kersh was among the most successful of the Miss Rheingold girls. The gig opened the door for her to frequent appearances on television. She was Jethro Bodine’s recurring girlfriend on The Beverly Hillbillies, and the Joker’s girlfriend on two episodes of Batman. She also appeared on Ben Casey, My Favorite Martian, and Burke’s Law.

So why was Casey fined $500? The problem was that Casey was shown in the ad wearing his Mets’ uniform. According to rules put forth by the Commissioner’s office, baseball personnel were prohibited from appearing in team uniforms in beer and cigarette advertising.

New York Mets Gear the from MLB Shop

The whole thing might have gone unnoticed except that somebody complained about it to Commissioner Ford Frick, forcing him to take action. Speculation on the identity of the “rat-fink” centered on the Yankees, and possibly even their own beer sponsor, Ballantine’s. Could it have been intercity rivalry that landed Casey in hot water?

With his hand forced, Frick slapped Stengel with the $500 fine. Writer Dan Daniel suggested that neither Stengel nor the Mets were actually the ones who forked over the money. He hinted that it was gladly paid by Rheingold, who considered the $500 a huge publicity bargain!

And what was Casey’s take on it? Innocently enough, he later commented, “The Rheingold people been so nice to us that I didn’t have the heart to turn them down when they asked me.” Actually, if you were looking for a reason to criticize the ad, how about Casey’s poor bunting form? Or the fact Miss Kersh is “catching” in heels?

The Sporting News sniffed out the double-standard in a May 9, 1962 editorial: “This represents a hypocritical attitude by baseball. The game is most willing to take millions of dollars from breweries, but refuses to let anybody in the game exploit the product.”

Casey had learned his lesson. He continued to appear with the contemporary Miss Rheingolds in subsequent years, but from then on was always on his best behavior… and shown in civvies!

Gary Livacari

Photo Credits: All from Google search

Information: Excerpts edited from Bob Lemke’s blog March 23, 2016

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