In college softball, her name leads the nation in double-takes.
“When I introduce myself to people I haven’t met, they say, ‘Oh, did you know…,’ and I know exactly what they’re going to say,” says Casey Stangel, Washington’s senior left fielder. “It’s inevitable with people who know their baseball.”
Casey Stengel, the Hall of Fame manager (Yankees, Mets), and Stangel are not related. They spell their last names differently, though at first glance that subtlety often goes unnoticed.
Her dad, Chris Stangel, played two seasons of minor-league baseball — one, 1984, with Class A Everett. The former pitcher and his good-humored wife initially considered naming their firstborn, a son, Casey.