Time & Perspective Quote by Casey Stengel

Stengel’s line is a gut-check disguised as clubhouse comedy: losing isn’t a glitch in the system, it’s the system. Spoken by a baseball lifer who managed dynasties and debacles, it lands because it refuses the American fantasy that competence guarantees control. In a sport built on failure - even legends make outs most of the time - Stengel turns inevitability into instruction. Not “avoid defeat,” but “stage it properly.”

The phrase “lose ’em right” carries the real subtext. He’s talking about professionalism under pressure: don’t give games away with sloppy fundamentals, panic decisions, or bruised egos. If you’re going down, make the other side earn it. There’s pride in that, but also accountability. Stengel knew the difference between being outplayed and self-sabotaging, and he’s warning against the second kind - the kind that corrodes a team’s trust and turns a cold streak into a culture.

It also reads like a manager’s philosophy of emotional management. “Some of the time” is a permission slip against spiraling. The intent is to normalize the loss so players can stay aggressive tomorrow. That’s why the line works: it’s pragmatic, not inspirational, and it sneaks discipline in through humor. Stengel isn’t romanticizing defeat; he’s insisting that even your failures should have standards, because how you lose is often the only thing you can control.