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The following biography
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Edwin Donald "Duke" Snider (born September
19, 1926 in Los Angeles, California), nicknamed "The Silver Fox", is a
former Major League baseball center fielder and left-handed batter who
played with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers (1947-62), New York
Mets (1963) and San Francisco Giants (1964). Growing up in Southern
California, Duke was a gifted all around athlete and strong armed
quarterback in high school who could reportedly throw the football 60
yards on the fly. Spotted by one of Branch Rickey's birddog scouts in
the early 1940's, he was signed to a baseball contract out of high
school. He played briefly for Montreal in the International League in
1944 (batting twice) and for the Newport News in the Piedmont League in
the same year. Serving in the military in 1945, he came back to play for
Fort Worth in 1946 and for St Paul in 1947. He played well and earned a
shot with the Big Club (Brooklyn) later that year. He started the next
season (1948) with Montreal and after tearing up that league with a .327
batting average, he was called up to Brooklyn during mid season for
good.
In 1949 he came into his own, hitting 23
home runs accompanied with 92 runs batted in, also helping the Dodgers
break into the World Series. Snider also saw his average rise from .244
to a respectable .292.
****
Duke Snider
Position Center Field
MLB Seasons 18
(11-Brooklyn, 5-LAD, 1-NYM, 1-SFG)
Teams Dodgers
Mets
Giants
Debut 17 April 1947 (Dodgers)
Final Game 3 Oct. 1964
(3 Oct. 1962 as a Dodger, NL Playoff game
SF-6 LA-4)
Total Games 2,143 batting
(1,918 fielding)
NL Pennants 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956,
1959 (Dodgers)
World Series Teams 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955,
1956, 1959 (Dodgers)
Allstar Teams 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954,
1955, 1956 (Dodgers);
1963 (Mets)
Awards The Sporting News Major League (&
NL) Player of the Year (1955)
MLB RBI Leader (1955 - 136)
MLB Home Run Leader (1956 - 43)
National Baseball Hall of Fame
(3 August 1980)
Nickname
"The Duke of Flatbush"
"The Silver Fox"
****
From 1947 to 1956, Brooklyn ruled the
National League. They benefited greatly from a large network of minor
league teams created by Branch Rickey in the early 40's. It is here when
the system called the "Dodger Way" of teaching fundamentals took root.
From that large network of teams, a number of young talented players
began to blossom at the same time: Snider, Hodges, Erskine, Ralph
Branca, Clem Labine, Furillo, Campanella, Don Newcombe, Joe Black and
Jim Gilliam.
By 1949, Snider, as he matured, became the
triggerman in a powerladen line-up which boasted the likes of Jackie
Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges and Carl Furillo.
Often compared favorably with 2 other NY center fielders, Hall of Famers
Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays, he was the reigning "Dook" of Flatbush.
Usually batting third in the line-up, Snider earned his sobriquet by
putting up some tremendous offensive numbers on the board: He hit 40 or
more home runs in five consecutive seasons (1953-57) and averaged 42
home runs, 124 RBI's, 123 runs and a .320 batting average between
1953-1956. He led the league in runs scored, home runs and RBI's in
separate seasons. He appeared in six post-seasons with the Dodgers
(1949, 1952-53, 1955-56, 1959), facing the New York Yankees in the first
five and the Chicago White Sox in the final. The Dodgers won the World
Series in 1955 and 1959.
Snider's career numbers took a dip when the
team moved to Los Angeles in 1958. Coupled with an aching knee and a 440
foot right field fence at the cavernous Colosseum, Snider hit only 15
home runs in 1958 as he entered the "decline" phase of his career.
Injuries and age would eventually play a role in reducing Snider to part
time status by 1961. In 1962, when the Dodgers led the NL for most of
the season only to find themselves tied with the hated Giants at the
season's end, it was he and 3d base coach Leo Durocher who reportedly
pleaded with Manager Walter Alston to bring Hall of Famer pitcher (and
Cy Young award winner that year) Don Drysdale into the 9th inning of the
3rd and deciding play-off game. Instead, Alston brought in Stan Williams
in relief of a tiring Eddie Roebuck. A 4-2 lead turned into a 6-4 loss
as the Giants rallied to win the pennant. For his trouble, Snider was
then cast off to the Mets. It is said that his roommate, Don Drysdale,
broke down and cried when he got the news of Snider's departure.
Snider also played with Giants. He retired
at the end of the 1964 season. In 18-year career, he batted .295 with
407 home runs and 1333 RBI in 2143 games. Snider went on to become a
popular and respected play-by-play announcer for the Montreal Expos from
1973 to 1986.
Duke Snider was selected to the Baseball
Hall of Fame in 1980.
****
Culture
The book Carl Erskine's Tales from the
Dodgers Dugout: Extra Innings (2004) includes short stories from former
Dodger pitcher Carl Erskine. Snider is prominent in many of these
stories.
In 1981 Terry Cashman in his nostalgic song
about baseball in the 1950's relased "Willie, Mickey and The Duke" about
the three center fielders of that era in New York. (The others of course
being Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle)It has been released and rewritten
for speciffic teams many times since then.
In the film Casper, the "treasure" hidden
in Whipstaff Manor turns out to be a baseball autographed by Duke
Snider, who Casper says is his favorite player.
Accomplishments
8-time All-Star (1950-56, 1963)
6-time Top 10 MVP
1950: 9th
1952: 8th
1953: 3rd
1954: 4th
1955: 2nd
1956: 10th
.540 Slugging Percentage (36th all-time)
.919 OPS (50th all-time)
3,865 Total Bases (84th all-time)
407 Home Runs (40th all-time)
1,333 RBI (75th all-time)
1,481 Runs Created (71st all-time)
850 Extra-Base Hits (62nd all-time)
17.6 At Bats per Home Run (60th all-time)
Los Angeles Dodgers Career Leader in Home
Runs (389), RBI (1,271), Strikeouts (1,123) and Extra-Base Hits (814)
Hold Los Angeles Dodgers Single-Season
record for most Intentional Walks (26 in 1956)
Only player to hit four home runs (or more)
in two different WS (1952, 1955)
Hall of Fame (1980)
In 1999, he ranked number 84 on The
Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was a
nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.
Transactions
1944: Signed as an amateur free agent by
the Brooklyn Dodgers
1 April 1963: Purchased by New York Mets
from Los Angeles Dodgers
14 April 1964: Purchased by San Francisco
Giants from New York Mets
6 October 1964: Released by San Francisco
Giants
****
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URL of Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Snider
Date Article Copied:
January 2007
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