Duke Snider remembered as the engine that drove the Dodgers
By Samantha Carr
February 27, 2011
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – In the 1950s, three future Hall of Famers played center field for New York ball clubs: Willie Mays for the Giants, Mickey Mantle for the Yankees and Duke Snider for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Never has there been more talent at one position in one city. And never was a player more a part of a town than the powerful Snider was for Brooklyn.
Snider passed away Sunday at the age of 84. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980.
"We shed a tear in Cooperstown for the man affectionately tabbed by his fans, 'The Duke of Flatbush.' There was no one classier or more easy-going than Duke Snider," said Jeff Idelson, the president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. "He was nationally renowned for his smooth fielding and powerful bat – as evidenced by hitting more home runs in the 1950s than anyone else. He is still today revered by Brooklynites everywhere for patrolling center field in Ebbets Field with grace and dignity, leading the underdog Dodgers to six pennants and their only World Series title in New York in 1955."
"The Duke of Flatbush" was born in California on Sept. 19, 1926, but his baseball home was New York. He led all major leaguers in home runs and RBI in the 1950s. He was a major contributor to six pennant-winning teams and won two World Championships with the Dodgers – in Brooklyn in 1955 and in Los Angeles in 1959.
"His swing is perfect, and this young man doesn't run on mere legs. Why, under him are two steel springs," said Dodgers general manager and future Hall of Famer Branch Rickey.
Snider was named to eight All-Star Games and was named the Major League Player of the Year in 1955 by the Sporting News. He finished first in the National League in hits, runs, on-base percentage, RBIs, extra base hits, home runs, total bases and intentional walks in at least one season his career.
He was also an outstanding outfielder.
"The greatest catch I ever saw was one made by Snider in 1954, when he climbed the wall of Connie Mack Stadium like a mountain goat to take an extra base hit away from Willie Jones of the Phillies," teammate Pee Wee Reese once said.
Snider hit 40 or more home runs in each of the last five seasons the Dodgers played at Ebbets Field before spending five more years with the team in Los Angeles. He collected the first hit in Dodger Stadium and was named captain in 1962, his last season as a Dodger.
He finished his career with a .295 batting average, 2,116 hits, 407 home runs and 1,333 RBI, playing for the Dodgers (1947-62), Mets (1963) and Giants (1964). He also totaled 11 home runs and 26 RBI in World Series play.
Snider scouted for the Dodgers and Padres following his career and managed in the minor leagues. He went on to become a beloved broadcaster for the Montreal Expos.
