The Dodger teammates were briefly reunited that year on the New York Mets. Along the way the graceful fielding "Grey Fox" picked up a 6th Series appearance in LA (1959) and two Championship rings. "The Mets are wonderful but you can't take the Dodgers out of Brooklyn." In June 1943, Snider's baseball coach at Compton, Bill Schleibaum, wrote to Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers informing him of Snider's talent. He died of natural causes at Escondido, CA in 2011, aged 84. [1], (Also see a short but good clip with the Duke speaking about Jackie Robinson breaking into major league baseball. The Dodgers invited Snider to a tryout camp in Long Beach, California, in September 1943, but they had to wait until his graduation in February 1944. "The Duke of Flatbush" is the only player to hit four homers in two different Fall Classics (1952 and 1955), while his 11 Series home runs and 26 RBI are the most ever by a National League player. He hit .336 with 42 homers the next summer, but the Dodgers again lost to the Yankees in the World Series. Sports Heroes Who Served is a series that highlights the accomplishments of athletes who served in the U.S. military. He knew that the future of blacks in baseball depended on it. However, he struggled in the World Series, hitting .143 and striking out 8 times as his team fell to the New York Yankees in five games. Snider took over as the regular Dodgers centerfielder in 1949. He was married to Beverly Null. Was sold to the New York Mets just before the start of the 1963 season, where he was a huge sentimental favorite. Snider returned to the Dodgers at the end of the season in time for the World Series against the New York Yankees. Duke Snider was born on Sunday, September 19, 1926, in Los Angeles, California. Snider has often credited his friend and teammate Pee Wee Reese as having a calming and beneficial influence on his career. "The command came down from the bridge to load the gun with a star shell that would be fired if the ship did not respond to our signal requesting identification," Snider said. "No World Series moment ever scared me as much. He wrote, ''During the past ten years, I have been directly connected with coaching, and it is my belief that Duke Snider is one of the finest baseball prospects that I have ever seen.''. The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. With the number of non-deployable service members below the goal of 5% and an increase in mission-capable equipment, the Defense Secretary says the military is ready to fight tonight if need be. As a young rookie in 1947, Snider refused to sign the petition circulated by Dixie Walker and other Dodgers in spring training to block Jackie Robinson from joining the Brooklyn team and breaking baseball's color barrier. They have fantastic salaries, multiple investments, but we had one thing they don't have today: the train ride. It aired May 2, 1956. Then, he played for the New York Mets in 1963 and, finally, for the San Francisco Giants in 1964. Snider (after spring training with the Dodgers) started the 1948 season … The field was even greener than my boy's mind had pictured it. The cop recognized Reese, wished them well in the game and let them pass with no ticket. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980 and had his number 4 retired by the Dodgers. Remembering Pee Wee's escape, the Duke identified himself. In that incident, an unidentified ship was sighted ahead. The third of New York's troika of Hall of Fame center fielders, joining the Giants' Willie Mays and Yankees' Mickey Mantle, he hit 40 or more homers five consecutive times and led all batters in home runs and RBIs during the decade. Following his baseball career, Snider held a number of jobs in the media, including TV and radio announcer for the San Diego Padres from 1969 to 1971 and the Montreal Expos from 1973 to 1986. Got the nickname Duke from his parents, because as a very young child they thought he strutted around like he was royalty. First batter to hit 40 home runs but not reach 100 RBIs, plating 92 during an even 40 homer 1957. He returned home to California after the season, turned 18, and in late 1944, he was inducted into the Navy, serving as a fireman third class. Made his major debut on on April 17, 1947. Some high school data is courtesy David McWater. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. "Two ships might start firing at each other in the middle of the Pacific Ocean as a small part of World War II, and I was going to be the one to start the firing.". Edwin D. "Duke" Snider was the … Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And the cop said, "I hate baseball.". Early in 1945, he deployed to Guam and was assigned duties aboard the submarine tender USS Sperry. Hit the last home run at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn on September 22, 1957. Hitting streaks still make the network news and hot dogs still taste better at the ballpark than at home. Other Works Teammate Hodges was second in both categories. In 1960, he hit just .243 but with still respectable .366 on-base and .519 slugging percentages. The next year, he hit 43 home runs to win the National League crown, but his team fell to the Yankees in the World Series for the fourth time in eight years. Join our linker program. Lastly, Hodges at 19 played his first and only pre-war game with the Dodgers in 1943. He was pinch-hitting for Billy Pierce. And Reese would implore his friend to move closer. The third of New York's troika of Hall of Fame center fielders, joining the Giants' Willie Mays and Yankees' Mickey Mantle, he hit 40 or more homers five consecutive times and led all batters in home runs and RBIs during the decade. Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. A graceful center fielder with a powerful, picture-perfect swing, Duke Snider was the biggest bat in the Brooklyn Dodgers' potent, five-time World Series bound lineup of the 1950s. Retirement: He is was one of the last Brooklyn Dodgers still living from the 1955 Championship team. Every Sports Reference Social Media Account. Even so, his 407 career home runs - now buried scores deep on an inflated All-time list - stood at #10 when he retired. Between his age and the unusual configuration of the Coliseum for baseball he wasn't the "Boys of Summer" Duke Snider anymore, his Adjusted OPS scores show decent years after the move. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. This page was last edited on 23 September 2017, at 15:02. 4 uniform, and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980. After hitting .316 with 12 home runs for the St. Paul Saints in 1947 and .327 with 17 homers for the Montreal Royals in 1948, he was back in the bigs for good. And Snider's reply? In his career Snider hit 19 home runs off of Roberts – no other batter in major league history has hit that many home runs off of a single pitcher. I'll take Snider." Big steps or baby steps? Soldiers implement the Single Person Thermal Wrist Temperature Detection and Face Recognition Terminal to automate the COVID-19 screening process at the headquarters building for both the U.S. Army Reserve and U.S. Force Command. "During our stay at Bear Mountain, we played the Army varsity team a couple of times," he recalled. After his good friend retired, the Duke became the Dodger captain. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? His first Dodger uniform number was 4. Many thanks to him. On the season's final day, he drove in the winning run against the Philadelphia Phillies to give Brooklyn the pennant. In later years, friends of ours visited Ireland and said the grass there was plenty green all right, but that not even the Emerald Isle itself was as green as the grass that grew in Ebbets Field. The Defense Department's Artificial Intelligence Strategy directs DOD to accelerate the adoption of AI and the creation of a force fit for the times. A graceful center fielder with a powerful, picture-perfect swing, Duke Snider was the biggest bat in the Brooklyn Dodgers' potent, five-time World Series bound lineup of the 1950s. Win Expectancy, Run Expectancy, and Leverage Index calculations provided by Tom Tango of InsideTheBook.com, and co-author of The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. Holds the National League record for most home runs (11) and most RBIs (26) in World Series play. In his first full season, he hit .292 with 23 homers and 92 RBIs and scored 100 times. Though he never won the MVP award, he was in the top 10 six times, including # 2 in 1955 (losing in a very close contest to teammate Roy Campanella) and # 3 in 1953 (behind winner Campanella again). Uniform number 4 retired by the Dodgers. However, runner Cal Abrams was thrown out by Richie Ashburn, and Philadelphia went on to win the NL crown. Snider was 20 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 17, 1947, with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Snider led the NL with 136 runs batted in in 1955, and Brooklyn reached the World Series yet again. Kids still imitate their heroes on playgrounds. Edwin D. "Duke" Snider, right, and actor Robert Young star in an episode of the TV sitcom, “Father Knows Best,” sometime in 1956. Snider moonlighted for the 2nd Marine Division baseball team while in Guam and played for the USS Sperry baseball team. Duke had the most homers, 326, and most RBIs, 1,031, during the 1950s. Was sold to the San Francisco Giants on Opening Day of the 1964 season, where he wore number 28. I know I never could have.". All rights reserved. Soon thereafter, Snider was driving and the same thing happened.

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