Player Profile: Dixie Walker “The Peoples Cherce.”

Fred ” Dixie ” Walker won a batting title, played in two world series, and won an RBI title, and yet he is most remembered by fans for being charged as the man who tried to keep Jackie Robinson off of the Dodgers. He was born in Villa Rica, Georgia, on September 24th, 1910. He was the firstborn son of Ewart and Flossie Walker. Villa Rica is a small factory and railroad town about 35 miles west of Atlanta. Ewart was in his second year as a pitcher for the Washington Senators when Fred was born. after his four-year MLB career was over, he had a long career as a minor league manager. His nickname was also Dixie. His brother, Ernie, also reached the majors as an outfielder for the St. Louis Browns.

Walker left school at the age of 15 to take a job with the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company at Birmingham Steel mill. He worked at the open hearth. It was hot, backbreaking work, and he never forgot it. Being the son of a major leaguer, he and his brother, Harry, who himself would win a batting title, grew up around baseball. Fred started his professional career in 1928, spending time with three lower-level minor-league teams as an outfielder/third baseman. In 1929, Walker was at Vicksburg, where he batted .318. That earned him a promotion to Class-B Greenville, SC, Spinners of the South Atlantic Association. Walker was hitting .401 at midseason when his contract was purchased by the Yankees, and he was assigned to Jersey City of the International League. He continued his steady hitting with a .335 mark in 83 games. He showed power and speed with 104 RBIs and 32 stolen bases on the year.

In 1931, the Yankees invited him to spring training. He impressed everyone with his batting, fielding, and throwing. He started the season with the Toledo Mud Hens, but two weeks into the season, Yanks manager, Joe McCarthy, found himself short of outfielders due to injury and recalled Walker. Walker made his MLB debut on April 28, 1931, in Washington. In a 14-inning game called because of darkness, Walker had three hits in 7 at-bats, including his first hit, a single off of Sam Jones. Shortly thereafter, sidelined outfielders Babe Ruth, Myril Hoag, and Sammy Byrd returned, and Walker was sent back to Toledo.

Toledo got into a salary crunch later that season and asked the Yankees for relief for Walker and another player. The Yanks sent Walker back to Jersey City. He hit .352, splitting time between Jersey and Toronto. He spent the entire 1932 season with the Newark Bears of the International League. The team had recently been purchased by Yanks owner Jacob Ruppert. He hit .350 with 105 RBIs and was selected to the International League All-Star team.

The following year, 1933, the Yank’s starting outfield was Ruth, Combs, and Chapman. Byrd was one of the reserve outfielders, and McCarthy selected Walker as the other. The Sporting News thought that he would eventually replace Ruth, but when Combs slumped, Walker replaced him in CF. He hit .274 with 15 homers in 99 games. It was the most homers he would ever hit in the majors. The Sporting News selected him as their RF on their unofficial rookie team.

Walker was involved in a huge brawl with the Senators early during that season when he went to help his roomie, Ben Chapman. He was surrounded by some fans, and his teammates pulled him out of the crowd, but he was ejected, and several fans were arrested. He also was involved in an unusual DP against the Senators 4 days later. With Gehrig on 2nd and Walker on first, Lazzeri hit a liner to right center; RFer, Goose Goslin got to it quickly and threw to Cronin, who fired the ball to catcher Luke Sewell. Sewell tagged the slow-footed Gehrig and then tagged Walker, who was four feet behind him.

Injuries to his arm dogged him for the next two seasons. After dislocating his shoulder in April of 1935, it would take several years before the throwing strength would come back. In 1934-1935 he appeared in only 25 games. In May of 1936, the Yankees sold Walker to the White Sox for a reported $20,000.

The next day before the White Sox left New York, Walker pushed up his wedding plans and married Estelle Shea, a young woman who worked at the prestigious Music Corporation of America talent agency. Although he had to leave the pennant-contending Yankees for the Sox, Walker was glad to have the chance to play every day. He started slowly getting only one hit in his first several games before getting five hits in a 19-6 shellacking of the Browns. Then on May 23rd, he collided with first baseman Jim Bottomley and dislocated his shoulder again. He was on the DL for three months. He ended up playing in only 32 games all year. It made for his third consecutive shortened season due to injury. He had off-season surgery that winter and played the entire 154-game season in 1937 for the Sox, hitting .302, 85 ribbies, and 16 triples which tied him for the league lead.

Nevertheless, the White Sox traded him that winter to the Tigers along with two other players for Gerald “Gee” Walker, no relation, Marv Owen, and minor league catcher Mike Tresh. Yes, Mike Tresh is the father of Tom Tresh, a former Yankee. The trade was not received well in Detroit. Gee was a very popular player. Walker had a tough time in Detroit. He was continually booed even though in his first season, he hit .308 in 127 games. The following season, by late July 1939, Walker, who had scored five runs in a game on April 30th, was hitting. 305. But he had torn ligaments, and they were limiting his playing time. So, the Tigers put him on waivers. On July 24th, Brooklyn purchased his contract from Detroit. In a flash, he went from being one of the most unpopular players ever to wear a Detroit uniform to perhaps one of the most popular to ever play for the Dodgers.

The Dodgers had not won a pennant since 1920, but with Larry McPhail in charge and manager Leo Durocher, the team was definitely on the upswing. Over the remainder of the season, he hit .280 and established himself as the team’s CF. In 1940, Pee Wee Reese and Pete Reiser made their debuts, and the team traded for Joe Medwick. They climbed into second place. Walker hit .308 to lead the team. Dixie finished 6th in the MVP voting, and a .435 BA against the hated Giants quickly made him a favorite in Flatbush. Despite the good season, the year was not without tribulations. On May 23rd, Dixie’s 4-month-old daughter, Mary Ann, died of pneumonia.

Before the start of spring training in 41, the Dodgers signed former Pirate great Paul Waner. Waner played well during spring training, leading Durocher to announce that the 38-year-old Waner would be the Dodgers starting right fielder, not Walker. Brooklyn fans were outraged and started a petition supporting Walker. But Leo had the backing of McPhail. When Waner got off to an atrocious start, the Dodgers released him, and Walker, with few exceptions, would be the starter for the next seven years. On May 6th, the Dodgers made a trade for the second baseman Billy Herman. That solidified an already strong infield featuring Pee Wee Reese, Dolph Camilli, and Cookie Lavagetto. Mickey Owen caught a staff that included Hugh Casey, Whitt Wyatt, and Kirbe Higbe. The Dodgers finished 2 1/2 games in front of the Cardinals and won their first pennant in 21 years. They faced the Yankees in the World Series but lost in 5 games. Walker hit .311 in 41 and was 10th in the MVP voting.

The Dodgers had a 10-game lead on the Cardinals in August of 42. Larry McPhail warned the players that they were losing ground to the Cardinals. Most ignored his warning. The Cardinals mounted a spirited comeback and won the pennant by two games. Walker, who had suffered some more injuries, hit .290. It was the only season that he hit under .300 for Brooklyn and the only season where he got no MVP votes. By 1943, the war was taking players for military service, and the Dodgers were no exception. Reese, Reiser, and Casey left for the military, and the Dodgers dropped to third place. Walker rebounded and finished in the top ten in batting, runs, hits and doubles and appeared in his first All-Star game. The year was not without controversy. On July 10th, the Dodgers, almost to a man, refused to take the field for a game against the Pirates. The protest was organized by SS Arky Vaughn because Durocher had suspended Pitcher Bobo Newsom for three days for insubordination. At the last minute, Branch Rickey persuaded the players to play. Durocher was very upset with Walker for siding with Vaughn and threatened to trade him.

Walker was not fit for military service due to the condition of his knees. But he contributed to the war effort by working for the Sperry Gyroscope Company on Long Island, and in December, he went on a USO tour to the Aleutian Islands and Alaska. The 1944 season was a disaster in Brooklyn. With a bunch of 4F’s and fuzzy-cheeked kids, plus some over-the-hill geezers, they finished 7th, the worst finish in Durocher’s tenure as a manager. Walker, though, had a great year. He won the batting title with a .357 mark and finished 3rd in the MVP vote. He also received an off-the-field award as Sports Father of the Year by the National Father’s Day Committee. He also won the Sid Mercer award from The Sporting News as Player of the Year.

Walker did not repeat as batting champion in 1945, but he did win the RBI title with 124. With the war now over, and players returning in 1946, it made competition for jobs a little harder. Walker managed to stay in the starting lineup along with rookies Carl Furillo and Pete Reiser. In his first at-bat of spring training, Dixie hit a bases-loaded triple against Montreal in Daytona Beach. The game was amongst the most significant spring games ever played. It had ramifications that affected not only baseball but American history. It was the first time an integrated team had appeared in organized baseball in the 20th century, and the reason was Jackie Robinson. Signed during the winter by Branch Rickey, he would play several games against the Dodgers that spring. They were played without incident. ” As long as he is not on the Dodgers, I am not worried,” Walker said. Robinson spent the 1946 season in Montreal.

The Dodgers fought hard with the Cardinals for the pennant but fell short when they lost the first-ever playoff to the Cardinals. Walker hit .319, third-best in the league. He drove in 116, second best, now 35, and an old man by baseball standards, he stole a career-high 14 bases and had nine triples. He finished second to Stan Musial in the MVP voting. Although gentle off of the field, Walker was fiery on the field, and that led to several fights during his career. In 1946, there were a couple of dust-ups with the Cubs. One involved teammate Eddie Stanky, a southerner, and Lou Murillo of the Cubs. On May 22nd at Ebbets Field, Murillo slid into Stanky at second with his spikes high. The two started throwing punches, and that started a brawl between the two teams. The next day policemen were sitting along the dugouts of both teams. Despite the precautions, a fight broke out between Murillo and Walker before the game in the batting cage. Walker, Murillo, Reese, and Phil Cavaretta, the Cub’s first baseman who punched Durocher, 650 dollars. In addition, Walker, Murillo, and Cubs coach Red Smith all received short suspensions.

The MLBPA was set up in 1946. Dixie was chosen as the Dodgers rep, along with being the NL rep as well. The primary goal was getting a pension plan for major league players. That was achieved in early 1947 when Commissioner Happy Chandler announced a plan that would pay every player with five years of experience 50 dollars a month at age 50 and 10 dollars more a month for the next five years. By the end of the 1946 season, Walker was, in the words of Dodger announcer, Red Barber, the most popular player in Dodger history. That would begin to change in spring training.

On April 10th, 1947, the Dodgers announced that they had purchased the contract of Jackie Robinson and that he would report immediately. Montreal was playing an exhibition game against the Dodgers at Ebbets Field that day. Nobody had any idea what effect the addition of the first black man to play in the major leagues in the 20th century would have on the Dodgers, let alone the league. To complicate matters, the announcement came one day after Chandler suspended Manager Leo Durocher for the season. On opening day, interim manager Clyde Sukeforth’s lineup had Robinson playing first and Walker in RF. When Burt Shotton took over a couple of days later, it remained the same and would stay that way for the entire season despite rumors that Walker would be traded.

Their relationship transcends the playing field and is more a reflection of race relations in 1947 in America. Although Walker was a lifelong southerner, he did not “hate” Robinson. But there was no doubt he did not want to play alongside Robinson or any other black player as a teammate. Red Barber, himself from the south, has written of the problem he had merely broadcasting a game with a black player. Walker owned a hardware store in Birmingham and feared that playing alongside a black man would hurt his business. Despite his distaste for integration, he never went out of his way to be unpleasant to Robinson. Robinson himself described Walker as a man of innate fairness.

We all know how rough a year Jackie had. He endured many insults, but he proved he belonged, winning the ROY and helping Brooklyn win the pennant. Walker hit .306 and drove in 94. He later said that only teammate Bruce Edwards contributed as much to the winning as Robinson and that Jackie was very much the excellent player Rickey said he was. The two made the best of the situation. In 47, Dixie had been one of the players who did not want Robbie in Brooklyn; when it did not work, he wrote Rickey a letter asking to be traded. Rickey had tried without success, but he also did not want to lose his best hitter. After the season, Rickey gave Walker a chance to stay in the organization. He offered him a job managing St. Paul of the AA at a salary of $15,000, or he would send him to Pittsburgh, where he could make more money. Dixie wanted to manage eventually but not yet, nor did he want his pay cut to $15,000 dollars

So Rickey then sold him to the Pirates for one dollar with the proviso that the $10,000-dollar waiver price be added to his contract. Rickey did not make this transaction public; instead, he announced that Walker was part of the huge trade that brought Preacher Roe and Billy Cox to the Dodgers. If you check Dixie’s Baseball Reference page, you will see that this fallacy is still used as the official transaction. Gene Mauch also came to Brooklyn as part of that deal, with Hal Gregg and Vic Lombardi heading to the Pirates.

Dixie would play two seasons in Pittsburgh. He hit .300 for the Pirates in 1948… the 10th time in 12 seasons he had done so. He helped the Pirates climb out of the cellar and finish in 4th place. Brooklyn fans showed they had not forgotten him, either. On the Pirate’s first visit to Ebbets Field, they staged a “Dixie Walker Day” and showered their former hero with gifts, including a new car. By 1949, Walkers playing career was over. He hit .282 in 88 games and hung up his spikes after the season. His career numbers were .306/105/1023.

Dixie worked as a minor league manager, scout, and major league coach for several organizations, including the Cardinals, Braves, and Dodgers. Walker replaced Duke Snider when he left in 1968. In 1969 after being praised for his work with the rookies in spring training, Alston kept him on the MLB staff. He was credited with helping many young stars with their hitting over the next several years, many of whom were young black players such as Jimmy Wynn, Dusty Baker, and Maury Wills. Dixie’s reconciliation with the Dodgers was thus complete. After spring training in 1971, Walter O’Malley presented him with a silver bat worth $2,500 dollars, symbolic of his batting championship. He also included him in his all-time Dodger outfield along with Carl Furillo and Duke Snider. After the 1974 season, he stepped down from his position as hitting coach, saying he preferred to work with the kids. He retired from baseball completely after the 1976 season and went home to Birmingham. He died of colon cancer on May 17, 1982, in Birmingham. Two of his sons preceded him in death, Fred, scuba diving in 1971, and Sean, of an accidental gunshot wound in 1975. He was survived by his wife Estelle, who lived until 2002, and his daughters, Mary Ann and Susan, and a son Stephen. Dixie had an overall WAR of 44.9. His WAR as a Dodger was 35.0. He is 13th on the list.