The first home run account I ever heard on the radio was called by legendary Dodger announcer Vin Scully and was hit by another Dodger legend, Duke Snider. That’s how easy it was to become a lifetime Dodger fan. I sometimes wonder what the outcome would have been for me if a member of the opposing team had hit a home run first that night. Probably the outcome would have been the same as Vin’s voice captivated me. However, that is not my favorite Duke moment, not his four home runs in two different World Series or his highlight reel fielding plays.
The above picture of Duke, Andy Pafko and Carl Furillo is a snapshot of my all-time favorite outfield. I expect this is the case because it was my first outfield and all three homered on my first night of Dodger baseball which also gives me a way to trace my first game. That is the only time all three homered in the same game.
Duke’s came in the seventh inning in that April 19, 1952 game against the Giants. BOXSCORE That probably made it around 9:30 P.M. our time. I had been searching for the Amos and Andy Show when I hit the Dodger game. Oddly enough I know now that both Campy and Andy Pafko hit home runs in the seventh inning immediately before Duke but I didn’t hear those so hearing Duke’s was simply by chance.
During most of my younger years, Duke was an important part of it but almost an invisible part. Starting in 1954 I did have access to baseball cards for the first time and found that getting a Duke Snider card was nearly impossible. His 1954 Topps card acquisition was worth more than gold to me. I acquired it by trade and expect I took a fleecing to obtain it. That card is still my all-time favorite card among my 30,000 cards.
I did buy “Sport” magazine after a quick perusal to determine if there was an article about Duke in the magazine. I can recall one article that still resonates with me – “Duke Snider: The Dodgers Elder Statesman at 29”. I can remember carrying the magazine to school with me and worrying Duke was getting old. He did appear on sports magazines covers quite often, oddly enough on “Sport” magazine on the September issues in 1954, 1955 and 1957.
I grew up as a Duke Snider fan and in the main never did have the opportunity to see him play. We didn’t have a television when I lived in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, so I listened to 1952, 1953, 1955 and 1956 World Series games on the radio. Perhaps that is why I still love listening to games on the radio. I was able to watch the 1959 World Series on television as we did have a TV when we moved to Edmonton in 1957. It is unfortunate that Duke was traded to the Mets following the 1962 season and missed the opportunity to participate in the 1963 World Series with the Dodgers. Duke retired after the 1964 season and for some time I was unaware of his activities although I had read about his venture with avocado farming.
You can imagine my excitement when I turned on a Montreal Expo game in 1973 and Duke was teamed with Dave Van Horne on the Expo telecasts. Van Horne excelled as an announcer and Duke supported him well as a color commentator. Duke spoke in a quiet tone and didn’t try to dominate the telecast as some color commentators tend to do. He didn’t over-analyze every play or interrupt Van Horne. Most importantly he was very humble about his own achievements and spoke of them only when asked about them.
When asked how he thought he compared to Mickey and Willie, Duke replied that for about eight years he was right there with them but they both had longer careers with more productive years than he had.
He concluded: “It was an honor to be compared to them, they were both great players.”
He apparently loved defense and I could recall hearing Vin describe Duke scaling the walls at Ebbets Field or climbing the vines at Wrigley Field. He made seemingly impossible and acrobatic catches. Perhaps that is how he damaged his knee that shortened his career and diminished his power.
Besides his humility, I was impressed by Duke’s gratitude to the game of baseball for all it had given him. He always put himself in the context When asked how he felt about the big contracts players were getting into the eighties, Duke replied he was well paid and he played in the Golden Age of baseball. He said he wouldn’t trade that for anything. His biggest contract was $44,000. He compared himself to his father who was working for about one-tenth of that a year. He also expressed gratitude to the opportunities baseball had given to him after he retired. I got the feeling he wanted to retire after the 1962 season but two more years with a total of $70,000 in income was important to his future plans.
After the 1986 season Duke retired from the Expo telecasts. I apparently didn’t see the last game as I was surprised when the 1987 Expo season began and Duke was not on board. Needless to say, I was more than disappointed. However, before 1987 I had an opportunity to share a personal moment with Duke. He was making a personal appearance at a Dodge-Chrysler dealership in Dartmouth, about an hour and a half drive from Lunenburg. I got away from school early, drove to Dartmouth and walked into the showroom. There was Duke sitting behind a desk with his wife Bev a bit further back. Bev was knitting and Duke was absolutely alone. What a moment. Me, along with Duke Snider. I brought “The Boys Of Summer” which he signed on page 374. I thanked him and the unthinkable happened. I was tongue-tied, absolutely tongue-tied. Duke said, “Don’t believe all you read.” I managed to get out “I won’t,” and left. I agonized all the way home. I didn’t shake his hand. I didn’t thank him for the enjoyment he had brought to my life. I felt like I had let him down. I didn’t give back.
What do you do when you mess up as I did? I wrote to Duke in Fallbrook, California with a letter of thanks, not asking for anything. The letter was returned to me unopened after about six weeks. Once again I agonized over it for a long time and then simply chalked it up to an opportunity lost.
Then another opportunity came along. In the early eighties, I was reading a copy of “Dodger Blue” (I loved that publication) and noted that Duke would be at Spring Training in Vero Beach. Again the unthinkable happened. One evening during Spring Training I picked up the phone, dialed Dodgertown, and asked for Duke. The call went through immediately and Duke answered. I could tell he had been asleep. However, I proceeded with the call trying not to have a shaky voice. I introduced myself, told him from where I was calling, and said, “I called to thank you.” He replied, “For what”? As coherently as I could, I told him for the enjoyment he had brought into my life as a youngster and that he still did. I didn’t mention the Dartmouth incident but told him I wanted him to know how important he was in my life. He replied twice,” That’s very nice.” I didn’t press for more time, thanked him again, and we said, ‘Good night.” Imagine that, Duke Snider wishing me a good night. I had redeemed myself. I gave back what I had to give.
Hearing Duke say, “Good night”, to me is my favorite Duke moment. I miss Duke.
The song for the day is, Willie, Mickey, and the Duke”.
Discussion (27)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I got rid of all my baseball cards and a bunch of other stuff. I only have the following:
1. Russ Martin Autographed Photo that I took when he was a rookie.
2. Tommy Lasorda Autographed Photo of him signing a baseball for my son who was 4.
3. Vin Scully Autographed Baseball
4. Steve Garvey Autographed Baseball
5. Clayton Kershaw Autographed Baseball
6. Tommy Lasorda Bobblehead
7. Sandy Koufax 1962 Baseball Card & Figurine (I can’t fund anything like it anywhere)
8. Cody Bellinger Rookie Card
That’s it!
Thanks DC For your articles on Furillo and Snider. They were great. I’m looking forward for more. I just loved following the “Boys of Summer” in the 50’s.
I also had at least a thousand Topps baseball cards. I was married and living in a small apt My dad and my step mother told me to get all of my “junk” out of their house. My cards went to a neighbor with 3 sons. 150 DC comic books went to a friend in the navy (they read them to pass the time) I did salvage my record collection which I still have. But I sure wish I had kept my bb card collection.
By the way my favorite Dodger on Duke’s 66 team was a treat for the stadium announcer.
“Now batting, the second baseman, Billy Gra-Bark’-e-Witz.”. The crowd loved the name and loved the player. I remember that to this day, 54 years later.
Great post DC. My experience with the Duke was in the summer of 66 when I was 15 and lived, ate and slept baseball. Duke was in his second year as a manager. He started in AAA Spokane in 65 had a tough campaign. His second season, he managed the Tri-City Atoms, the Dodgers A- team in the Northwest League. My dad, my teammates in Colt League and I watched as many games as possible. I also saw Duke frequently at our local golf course where he played with a lot of locals. He was very nice and very accessible and was just one of the money game golfers and played as often as he could. It was pretty cool seeing a player of his status being one of the guys at my home course.
I have been putting out fires all day but I just want to say what a treasure we have in Harold… I mean DC. He is a rolling encyclopedia for anything Dodgers. Michael… I mean… Bear is right there with him.
What a great community!
Godspeed to you all!
Just watched a game from September of last year. Ryu pitching a shut out, and hitting his first MLB homer. Belli hit a grand slam to seal the deal.
Those Meet the Dodgers family books can get pretty pricey too. They only did them in 60 and 61. I have seen the Koufax list for close to 200.00, and one for big D is almost 400.00. The Volpe portraits are also very rare and hard to find. I have probably about 20 of them His early ones in 59 and 60 are in black and white and very hard to find.
Bear – I have 144 Duke cards. I keep them because it is Duke, but I really dislike his Mets and Giant cards. I do like the later cards with a swatch of a game used jersey and a game used bat.
2D2 – all I can say is”WOW!”
Great post DC about a great Dodger.
Duke Snider sold his Fallbrook avocado ranch to Dr. Stoner who had his practice in Sun City, California. Dr. Stoner’s adopted son, Bill Troost, was a classmate of mine in my senior year. A couple of times we went to the ranch with a few of our friends to goof around and spend the weekend. The house was magnificent. All the door and drawer handles were “Duke Snider bats” and the ceiling were all in the form of bats. It sat on a hill and had a slight view of the ocean. I was told that the furniture belonged to the Duke and was part of the sale to Dr. Stoner. I don’t know if that was true or not, but some of the furniture did have the Dodger logo on it. Even though we spent most of our time having avocado wars among the trees, it was a thrill to me to think that I was sitting on a couch that perhaps Duke had also sat. I might add that Fallbrook was vastly different from Compton, CA, were the Duke was born and raised.
Great article DC. You and I have a common bond. Duke is my all time favorite Dodger too. I was somewhat luckier than you. The Dodgers moved to LA in 1958 and LA was my hometown. My love of the game was growing. In 1958 I was put into the welfare system. And in many ways it was good for me because we got what they called in those days knothole tickets to see the games at the coliseum. Not great seats, but at least we were there. I got to see Duke play numerous times, and he hit a homer in a couple of those games. He was no longer the big power guy. Hodges did a lot of the damage because of that short LF wall. One game we went to, we got to sit behind the screen in LF, but right at the edge of it. Charlie Neal hit a screamer down the line that missed being fair by about a foot, and hit about 3 feet from me. But Duke had a double off the RF fence that game, and a HR to left center. So I was content. I was devastated when he was sent to the Mets. But Hodges, Erskine, and some of the others were already gone and the new Dodgers were emerging, T. Davis, Frank Howard, Willie Davis, and Wally Moon was still there. The ignominy of his leaving to me is that he was not even traded, he was sold. He hit 14 HR’s as a Met. The last time he would hit in double figures. He was sold to the Giants, another slap in the face to Dodger fans. I was listening to a game later that year. A guy from my high school, Joe Moeller was pitching. I forget what inning it was, but Duke came up. And he slammed a fastball deep into the RF pavillion. One of the 4 dingers he hit that last season. After he retired like you said he was a color commentator for the Padres and the Expos. He also did some coaching and managed a year or two. In 1980. I went to a baseball card show in Orange county, and Duke was there. I got to talk to him for a couple of minutes and he signed a 8X10 photo of himself for me. It hangs on my wall right now. One of my most prized possessions. My favorite card of Duke is the 1959 Topps. But I have a lot of his cards. When he passed away he was the last living Dodger who had been on the field when they won the 1955 World Series. One other thing, Duke should have won the 1955 MVP. Campy won it, but Duke had the bigger impact. They both received the same number of first place votes. A tie would have been a fairer outcome.
Thank you, DC, for highlighting my very first favorite Dodger player, Duke Snyder. As a young girl in the Canadian west, I got to listen to the Dodgers play on the radio also with Vince Scully. When I moved to SoCal I also subscribed to DodgerBlue and think I might have one or two of their publications.
Very nice DC, my father was born and raised in Elizabeth NJ and went to 2 or 3 Dodger games a year at Ebbets Field. His favorite players were Pee Wee, Duke, and Campy. He loved to tell me stories about the team and he never forgave O’Malley for the move.
SCB – they were special and perhaps more so to me because they played during my formative years. There were others too around 1955 – Clem Labine, Jim Gilliam, Carl Erskine, Billy Loes, Johnny Podres and so on. It truly was the “Golden Age of Baseball” and a great time to be a kid growing up without the pressures of today.
Thanks for a terrific article. The Boys of Summer were my childhood heroes. Only able to watch them on occasion, and in black-white TV, made them seem much larger than life to me. The Duke was special, but so were Campy, Skoonj, Pee Wee, Newk, Jackie, and Gil.