Post by ۞Quaalude™۞ on Feb 27, 2011 20:16:45 GMT -5
Duke Snider, the Hall of Fame center fielder for the charmed "Boys of Summer" who helped the Dodgers , Hall of Fame center fielder Duke Snider died on Sunday at a hospital in Escondido, Calif. He was 84, and had been declining in recent years because of diabetes complications.
Snider was one of the final living members of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and one of its most famous. He played 11 seasons in Brooklyn, made eight All-Star games and won six pennants. He won a World Series with Brooklyn in 1955 and with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1959. He was the last living regular from the "Boys of Summer" and that 1955 championship team, noted the New York Daily News' Bill Madden.
Snider wore No. 4 in Dodger blue and was often regarded as the third-best centre-fielder in New York — behind Willie Mays of the Giants and Mickey Mantle of the Yankees — during what many fans considered the city's golden era of baseball.
"The newspapers compared Willie, Mickey and I, and that was their thing," Snider said several years ago. "As a team, we competed with the Giants, and we faced the Yankees in the World Series. So we had a rivalry as a team, that was it. It was an honour to be compared to them, they were both great players."
Mantle died in 1995 at age 63. Mays, now 79, threw out a ceremonial ball last fall before a playoff game in San Francisco.
"Willie, Duke and Mickey — they were great players in one city, one town," said former teammate Don Zimmer, who played with Snider for five years. "Duke never got the credit of being the outfielder that Mays and Mantle were. First of all, it was a small ballpark, Ebbetts Field. But Duke was a great outfielder. He was a great player
"Although it's ironic to say it, we have lost a giant," said longtime Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully, from a Twitter post by Newsday's Ken Davidoff. In New York in the 1950s, everybody had a favorite. Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays had longer careers and finished with better stats, but the "Duke of Flatbush" was as close a third place as you could find. He hit .295 in his career with 407 home runs and 1,333 RBI. Mantle died in 1995 QC
baseball.about.com/b/2011/02/27/the-boys-of-summer-are-gone-duke-snider-dies-at-age-84.htm
Duke Snider R.I.P
Snider was one of the final living members of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and one of its most famous. He played 11 seasons in Brooklyn, made eight All-Star games and won six pennants. He won a World Series with Brooklyn in 1955 and with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1959. He was the last living regular from the "Boys of Summer" and that 1955 championship team, noted the New York Daily News' Bill Madden.
Snider wore No. 4 in Dodger blue and was often regarded as the third-best centre-fielder in New York — behind Willie Mays of the Giants and Mickey Mantle of the Yankees — during what many fans considered the city's golden era of baseball.
"The newspapers compared Willie, Mickey and I, and that was their thing," Snider said several years ago. "As a team, we competed with the Giants, and we faced the Yankees in the World Series. So we had a rivalry as a team, that was it. It was an honour to be compared to them, they were both great players."
Mantle died in 1995 at age 63. Mays, now 79, threw out a ceremonial ball last fall before a playoff game in San Francisco.
"Willie, Duke and Mickey — they were great players in one city, one town," said former teammate Don Zimmer, who played with Snider for five years. "Duke never got the credit of being the outfielder that Mays and Mantle were. First of all, it was a small ballpark, Ebbetts Field. But Duke was a great outfielder. He was a great player
"Although it's ironic to say it, we have lost a giant," said longtime Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully, from a Twitter post by Newsday's Ken Davidoff. In New York in the 1950s, everybody had a favorite. Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays had longer careers and finished with better stats, but the "Duke of Flatbush" was as close a third place as you could find. He hit .295 in his career with 407 home runs and 1,333 RBI. Mantle died in 1995 QC
baseball.about.com/b/2011/02/27/the-boys-of-summer-are-gone-duke-snider-dies-at-age-84.htm
Duke Snider R.I.P