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Duke Snider, R.I.P.

G-Fafif Feb 27 2011 01:17 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Feb 27 2011 02:05 PM

Wayne Hagin reports the great Duke Snider -- Dodger legend and 1963 Met All-Star -- has passed away at age 84.

MFS62 Feb 27 2011 01:21 PM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

Another boy of summer. Somewhere in my garage I have a Duke Snider model Rawlings glove. Last time I saw it, it was next to my Jim Hickman home run ball. Later

TheOldMole Feb 27 2011 01:25 PM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

My boyhood. The part that mattered.

Benjamin Grimm Feb 27 2011 01:35 PM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

The second-oldest living Met, and the first one to die from the Top Twenty since I inaugurated this page. (Joe Hicks moves into the Top Twenty, and Joe Ginsburg advances to the number 2 slot.) I shook his hand once at a baseball card show in Atlantic City. It was somewhere around 1990. I told him my mom was a big fan of his when he played for the Dodgers, and he said, "Say hello to your mom for me." When I passed along the message, she got a big kick out of it. My sister later reported that she heard my mother muttering, "Duke Snider said hello to me!" I only chatted with him for a few minutes, but he seemed like a really nice guy.

themetfairy Feb 27 2011 01:40 PM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

When I was a kid, my mom told me that when she went to summer camp she packed pictures of Gil Hodges and Duke Snider. They seemed like such old men to me at the time that it sounded strange, but that factoid always stayed with me. RIP Duke!

Frayed Knot Feb 27 2011 01:57 PM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

Actually 84 years old, not yet 85.

G-Fafif Feb 27 2011 02:05 PM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

Wayne and I stand corrected.

metirish Feb 27 2011 03:01 PM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: The second-oldest living Met, and the first one to die from the Top Twenty since I inaugurated this page. (Joe Hicks moves into the Top Twenty, and Joe Ginsburg advances to the number 2 slot.) I shook his hand once at a baseball card show in Atlantic City. It was somewhere around 1990. I told him my mom was a big fan of his when he played for the Dodgers, and he said, "Say hello to your mom for me." When I passed along the message, she got a big kick out of it. My sister later reported that she heard my mother muttering, "Duke Snider said hello to me!" I only chatted with him for a few minutes, but he seemed like a really nice guy. That's why these old players still matter, nice story. Rest in peace.

HahnSolo Feb 27 2011 03:45 PM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

One of my dad's favorites. So long, Duke.

metsguyinmichigan Feb 27 2011 04:20 PM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P. Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Feb 27 2011 05:39 PM

A gentleman. My wife and I met him at a card show, and you can tell that we were newlyweds because she actually came with me to a card show. Duke signed my Hall of Fame ball and my Mets book, and I noticed the huge ring he was wearing -- his Hall of Fame ring. After showing it to us and talking about it a little, he, much to my wife's delight, he asked to see her new wedding ring and made the appropriate approving sounds. A very nice man. Here's the full story: [url]http://metsguyinmichigan.blogspot.com/2011/02/every-signature-tells-story-duke-snider.html

Edgy DC Feb 27 2011 05:06 PM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

The Boys of Summer chapter in which Kahn visits Duke and his wife and takes them out to see Eartha Kitt is good good stuff. The frankness of that Frank Springer portrait still blows my mind.

Frayed Knot Feb 27 2011 05:21 PM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

HahnSolo wrote: One of my dad's favorites. So long, Duke. Mine too.

Edgy DC Feb 27 2011 08:04 PM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

So, Willie, Mickey and the Duke is now... Willlie.

seawolf17 Feb 27 2011 08:35 PM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

RIP Mr. Snider.

Edgy DC Feb 27 2011 09:53 PM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

He certainly doesn't count on the all-time roster of Met managers, but Snider told tales of Casey turning the team over to him during cat-naps.

Valadius Feb 27 2011 09:56 PM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

I have a feeling that for many people, Snider's passing closes the book on the living history of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Frayed Knot Feb 28 2011 01:41 PM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

A good read

seawolf17 Feb 28 2011 02:06 PM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

Valadius wrote: I have a feeling that for many people, Snider's passing closes the book on the living history of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

seawolf17 Feb 28 2011 02:08 PM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

G-Fafif Feb 28 2011 02:22 PM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

Ralph Branca just on FAN remembering the Duke...so he's still going, too. He's also still bitter, but it's only been 60 years. Give him another 60 and he'll probably mellow.

Edgy DC Feb 28 2011 02:31 PM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

"I'm not sorta alive, you liitle prick, I'm Lasorda alive!"

seawolf17 Feb 28 2011 04:42 PM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

I thought about Lasorda, but I really don't think of him as a Brooklyn Dodger. He's all LA to me.

Benjamin Grimm Feb 28 2011 05:52 PM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

Nobody's saying that Duke Snider was the last living Brooklyn Dodger, but he was the biggest of their remaining stars. Bob Aspromonte yet lives!

Chad Ochoseis Feb 28 2011 05:52 PM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

The twenty-ninth best Cub of all time, also a living, breathing 1952 Brooklyn Dodger.

G-Fafif Mar 01 2011 08:29 AM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

Let us not forget Joe Pignatano. No doubt Duke epitomized those Dodgers as few others did, but I don't believe the book is ever closed on something you care about. Brooklyn Dodgers fans have kept the book open 54 years after the library closed (so to speak) and it will remain open as long as those who loved them remember them. The stories will outlast those scripted their endings.

batmagadanleadoff Mar 01 2011 09:27 AM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

Here's Duke Snider's '64 Topps baseball card; his last Topps card and his only card in a Mets uniform as an active player. Topps chose from among these other images when deciding what Snider's '64 card would ultimately look like:

Edgy DC Mar 01 2011 09:28 AM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

A good look at the Polo Grounds there.

batmagadanleadoff Mar 01 2011 10:05 AM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

2009 Topps Update, probably from the same photo session that produced the alternate Topps' images, above.

G-Fafif Mar 03 2011 11:36 AM Re: Duke Snider, R.I.P.

If you'll excuse the expression, great article by Dick Young, here.