Duke Snider, also known as “The Silver Fox” and “The Duke of Flatbush” played center field for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers for the majority of his career.  He played in the shadows of center field greats such as Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, but to his credit, he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980 and his #4 jersey was retired by the Dodgers the same year.

Snider grew up in Southern California and was an all-star athlete.  He was called up to play for Brooklyn in 1949 and never looked back.  His numbers kept going up as he helped the Dodgers win 6 of 10 National League pennants between the years 1947 and 1956.  He helped carry the Dodgers on his shoulders and like any player with this amount of responsibility; he had to face the media chatter when his numbers slipped some in 1951.  Nevertheless, Snider persevered and became a Dodger legend attaching his name to some of the best years in Dodgers history.

Snider finished his career with 407 home runs and 1,333 RBIs.  He averaged a home run in every 17.6 times at bat.  Besides being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, he was an eight-time All-Star, finished 6 times in the top 10 MVP and hit 4 or more home runs in two different World Series.

Snider just recently passed away in Escondido, California at the ripe old age of 84.  He will always be remembered as one of The Sports Archives’ legends of Dodger baseball history.

Duke Snider, Brooklyn Dodgers