Rest in Peace Duke Snider.
Yesterday while I was on my way to play Baseball on a beautiful sunny San Francisco afternoon I received a text message from ESPN MLB News which read: Hall of Fame OF Duke Snider dies at age 84; played 16 seasons with Dodgers, hit 407 HR. I gotta admit that my heart sunk a little bit with sadness when I read the message. Later on in the evening I was thinking about his death and posted the following statement on twitter: “We only got 1 member left of the Willie, Mickey, & The Duke NY-CF Trio. That’s a world I don’t want to live in.” That is obviously an exaggeration however I must say that with so many legends from the Golden Age of Baseball disappearing; it leaves an uneasy feeling that I do not like and can’t quite explain.
I could write a lot about how great the Duke of Flatbush was but everyone reading the blog is sure to already know this. So yeah, you know it works here at 90 feet of perfection; here are some great photos of old #4.
The Duke at-bat against the New York Yankees during the 1955 World Series. If I could go back in time to see any MLB World Series, it would have been 1955 without a doubt. So many of my favorite players from yesteryear on both teams and the fact that Dem Bums finally won a World Series would have been incredible to witness.
Duke taking BP during 1955 Spring Training. That’s Roy Campanella behind the plate.
Duke Snider was a coach for the San Diego Padres during their inaugural season in 1969.
Duke Snider played for the San Francisco Giants in 1964, his last season in the Majors. Here he is with teammate Willie Mays…that’s kinda weird to say.
And I leave you with a great color photo of the Duke in the uniform he should have stayed in for his entire career.
ninety feet of perfection. 