Snider, Duke

Duke Snider, byname of Edwin Donald Snider, also called the Silver Fox and the Duke of Flatbush, (born September 19, 1926, Los Angeles, California, U.S.—died February 27, 2011, Escondido, California), American professional baseball player who was best known for playing centre field on the famed “Boys of Summer” Brooklyn Dodgers teams of the 1950s.

Snider was raised in Compton, California, where he came to the attention of the Dodgers while playing for Compton Junior College. He signed with the organization in 1943 and made his major league debut in 1947. Snider earned a starting role in 1949, and he garnered the first of eight career All-Star selections during his second full-time season. One of the best sluggers of his era, he hit 40 or more home runs in each season from 1953 to 1957, including a league-leading 43 in 1956. Snider was frequently compared to two other All-Star centre fielders who played in New York City when he did—Willie Mays of the Giants and Mickey Mantle of the Yankees. Heated debates over which of the three was the superior player were common among that city’s baseball fans throughout the 1950s.

Snider was a member of Dodgers teams that won the National League (NL) pennant four times between 1947 and 1953 but that lost to the New York Yankees in the World Series on each occasion, further cementing the Dodgers’ lighthearted “Dem Bums” nickname among the team’s passionate fans. While assuredly a fan favourite in his time with the Dodgers, the mercurial Snider was not as universally beloved as many of his teammates, such as Pee Wee Reese and Roy Campanella, in part because of a 1955 incident wherein—after being booed at home while in the midst of a hitting slump—he called Brooklyn supporters the worst fans in the league. The comment made headlines across the city. Nevertheless, his play in that 1955 season was integral to the “Boys of Summer” capturing their first World Series title.

Snider’s play during the postseason was outstanding throughout his career: he had a lifetime slugging percentage of .594 in six World Series, and he was the only player in history to have hit four home runs in two different Series (1952 and 1955). He won a second World Series championship with the Dodgers in 1959, one year after the team relocated to Los Angeles. Snider played with the Dodgers through 1962 and then ended his career with one-season stints with the New York Mets and the San Francisco Giants before retiring in 1964. His career totals include 2,116 hits, 407 home runs, and 1,333 runs batted in.

Snider served as a minor league manager in the Dodgers organization (1965–67) and as a broadcaster for the Montreal Expos (1973–86). His autobiography, The Duke of Flatbush (cowritten with Bill Gilbert), was published in 1988. Snider was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980.