Duke Snider Dead At 84

Duke Snider, elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980 following an 18-year major league career in which he hit 407 home runs, passed away on Sunday morning following an undisclosed illness at the Valle Vista Convalescent Hospital in Escondido, Calif. He was 84.

Born September 19, 1926 in Los Angeles, Snider made his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Once he assumed duties as the club's every day center fielder, Snider totaled 20 home runs in nine straight seasons, from 1949-1957, hitting a league-best 43 in 1956, and finishing as the National League Most Valuable Player runner-up in 1955, helping to lead the Dodgers to their only World Series victory.

We shed a tear in Cooperstown for the man affectionately tabbed by his fans, 'The Duke of Flatbush,'" said Jeff Idelson, President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. "There was no one classier or more easy going than Duke Snider. He was nationally renowned for his smooth fielding and powerful bat -- as evidenced by hitting more home runs in the 1950s than anyone else. He is still today revered by Brooklynites everywhere for patrolling center field in Ebbets Field with grace and dignity, leading the underdog Dodgers to five pennants and their only World Series title in New York, in 1955. Above it all, he was a fan favorite for his style of play, personality, accessibility, and fondness for playing stickball with kids in the street of Brooklyn."

Snyder comes in third when the great New York center fielders of the 1950s are discussed, but that's due in part to the fact that he faded relatively early. From 1954 through '57, though, Snider led the major leagues with 165 home runs and 459 RBI.

In 1958, when Snider was still only 31, the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. It's often been said that the L.A. Coliseum, the Dodgers' new home, sapped Snider's power. It probably didn't help, but the problem was a knee injury that too often kept Snider out of the lineup; in four seasons in Los Angeles, Snider actually slugged .523 and posted an adjusted OPS right in line with his career mark.

After a one-season return to New York with the Mets, Snider finished his career with a terrible, now-forgotten 1964 season with the San Francisco Giants.

Snider stayed in the game as a scout and minor-league manager, worked as a broadcaster for the expansion San Diego Padres from 1969 through '71, filled the same role for the Montreal Expos in 1973, worked as the Expos' hitting coach in 1974 and '75, then returned to the booth and stayed for a dozen seasons.

Snider eventually retired to the life of baseball-card shows and celebrity golf; in 1995, Snider and fellow Hall of Famer Willie McCovey pleaded guilty to tax evasion after failing to report income from selling his autograph. The amounts of money involved were relatively small, and both Snider and McCovey were sentenced to two years probation and paid small fines.

In Brooklyn, Snider will be fondly remembered for as long as there are still people alive who remember the Borough's Dodgers, most especially for playing a huge role in the Dodgers' only World's Championship, hitting a big three-run homer in Game 4, and two more home runs in the Dodgers' 5-3 win over the Yankees in Game 5.

Everywhere else, Snider's legacy is ensured. Without him, there would be no "Willie, Mickey and the Duke."

Source :http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2011/2/27/2018897/hall-of-famer-duke-snider-dead-at-84