Edwin 'Duke' Snider was immortalized in the song 'Talkin' Baseball' by T. Cashman with it's chorus of "Willie, Mickey and the Duke"- referring to the All-Stars of the New York area - Center-fielders; Willie Mays, N.Y. Giants and Mickey Mantle, N.Y. Yankees and Snider of Brooklyn.

At age 5, 'Duke', was nicknamed by his father because of his regal-type of superior attitude.

In 1949, Duke Snider became the Dodgers regular center-fielder. He started by hitting 23 homers , scoring 100 runs and drove home 92. Duke drove in the winning run, on the last day of the season, by singling to give the Brooklyn 'Bums' the pennant.

In 1950, Snider hit 31 HR's, batted .321, and scored 109 runs with 107 RBI's. Duke also stole 16 bases.

In the 1950's, Snider hit more homers (326) and drove in more runs (1,031) than anyone else in baseball. In 1953 he blasted 38 doubles, hit 42 home runs, scored 132 runs, batted .336, and had 126 RBI's. This was his first of five years in-a-row that he hit 40 or more home runs.

Duke Snider was one of the top sports hero during this decade and helped the Dodgers in their pennant battles and World Series games against the famed Yankees. When the Dodgers finally bested the Yankees in seven games in the 1955 World Series. Duke Snider was the series hero with his .320 batting average, and became the first major leaguer to hit four homers in two different World Series.

In 1958, the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles and Snider said, " When they tore down Ebbets Field, they tore down a little piece of me." This Hall of Famer retired from active play in 1964. He then joined the Dodgers' broad- casting team . Duke Snider played 2143 games, batted .295, had 2116 hits with 407 doubles.

Baseball Historian Page 9