Willie, Mickey and…
Most baseball admirers were not about during the Golden Era if baseball flourished as the civic pastime. Nowhere was this added credible than in New York, which had three acceptable above alliance teams, the Yankees, the Giants and the Dodgers new era hats.
The Yankees played in the “House that Ruth Built” in the Bronx, while beyond the Harlem River in high Manhattan were the Polo Grounds the aberrant searching bound of the Giants.
In the apple of Brooklyn were the Dodgers who played in a active alleged Ebbets Field. On April 17, 1947 an outfielder a adumbration over 6’ and a batter shy of 180 fabricated his admission for the Dodgers. Ironically built-in in Los Angeles area his aggregation would move in 1958, Edwin “Duke” Snider became the aboriginal of a New York leash of Hall of Fame centermost fielders. So acceptable were all three that acute arguments bankrupt out in confined all over New York as adherent admirers dedicated their amateur as the best. So assuredly accepted were the three that in 1981 songwriter Terry Cashman paid accolade to them in one of the best baseball songs of all time, “Talking”.
“The Mick” was the aboriginal to go in 1995. Now it’s the Duke who larboard us this Monday. Willie Mays charcoal the alone actual player.
I vaguely bethink the abundant years Duke Snider had, afterwards all he retired if I was 13. I do apperceive that the “Duke of Flatbush” had a career .295 batting average, 407 Home Runs and 1,333 RBI. He absolutely would accept hit added home runs if not for the antic 440’ appropriate acreage band in the Coliseum. He hit at atomic 40 Home Runs in 5 beeline seasons, and is still the team’s best home run leader. He was adopted to the Hall of Fame sixteen years afterwards his retirement in 1984 accepting 87% of the vote.
Snider was an eight time All-Star alternative including seven beeline years from 1950-1956. In 1954, 1955 and 1956 , Mays was an All-Star assistant alpha his own run of 24 beeline All-Star Bold appearances. He played on the 1955 World Championship Brooklyn Aggregation and on the 1959 World Championship Los Angeles team. In 1955 he led the Civic Alliance in RBI with 136 while socking 42 HR and batting .309. In 1956 he about bankrupt up Don Larsen’s absolute bold if he lined a attempt just abhorrent over the appropriate acreage wall.
In 1955, he accomplished additional to assistant Roy Campanella for the MVP accolade accident a abutting and arguable vote if an ill Philadelphia sportswriter placed Campanella both aboriginal and fifth on his ballot. Unable to ability him, the voting board counted the election as Campanella getting aboriginal and the fifth abode vote as getting blank. Had the election been disallowed, Snider would’ve won. Had Snider gotten that fifth abode vote, he aswell would’ve won monster energy hats.
The Say-Hey Kid. The Oklahoma Kid. The Duke. An admired leash in an era that will never be duplicated.
IT’S SPRING TRAINING…TIME FOR PREDICTIONS
This is the time of year if every baseball “expert” from TV, book and the blog-o-sphere accomplish their pre-season predictions. I commonly shy abroad from this exercise but absitively this year to accomplish them in a “lightning round” abridged fashion.
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