Posted on 02/27/2011 1:55:26 PM PST by My Favorite Headache
AP) -- Duke Snider, the Hall of Fame center fielder for the charmed "Boys of Summer" who helped the Dodgers bring their elusive and only World Series crown to Brooklyn, died early Sunday of what his family called natural causes. He was 84.
Snider died at the Valle Vista Convalescent Hospital in Escondido, Calif., according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, which announced the death on behalf of the family.
"The Duke of Flatbush" hit .295 with 407 career home runs, played in the World Series six times and won two titles. But the eight-time All-Star was defined by much more than his stats - he was, after all, part of the love affair between the borough of Brooklyn and "Dem Bums" who lived in the local neighborhoods.
(Excerpt) Read more at sportsillustrated.cnn.com ...
Vin Scully hasn’t done such a bad job either.
I was at the game where Drysdale set the record of 58 scoreless innings pitched.
My parents were at Koufax’s perfect game.
Both are priceless memories, obviously.
My Mom worked with a lady whose husband pitched for the Dodgers for a short time in 61 or 62. He was a reliever. Jack Smith was his name and was from Matewan, WV. He pitched in the Series and either won in relief or preserved the game for the Dodgers. Considered an up and comer, he quit the game because he hated flying. Last I heard of him, he was a barber at the Renaissance hotel in Atlanta. He told me if he ever made the “bigs”, he’d give me a glove. Unfortunately, we moved away that year. I used to live, sleep, eat and dream baseball as a kid but I can’t tell you that last time I watched a ML game. It has been years.
I met him when I went to Ryne Sandberg’s HOF induction a few years ago. Very nice man.
I love that song and the writer Terry Cashman has a lot of great baseball songs. My other faves of his are “Play by Play (I Saw it on the Radio)” and “Passing it on from Father to Son”
For fathers day last year we treated my Dad and his sons and grandsons to a special Father’s Day event at Wrigley and I took the video footage of that and made a video for my Dad with the song.
I also like the Cubs version and he has done a version for almost every team.
I feel for all you mourning a hero or a favorite. We lost my all time baseball hero (Ron Santo) back in December. It’s a hard day today as he was the Cubs radio color analyst and today is the first spring game without him. IT’s also not easier as the Cubs were beaten like rented stepchildren.
That’s interesting. My mom was at Taft in Chicago with Donna Mills, Jerry Krause the GM of the Championship Bulls teams and the creator of Grease (in fact she is one of the girls Sandy was a composite of).
I love his work. Tell him I hope he writes a song for the Cubs when the Cubs win the world series. OR I just hope the Cubs plain win the freaking world series.
I have adapted his song a few times for Cubs seasons usually taking 3 players on the team instead of the Cubs version Baseball and the Cubs.
This year its Dempster, Garza and Big Z.
I remember listening to Scully in 1960 when he was broadcasting Dodger games on KFI--now Rush Limbaugh's Southland home.
Whose tower is in my home town of La Mirada.
The tower, which was originally built in the 1940's, was surrounded by bean fields in the 1950's, when I first noticed it. In 1978, KFI went off the air for a few hours when the tower was struck by lightning. After an airplane knocked it down a few years ago, a smaller one was built on the site.
My grandfather missed veru few games and I would listen too sometimes. 1960, that is 51 years come April; where has it all gone?
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