Fallbrook's own Duke Snider, the Duke of Flatbush, has passed away at the age of 84. A longtime resident, the Brooklyn Dodger centerfielder once owned the Duke Snider Lanes, the local bowling alley. He owned Brooklyn as well. I would run into the Duke once in a while around town, last seeing him celebrate his birthday in September at Michael Calvanese's (another Brooklynite) Cafe Des' Artistes restaurant. I was usually too shy to say anything to him, but got my nerve up once or twice. He died a few weeks after Fallbrook's other major leaguer passed away, 91 year old Cliff Dapper, the only player to ever get traded for an announcer, Ernie Harwell.
Snider lived here and farmed avocados for the last fifty years. He was Fallbrook's most distinguished and famous resident. His commanding yet humble presence still turned old guys into awestruck little kids when he occasionally surfaced around town. The last couple years I mostly saw him at the Fallbrook Pharmacy.
Snider lived here and farmed avocados for the last fifty years. He was Fallbrook's most distinguished and famous resident. His commanding yet humble presence still turned old guys into awestruck little kids when he occasionally surfaced around town. The last couple years I mostly saw him at the Fallbrook Pharmacy.
Edwin D. Snider was born in Los Angeles and served in the Navy in World War II. He played pro ball for 18 years, compiling a .295 career batting average with 407 home runs and 1,333 RBIs in 2,143 games, was an eight-time all-star and appeared in six World Series. Hall of Famer Snider hit 40 or more home runs in five consecutive seasons for the Bums, a feat achieved by neither Mays nor Mantle. One of the greatest center fielders of all time, the power hitting left hander was always known around these parts as a quiet gentleman. Tip your cap to the Duke. Maybe he's hitting fungoes now with Jackie and Pee Wee. An end of an era.
4 comments:
there's also a very nice column in today's North County Times, by ex-sports editor Steve Scholfield, on Duke...the building, where the lanes were, is still there, it's some kind of manufacturing concern now; right next to Pro Tire; i cringe every time i see it; wish the lanes were still open...
Duke was certainly one of this town's most famous residents; over the years, others have included Frank Capra, Buzz Aldrin and Martin Milner; and then there were the infamous, ie Tom Metzger; i'm sure there are many others i'm leaving out...
Jackie Robinson integrated baseball in 1947 at a time when tickets cost $1.30. By the fifties the Dodgers had 5 black players on the field at one time, a feat never duplicated. (ed.?)
The four greatest center fielders in the history of baseball played at the same time in the metropolitan area, Mays, Snider, Mantle and DiMaggio.
Snider played in what many consider to be the greatest game of all time (the shot heard 'round the world.) Where reality strangled fiction, as Bobby Thompson hit the 9th inning homer to win the pennant for the New York Giants in a do or die playoff game. This was an era when the Duke and Willie played stickball in the streets with the local kids.
The Brooklyn Dodgers name came from the result of having to dodge trolley cars on your way to the park at Ebbets Field and were known to the fans as "dem bums."
The acme of Duke's career might have been 1952 when he tied the record for homers in a World Series after earlier in his career striking out 8 times in the 1948 World Series.
In memory of my hero,
Warren Bishop
A place where players were neighbors
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