Duke Snider

[Lindseynelson]

Just felt like looking him up and WOW there's a reason he shares the song "Willie ,Mickey and the Duke" . His run in the 50's was awesome.5 40 plus hr years ,6 100 plus rbi seasons and a consistently high 310 plus average.I never realized how good he was but if you look at his "peak" years ,as it is said, he must be right up there with anyone.

[abacab]

And yet it took eleven ballots to elect Snider to the Hall of Fame! :noidea

[64Cards]

Had more Hr's and RBI's than any other player in the 50's, one of MLB most competitive eras.

[Clash City Rocker]

Is there any debate over what effect Ebbets Field did to help him, or were the splits about even? Looking at the overcompensated large RF of the Coliseum, its clear how that smushed his power.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

Yeah, LA was a graveyard in right center, at least for one year.

Ebbets seemed like a pretty nice home for his peak years.

Ebbets and Coliseum dimensions.

Note: Coliseum white numbers indicate changes made starting in '59.

[shlevine42]

Is there any debate over what effect Ebbets Field did to help him, or were the splits about even? Looking at the overcompensated large RF of the Coliseum, its clear how that smushed his power.

Right field may have been only 297 feet away in Ebbets Field, but there was a 40-ft. fence that Duke had to clear to get one out of the park. Not all that easy.

What probably had as much, if not a greater impact on his hitting, was the fact that since all the other Dodger power hitters were right handed, Brooklyn seldom faced a lefty pitcher in Ebbets Field. And Duke was notably less effective against lefties.

Facing right handed pitchers for most of his ABs helped him considerably.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

Right field may have been only 297 feet away in Ebbets Field, but there was a 40-ft. fence that Duke had to clear to get one out of the park. Not all that easy.

Seems you're right. There was a 19 foot concrete wall topped by a 19 foot net. So 38 feet to clear, one more foot than the green monster, but also about 10 feet shorter than the monster. With the screen that could have been called the "Clear Monster." Too late to patent that I suppose

[tonypug]

Many if not most of Dukes home runs landed across the street. Although the fence was short his homers were not cheap. As shlevine said the edge he had was in not facing many lefties. The rest of the Dodger lineup ate up lefties and spit them out.

[KCGHOST]

Nor should we forget that he was a pretty good CFer.

[64Cards]

Many if not most of Dukes home runs landed across the street. Although the fence was short his homers were not cheap. As shlevine said the edge he had was in not facing many lefties. The rest of the Dodger lineup ate up lefties and spit them out.

To the best of your recollections, how did Duke do against the better LH pitchers, like Spahn, Simmons, Antonelli, Pollett? I'd guess there are some more, just can't think of them.

[Clash City Rocker]

Many if not most of Dukes home runs landed across the street. Although the fence was short his homers were not cheap. As shlevine said the edge he had was in not facing many lefties. The rest of the Dodger lineup ate up lefties and spit them out.

Did the fence turn linedrive-looking hr's into long singles often, if at all?

[tonypug]

To the best of your recollections, how did Duke do against the better LH pitchers, like Spahn, Simmons, Antonelli, Pollett? I'd guess there are some more, just can't think of them.

Duke struggled quite a bit against lefties. The rare times he was benched or pinchit for was against lefties. The above mentioned four pitchers handled Duke pretty well, but usually not the rest of the team.

[tonypug]

Did the fence turn linedrive-looking hr's into long singles often, if at all?

Not usually, the fence and wall at Ebbets Field was so tough to play that most balls would go for doubles and triples.The chinese wall in LA was another story. It took many homers away from the righthanded power hitters and turned them into singles.

[tonypug]

Nor should we forget that he was a pretty good CFer.

Just like the vast centerfield at The Polo Grounds and the large centerfield at Yankee Stadium was a showcase for Mickey, Ebbets Field was for Duke. He used to make fence climbing grbs all the time.He could also go get the ball when he played at The Polo Grounds and Yankee Stadium also.

[Lindseynelson]

297 with a 38 ft fence is a shot especially when you remember that Yankee Stadium was 296 with a 4 ft fence to right and 302 with a 4ft fence to left. The gaps killed you in the Bronx 296 became 407 with a 12 ft fence pretty quick and 302 became 463 and 457 as quickly but it was a pop up down the line when Mickey and the Duke were both in NY