Remembering The Duke

[Robert]

Baseball lost a legend today. Those who are old enough will never forget him roaming the outfield for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Today he joins the players in the greatest Hall of Fame .
"Were talking baseball.... Willie, Micky, and the Duke"

[kham]

If they play baseball in Valhalla, they have one hell of an outfield.

Clear skies , Duke

[bbjohn]

The Duke of Flatbush. I'm afraid there aren't that many of the "Boys of Summer" left. The old Brooklyn Dodgers were a great team, and what an incredible era they played in.

Here's some trivia to consider: the Dodgers have now played longer at Dodger Stadium than they did at Ebbets Field. Dodger Stadium is now the second oldest ballpark in the National League, after Wrigley Field. At least three generations have grown up knowing only the Los Angeles Dodgers.

It makes me sort of sad to see young Dodgers' fans who have no idea the team was originally in Brooklyn. I've also found Giants' fans who don't know their team was originally in New York. I suppose there are Braves' fans who don't know their team was originally in Boston and spent 13 wonderful years in Milwaukee.

I've found that being a baseball fan made me something of a history buff because I wanted to learn about the history of the game. There's so much you can learn about America by learning about the history of baseball.

As an example, consider substance abuse. There much talk about steroids today. Don't forget Babe Ruth was a drunk during prohibition, when alcohol was a controlled substance. As was noted in Ecclesiastes, "There is nothing new under the sun."

To think I root for a team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, which has a short history when compared with other franchises. Yet, in that time, they've produced a World Series champion in 2001 AND one of the most laughably awful teams of all time (2004).

Baseball is a big part of American culture and history. Duke Snider was part of that history.

So long, Duke. We'll miss you. Say hello to Pee Wee, Jackie, Roy, Gil and Skoonj for us, okay?

Big Bad John

[dlodoski]

...Dodger Stadium is now the second oldest ballpark in the National League, after Wrigley Field.....

Interesting.

Dodger Stadium opened the day I was born - April 19, 1962.

I was raised in Chicago though, and the first MLB game I ever attended was at Wrigley Field.