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Edwin Donald Snider
Brooklyn Dodgers
Outfield
Bats: Left Throws: Right Height: 6'0" Weight: 179
Born: September 19, 1926, Los Angeles, CA
Signed: Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1943 season
Major League Teams: Brooklyn Dodgers 1947-1957; Los Angeles Dodgers 1958-1962; New York Mets 1963; San Francisco Giants 1964
Hall of Fame Induction: 1980
Died: February 27, 2011, Escondido, CA (age 84)
Duke Snider patrolled center field during the golden age and waning years of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the initial years of the Los Angeles Dodgers, helping the franchise reach six World Series, and winning titles in 1955 and 1959. Snider was an eight-time All-Star and the N.L. MVP runner-up in 1955. He set a career high that season with 136 RBIs, leading the league in the process. Snider hit over 40 home runs in five straight seasons between 1953 and 1957, leading the league with 43 in 1956. A fine fielder, he led the league in fielding percentage for center fielders three times.
Snider's play declined when the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, with his chronically injured knee and a 440-foot right field wall in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum both contributing to his power outage. As the right fielder for the 1959 Dodgers, he experienced one last World Series with his club winning over the White Sox in six games. Snider finished his playing career with two lackluster seasons with the expansion Mets in 1963 and the Giants in 1964. In 2,143 career games, Snider batted .295 with 2,116 hits, 407 home runs and 1,333 RBIs. His .540 career slugging percentage is currently 33rd on the all-time list. Snider was on the Padres broadcast team for their first three years of existence and later moved into the same role with the Expos in 1973. He served as the Expos' hitting coach in 1974 and 1975. Snider was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1980, with the Dodgers retiring his #4 that same year.
Like a lot of baseball fans first finding their love of the game in the early 1980s, I first became aware of Snider through the Terry Cashman song, "Talkin' Baseball," which celebrated the three center fielders of the New York franchises from the 1950s - Willie Mays (#130), Mickey Mantle (#135) and Snider.
Building the Set
December 25, 1989 from Santa Claus - Card #92
It's rare for me to have no record of how exactly a card came to join our set, but that's the case here with this Snider card. All I know for certain is the card was found under our Christmas tree on Christmas morning 1989, and if my Dad had told me at the time where he had purchased the card, I didn't write it down in my records.
The Card / Dodgers Team Set
Here we have the first (and only?) instance of the rare black-orange bars on the front of the card. The head shot is the same used on Snider's 1955 Topps card, but it's different than what was used for his 1954 Topps card. In the action shot, I'm assuming that's a batboy greeting Snider at the plate after a home run. The back of the card pays tribute to his league leading statistics in 1955, the Dodgers' recent World Championship title and his fine outfield play.
December 25, 1989 from Santa Claus - Card #92
It's rare for me to have no record of how exactly a card came to join our set, but that's the case here with this Snider card. All I know for certain is the card was found under our Christmas tree on Christmas morning 1989, and if my Dad had told me at the time where he had purchased the card, I didn't write it down in my records.
The Card / Dodgers Team Set
Here we have the first (and only?) instance of the rare black-orange bars on the front of the card. The head shot is the same used on Snider's 1955 Topps card, but it's different than what was used for his 1954 Topps card. In the action shot, I'm assuming that's a batboy greeting Snider at the plate after a home run. The back of the card pays tribute to his league leading statistics in 1955, the Dodgers' recent World Championship title and his fine outfield play.
The card was reprinted as part of the 1995 Topps Archives Brooklyn Dodgers set, for the 2001 Topps Through the Years insert set (regular and chrome versions) and again within the 2012 Topps Archives Reprints insert set. Snider signed reprints of the card for the 2005 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs set.
1956 Season
This was to be Snider's last as an All-Star, although a few solid seasons were still in front of him. He was criticized at the time for his portrayal in a Roger Kahn article titled, "I Play Baseball for Money, Not Fun," which cast Snider as ungrateful for the adulation his baseball fame had brought him. Kahn, who would go on to pen the amazing book The Boys of Summer, painted a portrait of a player who complained about the travel and abusive fans, and would rather be with his family and focused on his newly purchased avocado farms. Still, Snider helped pace the Dodgers with a team-leading 43 home runs and 101 RBIs, and his .292 average on the team was second only to Jim Gilliam's (#280) .300. He finished 10th in the league's MVP voting. The Dodgers once again reached the World Series, but lost to the Yankees in seven games. Snider batted .304 (7 for 23) in the series with a home run and four RBIs.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1949 Bowman #226
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13): 1951-1952, 1954-1964
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2021 Topps Tribute #55
1,754 - Snider non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 5/10/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
SABR
The Trading Card Database
1956 Season
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First Mainstream Card: 1949 Bowman #226
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13): 1951-1952, 1954-1964
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2021 Topps Tribute #55
1,754 - Snider non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 5/10/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
SABR
The Trading Card Database
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