Duke Snider, Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle walk in from center field during an Old Timer's Day celebration on July 16, 1977.
Who owned during the late 1950's? The Yankees did in hindsight, but the most intense debates of the era centered around New York’s three All-Star and future Hall of Fame center fielders:
Willie Mays of the Giants,
Mickey Mantle of the Yankees
and Duke Snider of the Dodgers.
Willie, Mickey, and the Duke.
With the passing of Duke Snider (RIP) this week, we had a chance to reflect on the Duke's career specifically and the era in general and the question arose - Can you imagine if Mays, Mantle and Snider were able to arrange a LeBron-esque "Dream Team" which would have allowed all three to patrol a single outfield? That pesky issue of the Reserve Clause, of course, stood in the way. (thank you Curt Flood and Andy Messersmith).
The closest we came to this was when Terry Cashman and company airbrushed DiMaggio out of the picture for the song, Talkin' Baseball (Willie, Mickey, and the Duke), leaving our "Dream Outfield" intact.
This is such a great song, I can forgive the sacrilege.
Clearly, the Yankees would have been the team to pull this off. It may have even accelerated the Giants and Dodgers eventual move to the West Coast. Heck, the Giants and Dodgers fans may have pitched in to pack their bags.
Imagine this outfield.
LF Duke Snider
CF Willie Mays
RF Mickey Mantle
Not too shabby. The Yankees would have had to have moved Gene Woodling and Hank Bauer, but my guess is they might have been willing to make the effort.
The Dream Outfield smashed all kinds of records during four seasons — 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1957:
During those three seasons, The Big Three combined for:
- Three MVPs,
- multiple HR, RBI and batting championships
- One Triple Crown
- League leadership in over 30 major statistical categories
- Six pennants
- Three World Championships.
That was performing on the separate teams. Imagine them combining their talents with the Yankees. They would have owned NY. Oh yeah, they already did. DAMN YANKEES!!
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"We never had no rivalry between us. The three of us would talk among ourselves when we would all go to the All-Star Game. We used to kid each other. I would call up Mick (Mickey Mantle) and say, 'We got that little guy from Brooklyn coming over.' Mick says, 'You go up to him and find out what he's hitting, and when he tells you, I'll say, 'I don't think so, Willie.' We'd laugh. The Duke was a really nice man," -— Willie Mays on the late Duke Snider, in an interview with the Oakland Tribune.
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