Remembering Duke Snider On February 27 baseball lost one of it's truly great players and fine gentlemen and I lost an outstanding teammate, a dear friend, and an accomplished bridge playing partner. Edwin "Duke" Snider was one of the premier baseball players of the 50's and 60's, the "Golden Era" of baseball, as I like to call it. Duke was not only a percentage hitter, but also a clutch slugger and a daring base runner. His defensive prowess, roaming centerfield for the Dodgers in Brooklyn and Los Angeles put him in the select company of all-time greats in my mind. His performance and accomplishments as a Hall of Famer are well chronicled, both statistically and, famously, in the song Talking Baseball. In his prime, he was one of a triumvirate of New York centerfielders, joining Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, who helped to make the game great then and what it is today. When I joined the Dodgers in 1959, Duke welcomed me not only as a teammate, but also as a fast and forever friend and it was as friends that we celebrated our World Series championship that season. Those of us who knew him well will sorely miss him. Through our prayers, we reach out to his family and ask God to ensure their well-being in this time of great sorrow.