Crown Royal In 1964, former Brooklyn Dodger, “Duke” Snider asked the
Mets to be traded. They obliged by
sending him to the dreaded San Francisco Giants, a team Duke had spent his
career trying to beat. When he looked in
the mirror with the Giants jersey on, then it hit him. What a sight, “The Duke of Flatbush” wearing
a despised Giants uniform. Snider had to
wear #28 because the Giants #4, worn by Mel Ott, had been retired years
earlier. That year, Duke appeared in
more games as a pinch-hitter than he did as a starter. During that 1964 season, in a game against
the Los Angeles Dodgers, Giants’ Manager Alvin Dark gave Duke $100 to take
Dodgers’ pitcher Don Drysdale out to dinner the night before he was to pitch against
the Giants. “Take the big donkey out, on
me, and get him good and drunk,” said Dark.
“We had dinner and lots of Crown Royal,” said Duke. The next day, Drysdale proceeded to pitch the
game of his life as Duke, hung over from the night before, sat watching from
the bench. By the eighth inning, Skipper
Dark was not happy and wondered if Duke had actually executed his plan. Out of anger, Dark told Duke to pinch-hit in
the ninth inning against Drysdale. Don
Drysdale struck Snider out on three pitches.
Duke sent a note for Drysdale to the Dodgers’ clubhouse after the
game. It said, “Dear Donnie, don’t know
what the last pitch was when it went by, but it smelled like Crown Royal. Love, Dookie.”
Andy Purvis www.purvisbooks.com |