Duke Snider had one of the most productive performances of his career in the same game Stan Musial achieved a slugging milestone.
On June 3, 1955, Snider went 4-for-5 with 5 RBI and 2 runs scored in the Dodgers’ 12-5 victory over the Cardinals at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. Snider ripped a three-run home run in the first inning against one of his favorite foils, Tom Poholsky. (Snider hit .364, 24-for-66, with seven homers against Poholsky.)
In the same game, Musial hit his 300th career home run _ a three-run shot off Johnny Podres in the fifth _ and became just the 12th big-leaguer to achieve that total. Boxscore
Snider, the Hall of Fame outfielder who died Feb. 27, 2011, at 84, batted .300 (310 hits in 1,034 at-bats) in his career against the Cardinals, with 52 doubles, 13 triples, 60 homers and 189 RBI.
In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story” (1964 Doubleday), Musial wrote of Snider:
After he learned the strike zone in the majors, the Duke became one of the great sluggers of our era. He couldn’t hit the high and tight pitch early, but he learned to lay off it. He had great power, though he didn’t like to hit against left-handers. He was a fine outfielder with a good arm and good speed.
In choosing his all-time National League all-star team, Musial, in his book, selected Willie Mays in center, Hank Aaron in right and Duke Snider in left. “In the outfield, I hated most to leave off (teammate) Enos Slaughter,” Musial wrote, “but I just couldn’t pass up Duke Snider for left field.”
Musial added that with Duke Snider in center, Carl Furillo in right and Andy Pafko in left “the Dodgers had the best-throwing outfield I ever saw.”
Snider twice had five-hit games in his career. The first came against the Cardinals. On July 16, 1950, at St. Louis, Snider went 5-for-5 with 3 RBI, 3 runs scored, a walk and a stolen base in the Dodgers’ 10-2 victory. Boxscore
In 1961, Snider was involved in two rough-and-tumble incidents involving Cardinals pitchers Larry Jackson and Bob Gibson.
While facing the Cardinals in a spring training exhibition game, Snider swung at a Jackson slider that shattered his bat. The ball and most of the bat shot toward the mound.
In his book “The Duke of Flatbush” (1988, Citadel Press), Snider wrote that the ball struck Jackson on the backside and the bat hit him in the jaw. “I reached first base, but Jackson was still on the ground, seriously injured,” Snider wrote. “His jaw was broken … I felt awful about it, but that’s one of the occupational hazards of pitching.”
A few weeks later, April 17, 1961, in a game between the Cardinals and Dodgers in Los Angeles, Snider hit a two-run homer off Gibson in the third inning. Boxscore
Wrote Snider, “I knew what would happen next … Word was already around the league that he had that mean streak that so many good pitchers have.”
When Snider came to bat in the fifth, a Gibson fastball struck him in the elbow. Snider was awarded first base, then was thrown out on an attempted steal. When he tried to bat again in the seventh, Snider “felt a sharp pain in that right elbow, like someone jabbing a needle in there” and was lifted for a pinch-hitter.
The elbow was fractured. Snider would be sidelined for a month.
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