Things You Didn't Know About These Brooklyn Dodgers' Hall of Famers

The Brooklyn Dodgers are still missed even now in that New York borough, with their wonderful Hall of Fame players remembered fondly. Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, and manager Leo Durocher all wound up in the Hall of Fame when their careers wrapped up. Many of the old timers can recount this group's varied escapades on the baseball diamond, but memories sometimes can be hazy. Here are some things about these Brooklyn Dodgers' Hall of Famers that you might find interesting.

1. Leo Durocher managed 3 teams for over 1,000 games!

"Leo the Lip" first began his managerial career with the Dodgers as a player/manager, but when he left Brooklyn in 1948 he was by no means finished as a major league skipper. He moved across town to take over the Giants, where he won a pair of pennants and a World Series in 1954. From there he took 11 years off before taking the Cubs' job in 1966 at the age of 61. He lasted in Chicago for 6 ½ years, turning a 100 loss team into a contender but never winning a pennant. A brief stint with the Astros ended Durocher's days in the game; in all he managed Brooklyn for 1,318 games, the Giants for 1,163 contests, and Chicago for 1,065, winning over 2,000 baseball games in the process.

2. Pee Wee Reese had good power for a shortstop!

Reese was able to hit double-digit home run totals in 7 of his 16 seasons and he finished with almost 900 runs batted in. These are not especially gaudy numbers until you consider he was a slick fielding shortstop, and not really the prototypical hitter for the position in the era in which he played. In contrast, Yankee shortstop Phil Rizzuto hit 38 home runs in his entire career, while Reese hit 126. Pee Wee, whose real name was Harold, was also a prolific run scorer, tallying 1,338 runs in his Brooklyn Dodger Hall of Fame career.

3. Duke Snider's numbers suffered horribly when the Dodgers left Brooklyn!

After posting 9 consecutive years of no fewer than 92 runs batted in, with 6 of those over 100, Snider's left-handed bat was taken out of his hands by the dimensions of their new home in Los Angeles, the Coliseum. It was well over 400 feet to the right field power alleys in the cavernous stadium, and Snider's home run total went from 206 in the previous 5 campaigns to just 68 in the next 4 while playing in California. The move from Brooklyn cost Snider a sure shot at 500 home runs, as he finished with 407.

4. Roy Campanella won an MVP Award every season he hit .300!

The great catcher who suffered a paralyzing accident that ended his career in 1958 hit over .300 3 different seasons, each year winning the National League MVP when he did so. Campy batted .325 in 1951, .312 in 1953, and .318 in 1955, with over 100 runs batted in for those seasons as well. He won the MVP easily the first 2 times, but in 1955 he just did edge out Snider, by the margin of 5 points in the voting.

5. Jackie Robinson didn't even average 20 stolen bases a season!

Robinson is thought of as a prolific base stealer, but the most he had in one year was the 37 he swiped in 1949. The powerful Brooklyn lineup did not need him to manufacture runs, and as he grew older he stole fewer bases. In his last 3 seasons Robinson had a total of 31 stolen bases, but you must also remember that he didn't break in until he was 28, meaning he was in his mid-thirties when he finally left the sport. For his entire major league career he stole 197 bases.

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