Fred E. "Dixie" Walker (September 24, 1910 – May 17, 1982) was an
American professional baseball
Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world.
Modern professional ...
player,
coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Co ...
,
scout and
minor league manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities ...
. He played as a
right fielder
A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...
in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
from 1931 to 1949. Although Walker was a five-time
All-Star selection, and won a
National League batting championship () as well as an
RBI championship () as a member of the
Brooklyn Dodgers, his accomplishments as a player were overshadowed by his attempt to keep
Jackie Robinson from joining the Dodgers in .
He also played for the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
,
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...
,
Detroit Tigers and
Pittsburgh Pirates.
In 11 years in the National League, Walker posted a .310
batting average
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
(in nine seasons in the American League, an average of .295),
with 105 total
home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
s and 1,023
RBIs
A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...
in 1,905
games.
Walker's popularity with the
Ebbets Field
Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball stadium in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. It is mainly known for having been the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team of the National League (1913–1957). It was also home to five pro ...
fans in the 1940s brought him the nickname "The People's Cherce" (so-called, and spelled, because "Choice" in the "
Brooklynese" of the mid-20th century frequently was pronounced that way).
[
]
Early life
Born on September 24, 1910, in Villa Rica, Georgia
Villa Rica (Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese translation: Rich Village) is a city in Carroll and Douglas counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. Located roughly 30 miles west of Atlanta, a decision to develop housing on a large tract of land led ...
,[ Walker was the scion of a baseball family.][ His father, Ewart (the original "Dixie Walker"), was a ]pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...
for the Washington Senators (1909–12); an uncle, Ernie Walker, was an outfielder
An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...
for the St. Louis Browns
The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...
(1913–15);[ and his younger brother, Harry "the Hat" Walker, also an outfielder, played for four ]National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...
teams between 1940 and 1955 and managed the St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...
(1955), Pittsburgh Pirates (1965–67) and Houston Astros (1968–72).[ All four Walkers batted left-handed and threw right-handed.][
][
][
]
Playing career
Walker originally entered the major leagues with the New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
, and was considered the heir to Babe Ruth
George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...
as the team's left fielder
In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...
after playing with the Yankees in 1931, and again from 1933 to 1936.
After stints with the Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...
and Detroit Tigers, Walker blossomed into a star with the Brooklyn Dodgers, with whom he played from 1939 to 1947. He was a five time All Star, being selected in every year from 1943 to 1947. Additionally, he was the National League's batting champion in 1944, with his average of .357 besting runner up Stan Musial's .347. Additionally, Walker was the 1945 National League runs batted in champion, with his total of 124 topping Boston Braves outfielder Tommy Holmes, with 117. After the season, Walker became the first National League "player representative" recognized by major league owners. The post was created to stave off the formation of a players' union
The Association Football Players' and Trainers' Union (AFPTU), commonly known as the Players' Union, in the United Kingdom was the original association that became the Professional Footballers' Association. Their stated aims were freedom of move ...
in the wake of the short-lived American Baseball Guild
The American Baseball Guild was a short-lived American trade union that attempted to organize Major League Baseball (MLB) players into a collective bargaining unit in 1946. movement earlier that year. Johnny Murphy
John Joseph Murphy (July 14, 1908 – January 14, 1970) was an All-Star American right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball (1932, 1934–43, 1946–47) who later became a front office executive in the game.
Yankees' relief ace
After ...
, the Yankees' stalwart relief pitcher, became the American League's first player representative.
After the 1947 season, Walker was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates, for whom he played two seasons before retiring in 1949.
Career statistics
In 1905 games covering 18 seasons, Walker compiled a .306 batting average
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
( 2,064-for- 6,740) with 1,038 runs, 376 doubles, 96 triples, 105 home runs, 1,023 RBI, 817 base on balls, a .383 on-base percentage and a .437 slugging percentage. Defensively, he recorded a .972 fielding percentage. In the 1941 and 1947 World Series, playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers, he hit .222 (10-for-45) with one home run and four RBI.
Managing and coaching career
The Pirates released Walker after the 1949 season, and he began a managing and coaching career as manager of the minor league Atlanta Crackers
The Atlanta Crackers were Minor League Baseball teams based in Atlanta, Georgia, between 1901 and 1965. The Crackers were Atlanta's home team until the Atlanta Braves moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1966.
History
Atlanta played its first ...
. In his first year as manager, they won the Southern Association
The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), Cla ...
pennant. He then led them to finishes of sixth and second.
Walker coached with the St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...
in 1953, but left partway through the season to manage the Cardinals' Houston team in the Texas League
The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...
. He managed Houston through 1954, after which he managed in the International League, first with the Rochester Red Wings (1955–1956), where he won back-to-back Governors' Cup championships, and then with the Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...
(1957–1959).
The Milwaukee Braves made Walker a scout in 1960, and he worked in this position until 1963, when he joined the team's coaching staff for three years. When the Braves relocated to Atlanta in 1966, Walker was their chief scout for the Southeastern United States.
In 1968, Walker rejoined the Dodgers as hitting coach, and he held this position until 1974. From 1974 to 1976 he was a coach for the Dodgers' minor league system.
Baseball integration
Walker vocally opposed the participation of black baseball players regardless of their skill but did not act on this opposition, even losing to a team of black players (Cuban All Stars) in the 1941 MLB Series with no complaints. He suggested he would not play for the Dodgers if a black baseball player were permitted on the team. He reportedly initiated a player petition within the Dodgers in 1947, opposing Jackie Robinson joining the team,[ and he wrote a letter to Dodgers owner Branch Rickey asking to be traded.]
From the MLB Network
The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox C ...
special ''Jackie Robinson:'' ”A very popular player, a charming fellow, ixie Walkerprepared a petition manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities ...
Leo Durocher] saying, ‘If you promote a black man [Robinson], we will not play.’ Branch Rickey [the Dodgers' president (corporate title), president and general manager (baseball), general manager] contacted Durocher and said, ‘Stomp this fire out right now because we can’t let it spread.’" Durocher, called a meeting of e players and said, "I don't care if the guy is yellow or black, or if he has stripes like a fuckin' zebra...I'm the manager of this team, and I say he plays. What's more, I say he can make us all rich." Dixie Walker left a note for Branch Rickey, asking to be traded. Leeds, Alabama, is where Dixie Walker had his hardware store. He had to go home and answer to his customers, to his friends ho asked ‘Do you mean you shower with this guy? Do you eat with this guy? We don’t do that.’ Branch Rickey explored trading Walker, but he couldn't afford to lose his star outfielder, and he continued to rely on Leo Durocher to keep the team in line.”
In a 1981 interview, Walker explained that his trade request was not due to Robinson, but because Walker had become a scapegoat for opposition within the team.[ In his 2002 book, ''The Era, 1947–1957'', author Roger Kahn wrote that Walker admitted to starting the Dodgers' player petition in 1947, in which the signers opposed the integration of baseball.][ In an interview with Kahn, Walker stated, "I organized that petition in 1947, not because I had anything against Robinson personally or against Negroes generally. I had a wholesale business in Birmingham and people told me I’d lose my business if I played ball with a black man."][ According to Kahn, Walker referred to the petition as "the stupidest thing he’d ever done" and asked Kahn that, if he had the opportunity, he would write that Walker was sorry and apologized for his actions.][
In his 2014 book, ''Rickey & Robinson: The True, Untold Story of the Integration of Baseball,'' Kahn also wrote that, in May 1947, Walker — the NL's player representative — proposed the idea of a league-wide players' strike in an attempt to end Robinson's MLB career. Although the ]St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...
reportedly were in favor of the idea, the quick intervention of their owner, Sam Breadon
Samuel Wilson Breadon (July 26, 1876 – May 8, 1949) was an American executive who served as the president and majority owner of the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1920 through 1947. During that time, the Cardinals ro ...
, and National League president Ford Frick
Ford Christopher Frick (December 19, 1894 – April 8, 1978) was an American sportswriter and baseball executive. After working as a teacher and as a sportswriter for the ''New York American'', he served as public relations director of the Natio ...
, immediately reported by Stanley Woodward in the '' New York Herald Tribune,'' destroyed the strike movement.[ Pages 253–264]
Personal life
In 1936 Walker married Estelle Shea. They were the parents of daughters Mary Ann and Susan, and sons Stephen, Fred Jr., and Sean.
Walker died of colon cancer in Birmingham on May 17, 1982, and was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham.
See also
* List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
* List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
* List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
This is a list of Major League Baseball players who have compiled 1,000 runs batted in (RBIs). RBIs are usually accumulated when a batter in baseball enables a runner on base (including himself, in the case of a home run) to score as a result of ma ...
* List of Major League Baseball batting champions
In baseball, batting average (AVG) is a measure of a batter's success rate in achieving a hit during an at bat. In Major League Baseball (MLB), it is calculated by dividing a player's hits by his at bats (AB). In MLB, a player in each league win ...
* List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders
In baseball, a run batted in (RBI) is awarded to a Batting (baseball), batter for each Baserunning, runner who Run (baseball), scores as a result of the batter's action, including a Hit (baseball), hit, fielder's choice, sacrifice fly, bases loade ...
* List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders
* List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
In baseball, completing the cycle is the accomplishment of hitting a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. In terms of frequency, the cycle is roughly as common as a no-hitter; '' Baseball Digest'' calls it "one of th ...
* List of St. Louis Cardinals coaches
* List of second-generation Major League Baseball players
Dozens of father-and-son combinations have played or managed in Major League Baseball (MLB).
The first was Jack Doscher, son of Herm Doscher, who made his debut in 1903.
Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. became the first father-and-son duo ...
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
External links
, o
Retrosheet
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Dixie
1910 births
1982 deaths
Albany Nuts players
Atlanta Braves scouts
Atlanta Crackers managers
Atlanta Crackers players
Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state)
Brooklyn Dodgers players
Burials at Elmwood Cemetery (Birmingham, Alabama)
Chicago White Sox players
Deaths from cancer in Alabama
Deaths from colorectal cancer
Detroit Tigers players
Greensboro Patriots players
Greenville Spinners players
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Houston Buffaloes managers
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Los Angeles Dodgers coaches
Los Angeles Dodgers scouts
Major League Baseball first base coaches
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National League All-Stars
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National League RBI champions
Newark Bears (IL) players
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People from Villa Rica, Georgia
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Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area
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