Raymond Bernard "Snooks" Dowd (December 20, 1897 – April 4, 1962) was an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for Lehigh University. He also played professional football as an

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

from 1918 to 1927, including stints with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

(1919),

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

(1919), and

Brooklyn Robins The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californi ...

(1926).

Early years

Dowd was born in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

, in 1897. He attended Lehigh University where he played football, basketball, and baseball. He was credited with a 200-yard touchdown run after recovering a fumble and running nearly 100 yards in the wrong direction before correcting his course and running 100 yards back in the correct direction. He left the school in January 1919 prior to taking examinations he had been ordered to take by the faculty.

Professional baseball

Dowd began playing professional baseball in 1918 for the Syracuse Stars in the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

. He compiled a .290 batting average and stole 11 bases during the 1918 season. He made his major league debut on April 27, 1919, with the

, but appeared in only one game with the Tigers. He also appeared in 12 major league games for the

during the 1919 season, but he spent the bulk of the 1919 season with the Newark Bears, compiling a .329 batting average. Dowd spent the 1920 and 1921 seasons with the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

of the International League, compiling batting averages of .307 in 1920 and .292 in 1921. He continued to play in the minor leagues for the Kansas City Blues (1922),

Albany Senators The Albany Senators was a name used by multiple minor league baseball teams representing Albany, New York, that existed between 1885 and 1959. The mid-20th century club played at Hawkins Stadium (Albany), Hawkins Stadium. The various editions of t ...

(1922),

Reading Keystones The Reading Fightin Phils (also called the Reading Fightins) are a Minor League Baseball team based in Reading, Pennsylvania, playing in the Northeast Division of the Eastern League. The team plays their home games at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Rea ...

(1923),

New Haven Profs The New Haven Profs was one of the longest lasting names of a minor league baseball team that was located in New Haven, Connecticut and played primarily in the Eastern League and Connecticut League The Connecticut League, also known as the Conne ...

(1923-1924), and Jersey City Skeeters (1925-26). He briefly returned to the major leagues in April 1926, appearing in two games for the Brooklyn Robins. He continued playing in the minor leagues for two years with the Newark Bears (1926),

Springfield Ponies Springfield Ponies was the primary name of minor league baseball teams based in Springfield, Massachusetts that played between 1893 and 1943. The team competed as the Ponies through its history except for single seasons as the Maroons (1895), Tip ...

(1926), Bridgeport Bears (1927),

Hartford Senators The Hartford Senators were a minor league baseball team based in Hartford, Connecticut. They operated in the Connecticut League from 1902–1912, the Eastern Association from 1913–1914, the Eastern League (baseball, 1916-32), Eastern League from ...

(1927), and

Providence Grays The Providence Grays were a Major League Baseball team based in Providence, Rhode Island who played in the National League from until . The Grays played at the Messer Street Grounds in the Olneyville neighborhood. The team won the National Leagu ...

(1927). He was described as "one of the most traveled men in professional baseball." During his major league career, Snooks appeared in 16

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), ...

games and had a career batting average of .115 with four runs, three hits, and six RBIs.

Death

Dowd died in 1962 at age 64 at the Veteran Hospital in Leeds, Massachusetts.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowd, Snooks 1897 births 1962 deaths Major League Baseball infielders Brooklyn Robins players Detroit Tigers players Philadelphia Athletics players Baseball players from Springfield, Massachusetts Lehigh Mountain Hawks football players Lehigh Mountain Hawks baseball players Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players Hamilton Tigers (baseball) players Newark Bears (International League) players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Albany Senators players New Haven Profs players Jersey City Skeeters players Springfield Ponies players Bridgeport Bears (baseball) players Hartford Senators players Providence Grays (minor league) players Players of American football from Massachusetts