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Idol's hands Duke Snider brings memories, and autographs, to Central Point By GREG STILES Mail Tribune They still swoon over "The Duke of Flatbush." Nearly four decades since he wore Dodger Blue and 37 years since the Hall of Famer hung up his spikes, Duke Snider still has appeal surpassing most mortals. Lois McGlohn-Burr Hay was a 10th-grader at Enterprise High School in Compton, Calif., back in 1942 when Edwin Donald Snider, already simply known as "Duke," was student body president. The signature penciled on the back of her slender red, white and blue yearbook was the same one several hundred people showed up to get Saturday afternoon at JJ Sports Cards on East Pine Street in Central Point. Decked out in a National Baseball Hall of Fame parka and jewel-studded Hall of Fame ring on his left pinkie, Snider signed autographs for two hours as fans born in the '20s to the '90s patiently waited their turn. Many had their own Duke Snider tales. "He baby-sat one of my friends, Virginia McMillan, and I would go over to his house," said Hay, who moved to Medford in 1967. "I sat next to Duke Snider in class; I told my husband he was one of those kids that everyone liked. "We all cried together after Pearl Harbor happened," she recalled. "Then when they told us that the kids of Japanese descent from school - one-fourth or more of our student body - were going to be taken to (internment) camp, he felt really bad about that." Crystal Hendrickson of Central Point and Jean Uselman Dockery of Grants Pass, like Hay members of the seventysomething club, had their memories as well. "We knew each other back at Compton Junior College," said Dockery, clutching a reunion book that contained pictures of Snider and his wife, Bev. She recalls fondly how Snider once arranged for her son to get into a Dodger game at Chavez Ravine and then spent 45 minutes with him before the game. "I saw he was coming on TV last night and knew I had to come over," Dockery said. "I just had rotator-cuff surgery last week and my husband said, 'You can't go.' But here I am." Snider didn't miss a beat as they briefly swapped information about their kids. "You can't pitch with your arm like that right now," Snider said. Hendrickson met the only player to hit four home runs in two different World Series (1952 and 1956) after he wound up his career and moved to Fallbrook, Calif. "He raised avocados and lemons and I got to meet all the Dodgers when he had them over to his place, and he also had Duke Snider Lanes down there, too," said Hendrickson, who moved to Central Point in 1995. "I knew his wife and children and he taught my son how to play baseball. He wasn't a womanizer, like a lot of the ballplayers." Some fans wonder if Snider, who hit 40 or more home runs five consecutive seasons and led all batters in home runs and RBIs in the 1950s, would have liked to face today's pitching in this era of smaller ballparks. "It doesn't make any difference," Snider said. "You still have to hit the ball. But I would like to have used (Barry) Bonds' bat. That Canadian Maple is nice wood." Saturday also was the perfect occasion for Snider to end old debates, like who took his place in center field. "It was," Snider said, "Don Demeter." "Told you so," said Tim Raines to his buddy. Raines, 59, is a dean at Talent Middle School and a longtime collector. He graduated from high school in 1959, the year after the Dodgers moved west from Brooklyn. "We saw a lot of games in the Coliseum before Dodger Stadium was built," Raines said. "One of my favorite things to do was to lie down at 8 o'clock and listen to Vin Scully broadcast Dodger games." Robert Raher wasn't born until a year after Snider played his final big league season - for the San Francisco Giants. But Raher popped out of bed in the wee hours so he could be the first in line Saturday. He was rewarded for his efforts as he chatted briefly with Snider, who seemed both impressed and honored that someone would wait that long to be the first to greet him. "Four a.m.," Snider marveled as he shook hands. "Golly, thank you, thanks for coming." Medford's Steve Johnson, 48, remembers the very first Major League game he ever saw: Aug. 2, 1962, between the Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates. "I've probably seen a hundred games since," Johnson said, "but that one sticks out." And years later, Snider continues to build on the old memories and create new ones. Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.