1956 Duke Snider’s Brooklyn Dodgers Contract

Duke Snider, “the Duke of Flatbush,” was the center fielder of the Brooklyn Dodgers and part of the 1950s trio of Hall of Fame center fielders who played for New York’s three teams, alongside Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle. A smooth left-handed slugger, he hit 40 or more home runs in five straight seasons (1953-57) and led all major leaguers in home runs (326) and RBI (1,031) during the 1950s. He is the only player to hit four home runs in each of two World Series, 1952 and 1955. This contract was signed on December 18, 1955, just weeks after the long-suffering Dodgers beat the Yankees in seven games to win the franchise’s first World Series title. It secured Snider’s services for 1956, the first season Brooklyn played as defending champions. The four-page document is dated at the height of his career, when he was the biggest bat in one of baseball’s most beloved lineups.

Snider delivered on the deal. In 1956 he hit 43 home runs, a Brooklyn single-season record and the most in the National League that year, with 101 RBI, a .399 on-base percentage and a .598 slugging percentage that both led the league. The Dodgers won the pennant on the final day of the season and faced the Yankees again, but lost in seven games, with Don Larsen’s perfect game in Game 5. It was the last postseason appearance for the team in Brooklyn, since the club moved to Los Angeles after the 1957 season. Snider hit the last home run in Ebbets Field history on September 22, 1957, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1980. A contract signed by Snider, covering his best home-run seas