Bill Dickey is remembered today as one of the greatest catchers in Major League Baseball history.
From humble roots in Louisiana and Arkansas, Dickey rose through the ranks to become one of the greatest New York Yankees of all time. He also is remembered as being one of the best catchers in baseball, and the guy who taught Yogi Berra how to play behind the plate.
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Bill Dickey Remembered
Hall of Famer Bob Feller said Dickey was “the best all-around catcher of them all. I believe I could have won 35 games if Bill Dickey was my catcher,” according to the Baseball Hall Of Fame.
For a man who would become a key part of the formidable team from New York City, Dickey had roots far away from the Big Apple.
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Baseball Begins
Dickey was born June 6, 1907, in Bastrop, a tiny town in the timber country of northeastern Louisiana. As a young child, his family moved one state north, landing in Kensett, Ark., where his father worked as a brakeman for Missouri Pacific Railroad.
It’s difficult to imagine a poorer part of the country or a section more removed from the bright lights of New York City. But Gotham is where Bill Dickey would be by 1928.
Dickey got noticed by accident. He played baseball at Searcy High School and at Little Rock College after high school graduation. His friend, Jimmy Froley, caught for a semi-pro team out of Hot Springs. According to the Society for American Baseball Research (SBAR), Froley couldn’t make the games one weekend.
The reason why is not mentioned, but whatever it was, it changed Dickey’s life.
Froley convinced Dickey to go to Hot Springs and fill in for him. Dickey went. Lena Blackburne, the manager of the Little Rock Travelers, just happened to be at the game to scout an outfielder named Paul Philips. He got Dickey to sign to play with the Travelers in 1925.
That’s exactly what he did. Dickey played in Little Rock, Muskogee, Okla. and Jackson, Miss., putting up good numbers. But in 1927, after playing in 101 games for Jackson, the team waived its rights to him. The Yankees picked him up at the urging of scout Johnny Nee.
Nee famously told the Yankees at the time that if Dickey didn’t prove to be a valuable player, he would quit scouting. Needless to say, he never had to quit scouting.
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Yankee Success
In his years with the Yankees, Dickey played on seven world champion teams and racked up 11 All-Star appearances.
At first, he tried to emulate power-hitting teammates such as Babe Ruth. Yankees manager Miller Huggins famously told Dickey “We pay one player here for hitting home runs and that’s Babe Ruth. So, choke up and drill the ball. That way, you’ll be around here longer.”
Which he was. By the time Dickey retired after the 1946 season, he had amassed a .313 lifetime batting average, 1209 RBI and a reputation as one of the best defensive catchers of his generation.
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Teaching Berra
Dickey is remembered most after his playing days for teaching Berra how to be a catcher. The young Berra had great hitting skills, but his abilities behind the plate were lacking. According to SABR, George Weiss – then the general manager of the Yankees – hired Dickey to the Yankees coaching staff to work primarily with Berra.
He taught him that the catcher truly controls the game, and that he is an extension of the manager on the field. He made him work repeatedly on the right stance behind the plate for receiving the ball and throwing out baserunners.
Berra quickly became one of the best catchers in baseball. Berra, according to SABR, credited Dickey with his own success, saying: “I always say I owe everything I did in baseball to Bill Dickey. He was a great man,”
Dickey spent his later years selling securities at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock. He died Nov. 12, 1993, in Little Rock.
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