Dickey among best ever

By WES HELBLING
Friday, March 28, 2008

Baseball Hall of Famer Bill Dickey's importance to the great national pastime is easy to overlook, but difficult to overestimate.

The Bastrop native is considered by many historians to be the greatest catcher the game has ever seen. An 11-time All-Star, Dickey played with the New York Yankees from 1928-1946, and is credited with helping his team win eight pennants and seven World Series titles.

William Malcolm Dickey was born in Bastrop June 6, 1907. Little is known of his family or childhood here, and it is believed his parents moved to Arkansas when the future Yankee was a toddler.

The Dickeys were living in Kensett, Ark., by 1915 and here Bill's younger brother, George Willard, was born. George "Skeets" Dickey would follow in his brother's footsteps to play in the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox between 1935 and 1947.

When and how Dickey was discovered for his prowess on the field is unclear. He was fortunate to be signed by the Yankees at a time when first-rate catchers like himself were getting the recognition they deserved.

Dickey is quoted, "A catcher must want to catch. He must make up his mind that it isn't the terrible job it is painted, and that he isn't going to say every day, 'Why, oh why, with so many other positions in baseball, did I take up this one?'"
Teammates said Dickey was the epitome of quiet professionalism. Baseball could be a rough and tumble affair in those days, but for the most part, Dickey was known as the exception. Only once did he lose his temper on the field, breaking the jaw of opposing player Carl Reynolds when Reynolds bowled over him sliding home. Dickey was suspended for 30 days and slapped with a $1,000 fine.

Teammate Charles Devens, who signed with the Yankees fresh out of Yale in 1932, writes of Dickey in his memoir: "In the depths of the Depression I felt rich...I was lucky to work with Hall of Fame catcher Bill Dickey, who was always one pitch ahead of the batters. He not only called a great game, but had the best arm I've ever seen. It seems funny now, but I remember that in street clothes Dickey almost appeared awkward."

Dickey was never awkward on the playing field. He collected 102 home runs between 1936 and 1939, and kept his average well over .300. On July 6, 1939 he hit three home runs in a single game.

"I loved to make a great defensive play," Dickey said later. "I'd rather do that than hit a home run."

Yankee manager Joe McCarthy trusted Dickey with training young recruits like Red Ruffing, "Lefty" Gomez and Spurgeon Chandler. Sportswriter Dan Daniel said at the time Dickey was not "just a catcher, he's a ballclub."

Dickey shared an apartment with Yankee captain and first baseman Lou Gehrig. They became lifelong friends, and when Gehrig died in 1941 from the disease that would come to bear his name, only Dickey and McCarthy would attend the funeral. From then on the Yankees regarded Dickey as team leader in Gehrig's place.

In 1942, Dickey appeared as himself in "The Pride of the Yankees," a film about Gehrig starring Gary Cooper.

Dickey's finest moment came in the 1943 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. At 36, Dickey was older than most major leaguers. Gehrig's death had cast a pall on his career, and he was about to enlist in the U.S. Navy for a two-year tour of duty. Despite his age and the matters weighing heavy on his mind, Dickey won the final game of the series with a home run.

In 1946 Dickey returned from the battlefront to find McCarthy battling exhaustion and alcoholism. After an altercation with his own players aboard a plane, McCarthy resigned and a reluctant Dickey took over as manager.

As a scout and coach for the Yankees, Dickey is credited with discovering Mickey Mantle and with training one of the most beloved figures ever to play the game: Yogi Berra.

Lawrence "Yogi" Berra was signed by the Yankees in 1947 for a mere $500. He was 21 years old, a .208 hitter and fast on his feet but unpolished. Dickey began tutoring him. "Bill is learning me his experiences," Berra said of the training. Dickey stuck with his protégé for two years, during which Berra said he "taught me what I didn't know."

Dickey was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1954. His life's journey, which began right here in Bastrop, had culminated in the greatest honor the game offers its heroes. His Hall of Fame biography describes him as an "expert handler of pitchers with the deadly accurate throwing-arm. ...Known for his durability, he set an American League record by catching 100 or more games 13 years in a row."

He continued coaching for the Yankees until 1957. Dickey passed away November 12, 1993 and is buried in Roselawn Cemetery in Little Rock. The iconic Yankees logo is engraved on the surface of his headstone. His brother George is buried nearby.

Bill Dickey's No. 8 is one of 15 retired uniforms among the Yankees. A monument to his legacy has been erected at Yankee Stadium. The quiet, cool headed Bastrop native is thus honored alongside Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio, his friend Lou Gehrig and his own students, Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra.

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