BILL DICKEY - QUESTIONNAIRE SIGNED - HFSID 270016

BILL DICKEY CREDITS HIS FIRST MANAGER, MILLER HUGGINS, WITH "HAVING THE MOST INFLUENCE IN DEVELOPING [MY] TALENTS TO CHAMPIONSHIP QUALITY"
 
 
BILL DICKEY. Partly printed Document Signed: "Bill Dickey", 1p, 8½x11. No place, no date. Questionnaire with six typed questions answered by Dickey in holograph. In full: "Who was your favorite baseball hero when you were a youngster? 'Babe Ruth' What major league ball park was your favorite? Which park seemed best suited to your style of hitting? 'Detroit' Which manager, or player, do you feel had the most influence in developing your talents to championship quality? 'Miller Huggins' What do you consider your most memorable moment associated with the game of baseball? 'Every World Series in which I participated' Who do you consider the toughest pitchers you had to face in the major leagues? 'Lefty Grove - Bob Feller' If you had the decision to make again, Mr. Dickey, would you still wish to become a professional baseball player? 'Yes.' The premier catcher of the late 1930s and early 1940s, the lefthanded-hitting BILL DICKEY (1907-1993) was the soul of the Yankee dynasty bridging the Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio eras as a player and the Mickey Mantle era as a coach. A key performer for the Yankees on eight American League pennant-winners and seven World Series championships, the Baseball Hall of Famer had a lifetime batting average of .313, playing his entire career with the Yankees (1928-1943, 1946). BABE RUTH and Bill Dickey (12-years-old when Ruth joined the Yankees in 1920) were teammates from 1928-1934. The DETROIT Tigers played in Briggs Stadium from 1912-1999. It was originally called Navin Field; it was renamed Briggs Stadium in 1938 and became Tiger Stadium in 1961. The movie 61, about Yankees Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle's quest to break Babe Ruth's home run record, was filmed there in 2000. MILLER HUGGINS was Dickey's first manager. 50-year-old Miller Huggins died suddenly in New York on September 25, 1929, as the 1929 baseball season was ending. He had managed Dickey for less than two seasons but, evidently, he made a lasting impression on the young catcher. LEFTY GROVE pitched for the Philadelphia Athletics (1925-1933) and Boston Red Sox (1934-1941). Righty BOB FELLER pitched for the Cleveland Indians (1926-1941, 1945-1956). Both are Hall of Famers. In 1949, Dickey returned to the Yankees as a coach, as first base coach and as catching instructor to aid catcher Yogi Berra, who had inherited Dickey's uniform number, in playing the position. Berra said, "Bill Dickey is learning me all of his experiences." Dickey and Berra's number 8 were retired by the Yankees in 1972. Fine condition.