Fred "Dixie" Walker (September 24, 1910 - May 17, 1982) was a right fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Yankees (1931, 1933-36), Chicago White Sox (1936-37), Detroit Tigers (1938-39), Brooklyn Dodgers (1939-47) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1948-49). He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. September 24 is the 267th day of the year (268th in leap years). ... 1910 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... May 17 is the 137th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (138th in leap years). ... 1982 is a number and represents a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar Events January-February January 6 - William Bonin is convicted of being the freeway killer. January 8 - AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions January 11 - Mark Thatcher, son of the British... The position of the right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in right field (e. ... Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in professional baseball in North America. ... New York Yankees American League AAA Columbus Clippers AA Trenton Thunder A Charleston RiverDogs Tampa Yankees Staten Island Yankees R Gulf Coast Yankees The New York Yankees are a Major League baseball team based in The Bronx, New York City. ... Chicago White Sox American League AAA Charlotte Knights AA Birmingham Barons A Winston-Salem Warthogs Kannapolis Intimidators R Bristol White Sox Great Falls White Sox The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. ... Detroit Tigers American League AAA Toledo Mud Hens AA Erie SeaWolves A Lakeland Tigers West Michigan Whitecaps Oneonta Tigers R GCL Tigers The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team based in Detroit, Michigan. ... The text below is generated by a template, which has been proposed for deletion. ... This article is on the baseball team. ...

In a 18-season career, Walker posted a .306 batting average with 105 home runs and 1023 RBI in 1905 games. Batting average is a statistic in both baseball and cricket measuring the performance of baseball hitters and cricket batsmen, respectively. ... In baseball, a home run is a base hit in which the batter is able to circle all the bases, ending at home plate and scoring a run, with no errors on the play that result in the batter achieving extra bases. ... In baseball statistics, a run batted in (RBI) is given to a batter for each run scored as the result of a batters plate appearance. ... In baseball statistics, games played (denoted by G) indicates the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity). ...

A native of Villa Rica, Georgia, Walker was a player whose popularity with the Ebbets Field fans in the 1940s brought him the nickname "The People Cherce". A five-consecutive All-Star (1943-47) and a winner of the National League batting crown in 1944, he also was considered five times for the MVP Award. Villa Rica is a city located in Carroll County, Georgia. ... Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball stadium in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Major League Baseball All-Star Game is an annual exhibition baseball game between the best players from the National League and the American League. ... This article refers to the American baseball league. ... Batting average is a statistic in both baseball and cricket measuring the performance of baseball hitters and cricket batsmen, respectively. ... See also: 1943 in sports, 1945 in sports and the list of years in sports. Many sporting events did not take place because of World War II. Baseball May 7 - Chucho Ramos made his major league debut as first baseman and outfielder with the Cincinnati Reds. ... In the game of baseball, both amateur and professional, it is tradition to annually recognize the one player in the league who has contributed the most to the success of the players team. ...

At 17 age, Walker was obtained by the Yankees in 1930 for a then-record $25,000. Althought he lacked smoothness, Walker was such an outstanding prospect that the organization envisioned him as the Babe Ruth successor after batting .350 in the International League. Basically a pull hitter with some power, he also was a fast runner and a competent outfielder with a fine throwing arm. Nevertheles, in his 1931 rookie season he crashed into a fence and suffered a shoulder injury that impaired his throwing. The injury was corrected through a surgery and he was out in 1932, but the injury recurred a year later after a slide in second base. After the second injury, despite he was hitting .350, and on the arrival of Joe DiMaggio, manager Joe McCarthy traded Walker to the White Sox in the 1936 mid-season. He was able to play for the Yankees only 131 games in a span of six years. Ruth batting for the Yankees George Herman Ruth, (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948), better known as Babe Ruth and also commonly known by the nicknames The Bambino and The Sultan of Swat, was an American baseball player and United States national icon. ... The International League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the eastern United States and Canada. ... The position of the second baseman A second baseman often ranges onto the outfield grass to field a ground ball A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base. ... Joseph Paul DiMaggio (born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio November 25, 1914 in Martinez, California - March 8, 1999 in Hollywood, Florida) was an American baseball player. ... In baseball, the head coach of a team is called the manager; this individual controls matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. ... Joseph McCarthy This article is about the American politician. ...

With Chicago, Walker hit .302 and tied for the American League with triples in 1937, but he cracked up the damaged shoulder so badly that he needed surgery again. Finally, the Sox sent him to Detroit before the 1938 season. He continued to hit more than .300 with the Tigers, then he ripped cartilage in a knee in 1939. Although he had been hitting for a high average, his career seemed nearing an end because of the string of injuries. Placed on waivers, Walker was obtained by the Dodgers in the mid-season when they were in need of outfielders. The American League (or formally the American League of Professional Baseball Clubs) is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States of America and Canada. ... In baseball, a triple is the act of a batter safely reaching third base by striking the ball and getting to third before being made out, without the benefit of a fielders misplay (see error) or another runner being put out on a fielders choice. ...

Since the beginning, Walker became a celebrity in Brooklyn. In his first game for the 1940 Dodgers he singled to right field in the 11th inning to beat the Boston Braves. In that campaign he led his team in batting average (.308) and doubles. He also posted some of his best games against the New York Giants, batting .436 against the hated rivals, and as result, endeared himself to the Brooklyn fans. Nevertheless, manager Leo Durocher opened the 1941 season with the newly acquired Paul Waner in Walker's right field spot. In consequence, Brooklyn fans were outraged. But the veteran Waner faded fast and was sent to the Boston Braves. Walker returned only to became part of an all-.300-hitting outfield (along with CF Pete Reiser and LF Joe Medwick), that led the Dodgers to the 1941 National League pennant. The Atlanta Braves are a Major League Baseball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. ... In baseball, a double is the act of a batter safely reaching second base by striking the ball and getting to second before being made out, without the benefit of a fielders misplay (see error) or another runner being put out on a fielders choice. ... San Francisco Giants AAA Fresno Grizzlies AA Norwich Navigators A San Jose Giants Augusta GreenJackets Salem-Keizer Volcanoes R Arizona Giants Edit this box The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California. ... Leo Ernest Durocher (July 27, 1905 - October 7, 1991), nicknamed Leo the Lip, was a Major League Baseball player and manager. ... Paul Glee Waner (April 16, 1903 - August 29, 1965) was an American player in Major League Baseball who, along with his brother Lloyd, starred in the Pittsburgh Pirates outfield in the 1920s and 1930s. ... The position of the center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field - the baseball fielding position between left field and right field (e. ... Pete Reiser (1919-81), the original Pistol Pete, was an outfielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers (and later the Boston Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates and Cleveland Indians) whose splendid career would have lasted longer if his hell-for-leather style of play had not caused him so many injuries. ... The position of the left fielder A left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder in the sport of baseball who plays defense in left field. ... Joseph Michael Medwick (November 24, 1911 - March 21, 1975), nicknamed Muscles, was an American player in Major League Baseball. ... This article refers to the American baseball league. ...

The following years, Walker continued to produce. He hit .290 in 1942, .302 in 1943, led the NL with a .357 batting average in 1944, ahead of Stan Musial at .347, with the NL MVP award going to fielding wizard shortstop Marty Marion. Walker won the 1945 RBI title with 124 and hit .300. In 1946 he was second in RBI (116) and third in batting average (.319), finishing second in the MVP vote behind Musial. Stanislaus Frank Musial (born November 21, 1920), nicknamed Stan the Man, is a Polish-American former player in Major League Baseball who played 22 seasons for the St. ... The position of the shortstop A shortstop moves to his left, toward the center of the field, to play a ground ball Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. ... Martin Whiteford Marion (born December 1, 1917 in Richburg, South Carolina) is a former shortstop and manager in Major League Baseball. ...

When the Dodgers broke baseball's color barrier signing Jackie Robinson, Walker became a figure of some controversy. In 1947, during spring training, the club announced that it was bringing up Robinson from the minors. Walker thereupon wrote a letter to Branch Rickey, the club president, asking him to be traded. The letter did not mention Robinson by name, but Walker acknowledge later that he had been under pressure from Alabama people not to play with Robinson. He denied, nevertheless, that he had been in the forefront of a move to block Robinson. He was soon defending him and giving him pointers, and added that he came to respect Robinson for the way he handled the abuse hurled at him, and called him "as outstanding an athlete as I never saw". Walker finished the year with .306 and 94 RBI. The Baseball color line was the unwritten policy which excluded African American United States before 1947. ... Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 - October 24, 1972) became the first African American Major League Baseball player of the modern era in 1947. ... -1... A Grapefruit League game at the LA Dodgers camp in Vero Beach, Florida Spring training in Major League Baseball is a series of exhibition games which precedes the regular season. ... Wesley Branch Rickey (December 20, 1881 _ December 9, 1965) was an innovative Major League Baseball executive who is best known for helping break baseballs color barrier and creating the framework to the modern minor league system. ... Alabama is a state located in the southern United States; the population of Alabama is 4,447,100 as of 2000. ...

Sent to the Pirates in 1948, Walker led his team with a .318 average (topping the .300 mark for the tenth time in 12 years), and ended his playing career the next season. Following his retirement as a player, he managed several minor league teams for most of the 1950s; served as a batting coach with the St. Louis Cardinals, and coached and scouted both for the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers. Events January January 5 - US Senator Estes Kefauver introduces a resolution calling for examination of organized crime in the USA January 6 - The United Kingdom recognizes the Peoples Republic of China. ... In the baseball game, the coach is a member of the team at bat stationed near first or third base to signal and direct the runners and batters. ... The St. ... Professional sports scouts are trained talent evaluators who travel extensively for the purposes of watching athletes play their chosen sports and determining whether their set of skills and talents represent what is needed by the scouts organization. ... The Atlanta Braves are a Major League Baseball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. ... The text below is generated by a template, which has been proposed for deletion. ...

Dixie Walker died in Birmingham, Alabama, at the age of 71. Birmingham is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Jefferson County. ...

External links

• Baseball-Reference.com  (http://www.baseball-reference.com/w/walkedi02.shtml) - career statistics and analysis
• Baseball Library (http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/W/Walker_Dixie22.stm)
• Sports Illustrated (http://www.cnnsi.com/baseball/mlb/players/47816/)