This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/15/2020
Nicknamed Duke by his father for his self-assured swagger, Edwin grew rapidly as he entered adolescence, reaching six feet in height and weighing 150 pounds in high school.
Duke participated in football, basketball, baseball, and track at Compton High School. He had a powerful arm, once throwing a 63-yard touchdown pass. He was high scorer on the same basketball team with Pete Rozelle, the future commissioner of the National Football League. On the baseball team he pitched and batted cleanup. Snider performed well at a Dodgers’ tryout camp in Long Beach, California, and was offered a contract calling for a $750 bonus and a salary of $250 a month. The Pittsburgh Pirates subsequently offered him a $15,000 bonus, but Duke honored his Dodgers contract. Invited to 1944 spring training at Bear Mountain, New York, Snider quickly demonstrated both his baseball talent and a difficult temperament. Cold and homesick—he failed to bring a coat—the seventeen-year-old moped instead of following directions to run laps. After apologizing for his behavior, Snider was inserted into the lineup against the West Point team and belted a long three-run homer. General Manager Branch Rickey profusely praised Snider’s power, arm, and the “steel springs in his legs.” Featured here is a terrific and altogether impressive example of "Duke's" 1954 Bowman card that has been graded GEM MINT 10 by the astute power brokers at PSA! Of the 1050 copies of this card that have passed through the grading room at PSA, the featured example hails as just 1 of 2 copies that has been crowned with the exalted title of GEM MINT 10 by PSA. Four needle like corners and an appearance as though the card was just retrieved from its wax pack confinement have left the graders no other alternative.