Dickey, "Bill" (William M.)
Baseball
b. June 6, 1907, Bastrop, LA
d. Nov. 12, 1993
After playing at Little Rock College for a year, Dickey entered professional baseball for a few games at the end of the 1925 season. He was called up to the New York Yankees for 10 games in 1928 and he became the team's starting catcher the following year.
A left-handed hitter, Dickey was the link between two Yankee dynasties, the "Murderers' Row" teams of Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth and the Joe Dimaggio-led teams of the late 1930s. He caught more than 100 games in each of 13 consecutive seasons, from 1929 through 1941, a major league record, and he batted over .300 in 11 of his 16 major league seasons.
He hit .324, .339, and .327 in his first three full seasons and set an American League record in 1931 by catching 130 games without allowing a passed ball. The Yankees won the pennant in 1932, when Dickey batted .310 during the regular season and .438 in a four-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs in the World Series.
Dickey hit .322 in 1933, when the Yankees won another pennant and beat the Washington Senators in a five-game World Series. He reached his peak from 1936 through 1939, hitting more than 20 home runs and driving in more than 100 runs each season, as the Yankees won four straight world championships. His .362 average in 1936 is still a record for catchers.
In 1940, Dickey slumped to .247. After hitting .284 in 1941, another pennant season, he became a part-time player. His two-run home run in the fifth game of the 1943 World Series gave the Yankees a 2-0 victory and another championship, Dickey's eighth and last.
He served in the Navy during 1944 and 1945, then returned to the Yankees for one more year. He guided the team to a 57-48 record as interim manager during the 1946 season.
Dickey managed briefly in the minor leagues, then became the link to yet another Yankee dynasty in 1949, when Casey Stengel hired him as a coach to help polish Yogi Berra's defensive skills. He remained as a coach through 1957, became a scout for two seasons, and then coached again in 1960 before retiring from baseball.
In 1,789 games, Dickey batted .313, with 1,969 hits. He had 343 doubles, 72 triples, and 202 home runs, scoring 930 runs and driving in 1,209. He led AL catchers in fielding percentage four times.