Duke Snider
In the 1950s, during New York City's golden era of baseball, there was Willie, Mickey and the Duke — the on-field leaders of the city's three ball clubs. Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle have long been immortalized in baseball lore, but Duke Snider, who died Feb. 27 at 84, was a legend in his own right, helping lead the Brooklyn Dodgers to their sole championship, in 1955, and becoming the only player to twice hit four home runs in a World Series. Though he never won an MVP award, Snider was consistently among baseball's leaders in RBIs and runs scored. But Snider was also a perfectionist, convinced that he wasn't matching the talents of Mays and Mantle, and he took his many frustrations out on his loyal Brooklyn fans. But time and the record books have forgiven this Boy of Summer.
This text originally appeared in the March 14, 2011 issue of TIME magazine.