Fred E. "Dixie" Walker (September 24, 1910 – May 17, 1982) was an American professional baseball player, coach, scout and minor league manager. He played as a right fielder in Major League Baseball from 1931 to 1949. Although Walker was a five-time All-Star selection, and won a National League batting championship () as well as an RBI championship () as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers, his accomplishments as a player were overshadowed by his attempt to keep Jackie Robinson from joining the Dodgers in . He also played for the New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates.
In 11 years in the National League, Walker posted a .310 batting average (in nine seasons in the American League, an average of .295), with 105 total home runs and 1,023 RBIs in 1,905 games. Walker's popularity with the Ebbets Field fans in the 1940s brought him the nickname "the People's Cherce" (so-called, and spelled, because "Choice" in the "Brooklynese" of the mid-20th century frequently was pronounced that way).
Early life
Born on September 24, 1910, in Villa Rica, Georgia, Walker was the scion of a baseball family. His father, Ewart (the original "Dixie Walker"), was a pitcher for the Washington Senators (1909–12); an uncle, Ernie Walker, was an outfielder for the St. Louis Browns (1913–15); and his younger brother, Harry "the Hat" Walker, also an outfielder, played for four National League teams between 1940 and 1955 and managed the St. Louis Cardinals (1955), Pittsburgh Pirates (1965–67) and Houston Astros (1968–72). All four Walkers batted left-handed and threw right-handed.
Playing career
Walker originally entered the major leagues with the New York Yankees, and was considered the heir to Babe Ruth as the team's left fielder after playing with the Yankees in 1931, and again from 1933 to 1936.
After stints with the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers, Walker blossomed into a star with the Brooklyn Dodgers, with whom he played from 1939 to 1947. He was a five time All Star, being selected in every year from 1943 to 1947. Additionally, he was the National League's batting champion in 1944, with his average of .357 besting runner up Stan Musial's .347. Additionally, Walker was the 1945 National League runs batted in champion, with his total of 124 topping Boston Braves outfielder Tommy Holmes, with 117. After the season, Walker became the first National League "player representative" recognized by major league owners. The post was created to stave off the formation of a players' union in the wake of the short-lived American Baseball Guild movement earlier that year. Johnny Murphy, the Yankees' stalwart relief pitcher, became the American League's first player representative.
After the 1947 season, Walker was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates, for whom he played two seasons before retiring in 1949.
Career statistics
In 1905 games covering 18 seasons, Walker compiled a .306 batting average (2,064-for-6,740) with 1,038 runs, 376 doubles, 96 triples, 105 home runs, 1,023 RBI, 817 base on balls, a .383 on-base percentage and a .437 slugging percentage. Defensively, he recorded a .972 fielding percentage. In the 1941 and 1947 World Series, playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers, he hit .222 (10-for-45) with one home run and four RBI.
Managing and coaching career
The Pirates released Walker after the 1949 season, and he began a managing and coaching career as manager of the minor league Atlanta Crackers. In his first year as manager, they won the Southern Association pennant. He then led them to finishes of sixth and second.
Walker coached with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1953, but left partway through the season to manage the Cardinals' Houston team in the Texas League. He managed Houston through 1954, after which he managed in the International League, first with the Rochester Red Wings (1955–1956), where he won back-to-back Governors' Cup championships, and then with the Toronto Maple Leafs (1957–1959).
The Milwaukee Braves made Walker a scout in 1960, and he worked in this position until 1963, when he joined the team's coaching staff for three years. When the Braves relocated to Atlanta in 1966, Walker was their chief scout for the Southeastern United States.
In 1968, Walker rejoined the Dodgers as hitting coach, and he held this position until 1974. From 1974 to 1976 he was a coach for the Dodgers' minor league system.