Pittsburgh's Elwin (Preacher) Roe and St. Louis' George Dockins, rival pitchers for tonight's game, show how they plan to fool the batters. DATE: 9-27-1945 ORIGINAL or REPRINT: Type 3 - Second or later-generation photo, printed from a duplicate negative or wire photo process, within about 2 years of when it was shot TEAM: St. Louis Cardinals SUBJECTS: George Dockins, Preacher Roe APPROXIMATE SIZE: 10-1/2"x7-1/2" MARKS / STAMPING: Note hard crease (but not tear) through Roe's head which has cracked the emulsion surface. Please bid accordingly. NUMBER OF PHOTOS: 1 COMMENTS / CONDITION: This is one of a large accumulation of vintage sports photographs, slides and negatives that we will be listing over the coming months. Wear on these, if any, is mostly confined to minor corner and edge wear, but see scans for further details including condition. We do not deal in stock images or modern reprints, and all scans shown are of the actual vintage photograph, slide or negative being sold. If you have any questions about a particular piece, please ask before the auction ends. BIO: George Woodrow Dockins (Lefty) was born in Clyde, KS and died in 997 in Clyde, KS. He played major league baseball from 945 to 947 as pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Brooklyn Dodgers. Elwin Charles Roe was born in Ash Flat, AR and died in 2008 in West Plains, MO. He went to college at Harding College (now University). He played major league baseball from 938 to 954 as pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Brooklyn Dodgers, appeared in the 949, 952 and 953 World Series, and was selected 5 times as an All-Star. The nickname "Preacher" came at age 3 when an uncle asked his name and Roe responded "preacher" because of a minister who would take him on horse-and-buggy rides. Preacher was still pitching in the majors at age 39, unusual at the time, and was the third-oldest player in the National League in the 954 season, his last in the majors. When asked to explain his longevity, he replied "Clean livin' and the spitball." He described his methodology in a 955 article in Sports Illustrated, "The Outlawed Spitball Was My Money Pitch", published a year after he retired. One can get a great flavor of 'Ole Preach', as he was called, by reading Roger Kahn's famous book The Boys of Summer. After baseball Preacher Roe lived in West Plains, Missouri, where for many years he operated a small grocery store and also has a street named after him (Preacher Roe Boulevard), which included US 60 north of the US 63 bypass until the city rerouted US 60 and Route 7 around 2000. US 60 still runs as Preacher Roe Boulevard south of US 63. A community ball field in Salem, Fulton County, Arkansas, 8 miles from Roe's birthplace of Ash Flat, is known as Preacher Roe Park. The book Carl Erskine's Tales from the Dodgers Dugout: Extra Innings (2004) includes short stories from former Dodger pitcher Carl Erskine. Roe is prominent in many of these stories. SKU: XP11717
Item: XP11717
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