Bill Dickey

Bill Dickey was a Major League hall of fame catcher with the New York Yankees. Dickey spent seventeen years in the Yankees organization. The AA Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock, Arkansas, is named, in part, for Dickey and his brother Skeeter Dickey. With his brother Dickey returned to Little Rock after finishing his career in baseball, joining the firm Stephens Inc.

Dickey was born in Bastrop, Louisiana, in 1907. He grew up in Kensett, Arkansas, near Searcy. He played on the city team, and also for Searcy High School. He began playing baseball for the Arkansas Travelers at the end of 1925, and played for the Travelers and the Muskogee team in 1926. In 1927 he played ball in Jackson, Mississippi. He returned to the Travelers for the 1928 season, but was purchased for $10,000 by the Yankees organization and sent to Buffalo, New York. He played ten games at the end of the season for the Yankees in New York. Dickey played in each season for the Yankees from 1929 to 1946. He hit .324 in his first full year with the team. He retired with a career batting average of .313, 202 home runs, and 1,209 total runs. He played in eight World Series.

Dickey returned to Little Rock to manage the Travelers in 1947. In 1948 he began selling securities for Stephens Inc. While working for Stephens he coached the Yankees through eight more World Series. Dickey was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1954. He retired in 1972 and died in 1993.

References

• Heber Taylor, "Bill Dickey: Kensett's Greatest Catcher," Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, June 13, 1999.