Cliff Dapper
| Cliff Dapper | |
|---|---|
 Dapper, circa 1942 | |
| Catcher | |
| Born: January 2, 1920 Los Angeles, California, US | |
| Died: February 8, 2011 (aged 91) Fallbrook, California, US | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 19, 1942, for the Brooklyn Dodgers | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| May 3, 1942, for the Brooklyn Dodgers | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .471 |
| Home runs | 1 |
| Runs batted in | 9 |
| Games played | 8 |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Clifford Roland Dapper (January 2, 1920 – February 8, 2011) was a Major League Baseball catcher who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers during the 1942 season. Listed at 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m), 190 pounds (86 kg), he batted and threw right-handed.[1]
Born in
Following his military discharge, Dapper returned to baseball as a player and then manager, helming Pittsburgh Pirates farm clubs in Eugene, Oregon, and Billings, Montana, all while still an active player. He eventually played 1,623 minor-league games over a twenty-year span, hitting .274 and 102 homers before retiring in 1957,[2] the same year that his former team, the Brooklyn Dodgers, moved to his home town of Los Angeles.
Traded for Ernie Harwell
Dapper held the unique distinction of having been traded for an announcer. In 1948, Dapper, then with the Dodgers' top farm club, the
While Dapper returned to the Dodgers organization the following year, playing for another Brooklyn-affiliated AAA team—the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League—in 1950, Harwell left the Dodgers after the 1949 season, broadcasting the New York Giants and Baltimore Orioles through the 1950s before spending the next 42 years with the Detroit Tigers.[6] Harwell and Dapper would not meet for over half a century, until Dapper came to Comerica Park on September 15, 2002, when Harwell's statue at the Tigers' home was unveiled.[7]
After Baseball
Following his baseball career, Dapper settled in Fallbrook, California, buying a ranch alongside former Dodgers teammate Duke Snider where they made a substantial living farming avocados and lemons on 60 acres.[6][8] Dapper became president of the California Avocado Growers Council.[9]
Dapper and his wife Stanna (née Curtis), who had been high school classmates and married in 1944, raised three sons—all catchers—and a daughter in Fallbrook.[10] Stanna died in 2008, after which Dapper moved to an assisted living facility in Fallbrook, where he died at the age of 91 in 2011.[4][6][10] Dapper and his wife are buried together at Riverside National Cemetery.[1]
References
- ^ a b "Cliff Dapper Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
- ^ a b "Cliff Dapper Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
- ^ Bedingfield, Gary (January 6, 2015). "Those Who Served A to Z: All Major League Players, Umpires, Managers and Coaches who Served with the Armed Forces in WWII". Baseball in Wartime. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
- ^ a b Thursby, Keith (14 February 2011). "Cliff Dapper, traded by Brooklyn Dodgers for announcer Ernie Harwell, dies at 91". Los Angeles Times Blogs - Afterword. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
- MLB. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
- ^ MLB.com. Archived from the originalon February 15, 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
- ^ McGraw, Bill (September 3, 2009). "Not even cancer diagnosis can shake Harwell's spirit". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on September 6, 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
- ^ "Hall of Famer "Duke" Snider passes at age 84". Fallbrook & Bonsall Village News. February 27, 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
- San Diego Union-Tribune. 17 February 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
- ^ a b "Baseball notable Cliff Dapper passes away at age 91". Fallbrook & Bonsall Village News. February 18, 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
- Retrosheet