Bill and Skeeter Dickey

Bill Dickey and George "Skeeter" Dickey were both Major League catchers who called Arkansas home.  Both loved baseball and Arkansas and both developed strong friendships with Witt and Jack Stephens, whose surname joins the Dickeys on the marquee of the Travs' new home.

Bill attended Little Rock College and played baseball for a semi-pro team in Hot Springs in 1925 when he caught the attention of Little Rock Travelers manager Lena Blackburne.  The Travs signed Dickey and he played for Little Rock during the '25, '26 and '27 seasons.  The New York Yankees bought Bill's contract in 1928 and brought him up to the American League late that season.  In 1929, the Yankees installed Bill as their starting backstop where he hit .324 in his rookie season.  He set a still-standing American League record by catching 100 games or more for the next 13 years.  During his 17-year playing career, he posted a .313 batting average including the highest average ever recorded by a catcher at .362 in 1936 (he struck out 16 times that year!).  He was an 11-time All-Star and helped lead the Yankees to seven World Series titles.  He played next to Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio, and roomed with Lou Gehrig.  Following World War II where Bill served in the Navy, he spent the 1946 season as catcher/manager for the Yankees but was let go after the season.  Dickey returned to Arkansas and managed the 1947 Travelers for one year before taking 1948 off. 

In 1949 the Yankees hired Casey Stengel as their manager, who brought with him two coaches including Bill Dickey.  Although his official title was Yankees batting instructor Bill's main job was to tutor Yogi Berra, then in his third season, in the art of catching.  They worked tirelessly together often for two or more hours a day during spring training.  As Yogi told reporters one day, "Bill is learnin' me all his experiences."  Berra went on to become an American legend in Yankee pinstripes and publically thanked Bill Dickey during Berra's Hall of Fame induction.  Dickey eventually mentored a long line of great catchers including Elston Howard, Thurman Munson and Johnny Bench. 

Bill was enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1954 and was the first athlete in the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1958.  Bill Dickey was not just one of the finest ballplayer in baseball's history.  He is one of the greatest athletes in the history of Arkansas.

Skeeter Dickey was eight years younger than Bill, and began his pro career in 1933 in Wheeling, West Virginia.  He joined the Travs in 1935 before having his contract purchased by the Boston Red Sox.  Skeeter bounced from Minneapolis to Portland and Oklahoma City before coming back to the Majors with the White Sox in 1941.  Like his brother, Skeeter missed most of three years while serving with the Navy in World War II.  He returned to the big leagues with the White Sox for the 1946 and 1947 seasons before finishing his career with Birmingham in 1948. 

Skeeter went to work for Stephens, Inc. following an invitation from Witt Stephens and became one of the company's most successful bond salesmen.  He served as a Vice President and member of the Executive Board for Stephens Inc.