He was my favorite player growing up. A California boy who found fame in the borough of Brooklyn. He was a graceful outfielder, and a power hitting threat on the great Brooklyn teams of the late 40’s and 50’s. He was the only lefty threat in the lineup that featured Jackie, Gil, Campy, Pee Wee, and Scoonj. And in Brooklyn he was simply “The Dook”.
I got that part from the foreword to Duke’s story in the book, ” The Duke of Flatbush”, by Bill Gilbert, with Duke as his story teller. The forward came his best friend, Carl Erskine, and was in reference to the way Brooklynites pronounced Duke.