Looks like a fairly week group among the MLers in '55. He's the only one, IMO, that has any chance to be elected.

And his is not much of a case. Simply a terrible defender with a war inflated OPS+ (which still isn't all that impressive). Not even top 100 material in my view.

Some family ties as reported by baseballlibrary.com:

"Dixie's brother, Harry Walker, was the 1947 NL batting champ. Their father, Ewart "Dixie" Walker, pitched for the 1909-12 Senators, and their uncle, Ernie Walker, played for the 1913-15 Browns."

Great nickname -- "The People's Cherce"

"Dixie's brother, Harry Walker, was the 1947 NL batting champ. Their father, Ewart "Dixie" Walker, pitched for the 1909-12 Senators, and their uncle, Ernie Walker, played for the 1913-15 Browns."

I knew about "Harry the Hat," but not about the others. Nice info, David.

Harry the Hat managed the Astros in the late 60s/early 70s.
Ralph Kiner, who still broadcasts Mets games, always had funny stories about the Hat back then. You'll hear a lot more about Kiner and his Kiner-isms as he reaches the ballot soon.

I'm sure everybody knows that Dixie was the ring leader of the anti-Jackie Robinson/anti-integration faction of the Dodgers, and was traded away for that reason.

Not a bad ball player, but one heck of a black mark for a borderline candidate. I don't think he would be top 100 either way but certainly not if you believe he wasn't always (in 1947) solely focused on winning ball games.

Yeah, I know. Ralph is a sweet guy, but that stuff never saw the light of day on his broadcasts.

You'll hear a lot more about Kiner and his Kiner-isms as he reaches the ballot soon.

You definitely will from me. :-)

I'm sure everybody knows that Dixie was the ring leader of the anti-Jackie Robinson/anti-integration faction of the Dodgers, and was traded away for that reason.

Baseballlibrary is a little more flattering to Dixie:

"When Jackie Robinson broke the color line with Brooklyn in 1947, Walker, a native of Georgia, initially resisted the idea. But he was soon defending Robinson and giving him pointers. Following that pennant-winning season, in what turned out to be one of the best trades in Brooklyn history, Walker was sent to the Pirates in a six-player deal for pitcher Preacher Roe and third baseman Billy Cox."

... whatever the reason, the trade falls into Rickey's philosophy that its better to get rid of a player a year too early than a year too late.

So, is it urban legend that Dixie was traded because he was opposed to integration?

Not necessarily. He did request a trade before the 1947 season, "for personal reasons." Rickey couldn't work out a favorable trade until after the season. However, he did get along with Robinson, and as far as I know, didn't participate in any opposition to Robinson's presence on the team. See Jack Kavanaugh's article in the 1993 Baseball Research Journal.