Goodbye Forever to "We'll Get 'Em Next Year!"

Carl Erskine just died at 97; he was the last surviving member of the Brooklyn Dodgers "Boys of Summer." While Erskine of course left his mark on the baseball field:

Overshadowed by his more famous teammates including Robinson, Gil Hodges, Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella and Duke Snider, Erskine’s best season was 1953 when he went 20-6, leading the Dodgers to the World Series. While the Dodgers lost in six games to the Yankees, Erskine set what was then a World Series record by striking out 14 batters — he got Mickey Mantle four times — in Game 3 when he out-pitched Vic Raschi in a 3-2 Brooklyn victory. 

His finest work may have come off it:

Following his playing career, Erskine became very active in the Special Olympics after his youngest son, Jimmy, was born with Down syndrome in 1960. Rather than have Jimmy institutionalized, as was often the case at the time, the Erskines brought their son home and raised him the same way they raised his three older siblings. Jimmy, who died late last year at the age of 63, worked for 20 years at a local Applebee’s.

For his dedication the Special Olympics, which spanned more than 40 years, Erskine was presented with the Buck O’Neill Award at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. in last July. The award is presented not more than every three years to, in part, “honor an individual whose extraordinary efforts enhanced baseball’s positive impact on society.”

He was also great throughout the brilliant Brooklyn Dodgers: the Ghosts of Flatbush doc that made my all-Liev Schrieber team back in 2008 so you should watch it yourself. I know I'll be re-watching tonight.