Doug Duke

Jerome Douglas Duke

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 210 lb.

• School University of Alabama
• High School Central High School (Tuscaloosa)

• Born October 30, 1964

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Doug Duke played as high as AAA.

Duke was taken by the Detroit Tigers in the 27th round of the 1983 amateur draft but opted for college. He set a University of Alabama school record with 27 home runs in 1986, a mark that stood for 23 years until Kent Matthes topped it. Duke was named the All-American catcher, one year after B.J. Surhoff and one year before Darrin Fletcher and Craig Biggio. The Montreal Expos picked him in the 7th round of the 1986 amateur draft, one pick before Mike Garcia.

Doug hit .233/.302/.411 for the Jamestown Expos in his pro debut, his 8 home runs tying for 8th in the New York-Penn League. In 1987, he had perhaps his best pro campaign, batting .237/.288/.449 with 22 home runs and 75 RBI for the Burlington Expos. He tied Scott Johnson for 6th in the Midwest League in dingers; surprisingly, four catchers made the top 10 with Todd Zeile (#2), Derek Parks (T-#3) and Tim McIntosh (#8) also making it. He tied Mike Berger for second in homers in the Expos chain, behind only Larry Walker.

Duke slipped to .245/.296/.376 with the 1988 Jacksonville Expos, splitting catching with Bob Caffrey, a fellow amateur star. In '89, he fell under the Mendoza Line at .196 between stops with the West Palm Beach Indians (.216/.293/.345 in 45 G), Jacksonville (.182/.263/.258 in 22 G) and the Indianapolis Indians (.169/.214/.260 in 27 G).

He finished his professional baseball career with a .227/.286/.391 batting line, 40 home runs, 113 runs and 156 RBI in 344 games. He fielded .986 behind the plate.

Duke returned to college to pursue a medical degree. He got a help with the finances in the spring of 1995 when the Pittsburgh Pirates signed him for $10,000 as a player. 20 years later, he recalled "[Jim Leyland] was excited for me to have the opportunity to make some money. We weren't going to have a career. He kept looking at me like, 'Wow, you're using this for medical school.' He couldn't believe it." Pittsburgh's main catcher that spring, Keith Osik, would wind up in the majors.

Duke became a surgeon in Alabama.

Sources include 2015 Gene Collier article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette