Duke Sims
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah and raised in Pocatello, Idaho and now a resident of Las Vegas, Nevada, the former major leaguer played originally signed with the Cleveland Indians in 1959 and joined the major league club in 1964.
He was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Alan Foster and Ray Lamb after his most productive season for the Indians, where he hit .264 with 23 home runs in 325 at bats. Waived from the Dodgers in August of 1972, Duke joined the Detroit Tigers in their quest for the Eastern Division in a hotly contested division race with Boston and New York.
His first game with the Tigers, in which he went 3-5 and drove in 4 runs, ending the contest with a game winning home run in the 11th inning against Cy Young award winner Gaylord Perry. He went on to hit .316 with either game winning or game tying hits 10 times during the period of August 8th through the end of the year.
Duke hit his 100th and final home run against Darrel Knowles in Oakland. Duke retired form the Texas Rangers after the 1974 season.
He presently serves as President of the Las Vegas chapter of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association as well as serves on the board of Directors of the Young Readers Council, a 501 (c)3 charitable organization.