Walter Alston

Walter Alston
Alston in 1955.
First baseman / Manager
Born: (1911-12-01)December 1, 1911 Venice, Ohio
Died: October 1, 1984(1984-10-01) (aged 72) Oxford, Ohio
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 27, 1936 for the St. Louis Cardinals
Last MLB appearance
September 27, 1936 for the St. Louis Cardinals
Career statistics
Games managed	3,658
Win-loss record	2,040–1,613
Winning %	.558
Teams
As Player St. Louis Cardinals (1936) As Manager Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers (1954–1976)
Career highlights and awards
4× World Series champion (1955, 1959, 1963, 1965) Los Angeles Dodgers #24 retired
Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	1983
Vote	Veterans' Committee

Walter Emmons Alston (December 1, 1911 – October 1, 1984), nicknamed "Smokey", was an American baseball player and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He is best known as the manager of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers between 1954 and 1976. In 23 years as a major league manager, Alston never signed a contract longer than one year. He had a calm, reticent demeanor, for which he was sometimes also known as "The Quiet Man".

Alston grew up in rural Ohio and lettered in baseball and basketball at Miami University in Ohio. Though his MLB playing career consisted of one game and one at-bat with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1936, he played and managed for several seasons in minor league baseball. His service included a stint as manager of the Nashua Dodgers, the first integrated professional team in modern baseball. He was promoted to manage the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954 after several successful seasons in Brooklyn's Class AAA minor league teams.

As a major league manager, Alston led Dodgers teams to seven National League (NL) pennants and four world championships. His 1955 team was the only World Series championship team while the club was in Brooklyn; they clinched the NL pennant earlier in the calendar year than any previous pennant winner in league history. Alston retired with more than 2,000 career wins and managed NL All-Star teams to seven victories. He was selected as Manager of the Year six times.

Alston was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983. He suffered a heart attack that year, was hospitalized for a month and was unable to attend his Hall of Fame induction ceremony. He never fully recovered and he died at a hospital in Oxford, Ohio on October 1, 1984.

Biography

Early life

Alston was born in Venice, Ohio.^[1] He spent much of his childhood on a Morning Sun, Ohio farm. The family moved to Darrtown, Ohio when Alston was a teenager.^[2] He attended Milford High School in Milford, Ohio.^[3] He received the nickname "Smokey" as a high school pitcher, owing to the speed of his fastball.^[4] Alston graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he lettered three years in both basketball and baseball and is a member of the University's Hall of Fame.

MLB playing career

Alston was a first baseman with the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1936 season. He played in his only major league game on September 27, as a substitute for future Hall of Famer Johnny Mize, who had been ejected from the game. He later described his MLB playing career to a reporter by saying, "Well, I came up to bat for the Cards back in '36, and Lon Warneke struck me out. That's it." He also committed one error in two fielding chances at first base.^[5]

Managing in the minor leagues

After returning to the minor leagues for several years as a player, he became a minor league manager. His managerial career included a stint as the player-manager for the first U.S.-based integrated baseball team after 1898, the Nashua Dodgers of the class-B New England League. He led Nashua to a New England League title in 1946, then repeated the feat with the Pueblo Dodgers of the Western League the next season. He managed Dodgers' Class AAA teams from 1948 to 1953 and his teams were league champions three times.^[2] During the baseball offseason, Alston worked as a teacher in Darrtown.^[6]

MLB managerial career

Alston was named manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers for the 1954 season.^[2] He became immediately known for his quiet nature. He was sometimes known as "The Quiet Man".^[7] Alston said, "I never criticized a player for a mistake on the spot. Whenever I got steamed up about something, I always wanted to sleep on it and face the situation with a clear head."^[6] In early 1955, after a strong start to the season, a reporter commented on Alston's reticence: "For a guy on the spot after the Brooks lost in '54, Alston wasn't much like a manager whose club had just won 10. He was more like Eddie Stanky after losing four."^[8] The 1955 Brooklyn team won the pennant and its only World Series championship. They clinched the NL pennant earlier in the year than any team had in NL history.^[9] The team repeated as National League champions in 1956.

Alston (left) with Phillies manager Mayo Smith in 1957

After the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, Alston led the team to a world championship in 1959. Managing the NL All-Star Team in 1960, he attracted some controversy when he left Milwaukee pitchers Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette off of the All-Star roster. An Associated Press report said that the omission may have been a snub directed at Milwaukee manager Charlie Dressen, Alston's former coach in Los Angeles.^[10] The 1960 Dodgers finished in fourth place. The following year, the team finished in second place after veteran Duke Snider missed two months with a broken arm.^[11]

The Dodgers lost the lead in the 1962 National League (NL) pennant race and rumors surfaced that Alston and coach Leo Durocher might be fired, but the team retained both men for 1963.^[12] The Dodgers won the World Series that year. In 1964, the team finished 80-82 in its first losing season in several years. They won the World Series again in 1965.^[3] They won an NL pennant again under Alston in 1966. Between 1969 and 1976, Alston's teams never won less than 85 games. However, during this time they only won one NL pennant (1974). Alston earned seven NL pennants in 23 years as the Dodgers manager.^[3]

In September 1976, Alston announced that he would retire at the end of the season.^[13] At a press conference, Alston said, "I've been in baseball for 41 years and it's been awfully good to me. This has been a pretty big day. I had three birdies playing golf for the first time in my life and now I'm announcing that I'm stepping down as manager. I told Peter this afternoon to give somebody else a chance to manage the club."^[14]

Alston retired with 2,063 wins (2,040 in the regular season and 23 in the postseason). Known for his studious approach to the game, Alston was named Manager of the Year six times. He also managed a victorious NL All-Star squad a record seven times. At a time when multi-year contracts were on the rise, Alston's managerial career consisted of 23 one-year contracts.^[13]

Later life and legacy

Walter Alston's number 24 was retired by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1977.

The Dodgers retired Alston's number the year after he stepped down as manager; he was only the fourth Dodger to receive that honor.^[9] He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 1983.^[15] Alston suffered a heart attack that year and was hospitalized for a month.^[6] Alston's grandson traveled to Cooperstown to represent the ill former manager at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony.^[16] Alston died in an Oxford hospital on October 1, 1984. He was 72.^[6] A funeral home spokesman said that Alston had remained ill since the heart attack.^[17] He is interred at Darrtown Cemetery in Darrtown, Ohio.^[2]

Upon his death, MLB commissioner Peter Ueberroth said, "All of baseball is saddened. He was without question one of the greatest managers the game has ever known."^[18] Former Dodgers great Duke Snider acknowledged occasional run-ins with Alston, but said, "He did a great job in adjusting to the teams and talent he had to work with, whether it be power, pitching or base-stealing. He handled transition as great as anyone."^[19]

Tommy Lasorda, who played and coached under Alston and ultimately succeeded him as manager, said, "If you couldn't play for Walter Alston, you couldn't play for anyone."^[19] Broadcaster Vin Scully said, "I always imagined him to be the type who could ride shotgun on a stage through Indian territory. He was all man and two yards tall. He was very quiet, very controlled. He never made excuses. He gave the players the credit and he took the blame. He was so solid, so American."^[20]

Ohio State Route 177 was named the Walter "Smokey" Alston Memorial Highway in 1999.^[21] In April 2013, readers of the Los Angeles Times named Alston number 16 on a list of the 20 greatest Dodgers of all time.^[22] A memorial to Alston is located at Milford Township Community Park in Darrtown.^[23]

See also

• List of Major League Baseball managers by wins

References

Further reading

• Alston, Walter Emmons and Si Burick. Alston and the Dodgers. Doubleday. 1966.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Walter Alston.

• Walter Alston at the Baseball Hall of Fame
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Walter Alston managerial career statistics at Baseball-Reference.com
• National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
• Baseball Almanac