Walter Alston
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(Number retired 5 June 1977)Walter Alston| Position | Manager
(1954-1976) | | MLB Seasons | 23 | | Teams | Los Angeles Dodgers | | Debut | 13 April 1954
(NY Giants-4 Dodgers-3; announced 24 November 1953) | | Final Game | 27 Sept. 1976
(Astros-1 Dodgers-0) | | Total Games | 3,658 | | LCS Appearances | 1955, 1956, 1959, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1974 | | World Series Teams | 1955, 1959, 1963, 1965 | | Allstar Teams | Manager
(1954, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1975) | | Awards | Major League Manager of the Year
(1955, 1959, 1963) | | National Baseball Hall of Fame (1983) | Nickname| "Smokey" | |
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Walter Emmons Alston (
December 1,
1911 -
October 1,
1984) was an
American baseball player and
manager. He was born in
Venice,
Ohio.
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 earlier been ejected from the game. Alston
struck out in his only major league
at bat. After returning to the minor leagues for several years as a player and then as a manager, he was named manager of the
Brooklyn Dodgers for the 1954 season.
Alston won seven
National League pennants in his 23 years tenure as Dodgers manager. In
1955 he led Brooklyn to the pennant and its only
World Series championship; the team repeated as
National League champions in
1956. After the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, Alston led the team to pennants in
1959,
1963,
1965,
1966 and
1974, and three more world championships (1959, 1963, 1965).
Named Manager of the Year six times, Alston also guided a victorious NL
All-Star squad a record seven times. He retired after the
1976 season with 2,063
wins (2,040 in the regular season and 23 in the postseason).
As a manager, Alston was noted for his studious approach to the game (he had taught school in the off-season while in the minors) and for signing 23 one-year contracts with the Dodgers at a time when multi-year contracts were becoming the norm in the sport.
Walter Alston was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in
1983. He is a graduate of
Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and died in Oxford at the age of 72.
*
Alston's page @ the Baseball Hall of Fame*
Walter's Manager page @ Baseball Reference*
Alston's page @ Baseball Library.com*
Page @ the Baseball Page.com*
The Deadball Era
