RIVAL SERIES MANAGERS MEETManager Walter Alston, left, of the Los Angeles Dodgers greets his counterpart with the Oakland A's, Alvin Dark, with a smile and a handshake at Dodger Stadium Friday when their teams worked out for the openin gSaturday of the World Series. DATE: 10-11-1974 ORIGINAL or REPRINT: Type 3 - Second or later-generation photo, printed from a duplicate negative or wire photo process, within about 2 years of when it was shot TEAM: Los Angeles Dodgers SUBJECTS: Walter Alston, Al Dark ISSUER: Associated Press APPROXIMATE SIZE: 11"x8" NUMBER OF PHOTOS: 1 COMMENTS / CONDITION: This is one of a large accumulation of vintage sports photographs, slides and negatives that we will be listing over the coming months. Wear on these, if any, is mostly confined to minor corner and edge wear, but see scans for further details including condition. We do not deal in stock images or modern reprints, and all scans shown are of the actual vintage photograph, slide or negative being sold. If you have any questions about a particular piece, please ask before the auction ends. BIO: Walter Emmons Alston (Smokey) was born in 1911 in Venice, OH and died in 1984 in Oxford, OH. He went to college at Miami University. He played major league baseball for a single season in a single game in 1936 as 1st baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983. A reporter once asked Alston about his playing record; he said, "Well, I came up to bat for the Cards back in '36, and Lon Warneke struck me out. That's it." Alston went on to manage the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1954 to 1976. 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. Alvin Ralph Dark (Blackie, The Swamp Fox) was born in 1922 in Comanche, OK and died in 2014 in Easley, SC. He went to college at Louisiana State University. He played major league baseball from 1946 to 1960 as infielder for the Boston Braves, New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies and the Milwaukee Braves, appeared in the 1948, 1951 and 1954 World Series, and was selected 3 times as an All-Star. He was the 1948 Rookie of the Year with the Boston Braves. After his playing career ended, he took over as manager of the San Francisco Giants in 1961 and led the team to the 1962 World Series. That was where he earned his nickname Swamp Fox, when he tried flooding the basepaths at Candlestick Park in order to impede the fast baserunners of the Los Angeles Dodgers. After four years at the helm of the Giants, he was a Chicago Cubs coach in 1965. The next season, he took over as skipper of the Kansas City Athletics, a position he held for almost two seasons. In 1968, Dark became manager of the Cleveland Indians, and the next season he was given the title of the team's General Manager as well. He was fired from both posts in 1971. In 1974, he was named manager of the Oakland Athletics, replacing Dick Williams who had quit in disgust over owner Charles Finley's shenanigans after winning the 1973 World Series. Dark took the club back to the World Series in his first year with them, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games. He remained with the A's through 1975, winning a second division title that year. Dark began the 1977 season as part of the Cubs coaching staff and ended the year as the San Diego Padres manager. He later worked in the Chicago White Sox front office in the mid-1980s. SKU: L20242
Item: L20242
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