DATE: 1950s 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: Brooklyn Dodgers SUBJECTS: Walter O'Malley, Walter Alston, Carl Erskine, Leo Durocher, Hank Thompson APPROXIMATE SIZE: 10"x8-1/8" NUMBER OF PHOTOS: 2 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 Francis O'Malley was born in 1903 in New York, NY and died in 1979 in Rochester, MN. became an attorney in 1930, taking over legal work for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943. Along with Branch Rickey and John L. Smith, he purchased 75% of the Dodgers in 1944. When Smith, a tycoon with the Pfizer company died, O'Malley took over his stock. Eventually O'Malley and Rickey parted ways, and by 1950, O'Malley had 67% of the stock in the Dodgers, and became president of the club. In 1958, O'Malley moved the Dodgers to Los Angeles, CA where they became the Los Angeles Dodgers. Under his ownership, the team won thirteen National League pennants and four World Series titles. After his death, ownership of the club was assumed by his son Peter O'Malley. 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. Carl Daniel Erskine (Oisk) was born in 1926 in Anderson, IN and died in 2024 in Anderson, IN. He played major league baseball from 1948 to 1959 as pitcher for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers, appeared in the 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955 and 1956 World Series, and was selected in 1954 as an All-Star. Erskine's son, Gary, was drafted by the Dodgers in 1969 but never signed with the club. His youngest son, Jimmy, was born with Down syndrome, and Erskine spent much of his retirement years caring for him and working on behalf of other similarly-affected children. Leo Ernest Durocher (The Lip) was born in 1905 in West Springfield, MA and died in 1991 in Palm Springs, CA. He played major league baseball from 1925 to 1945 as shortstop for the New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals and the Brooklyn Dodgers, appeared in the 1928 and 1934 World Series, was selected 3 times as an All-Star, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994. Durocher managed the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939-46 and 1948, the New York Giants from 1948-55, the Chicago Cubs from 1966-72, and the Houston Astros from 1972-73. Henry Curtis Thompson was born in Oklahoma City, OK and died in 1969 in Fresno, CA. He played major league baseball from 1947 to 1956 as infielder for the St. Louis Browns and the New York Giants, and appeared in the 1951 and 1954 World Series. At the beginning of his career, he was a hard-hitting star for the Monarchs in the Negro American League, playing both infield and outfield. At 17, he played right field in his first season, batting .300. The following year he was drafted into the Army. Thompson was a machine gunner with the 1695th Combat Engineers at the historic Battle of the Bulge. Sergeant Thompson was discharged on June 20, 1946, and immediately returned to the Monarchs, who were in the midst of capturing the league title. Thompson played his first game with the Browns on July 17, 1947, integrating the Browns' lineup two days before Willard Brown made his debut as the second black player on the Browns. The following day, July 20, Thompson played second base and Brown played center field for the Browns in a game against the Boston Red Sox. That game marked the first time that two black players appeared in the same major league lineup. On July 4, 1949, the New York Giants called Thompson up from the Giants’ Jersey City farm club. He received $2,500 over the league minimum of $5,000. By signing with the Giants, Thompson earned a unique place in the baseball history. He was the first black baseball player to play in both the National and American leagues. In his 9-year career Thompson batted .267, with 129 home runs, 482 runs batted in, 492 runs scored, 801 hits, 104 doubles, 34 triples, 33 stolen bases, 493 walks for a .372 on base percentage and 1360 total bases for a .453 slugging average. In 1957 his contract was sold to the minor league Minneapolis Millers of the American Association, where he finished his career. After leaving baseball, Thompson met with a series of difficulties. He became a cab driver in New York, but following a divorce was convicted of armed robbery in Texas, and IN 1963 was sentenced to 10 years in prison. In 1967, however, he was paroled after serving three years[1]; in 1968 he moved to Fresno, California and became a city playground director. In the summer of 1969 he left that position, possibly to seek a job with the National League; but those plans did not have a chance to materialize. Thompson died in 1969 in Fresno following a seizure, at 43 years of age. SKU: L15144
Item: L15144
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