Born:(1911-12-01)December 1, 1911 Venice, Ohio, U.S.
Died: October 1, 1984(1984-10-01) (aged 72) Oxford, Ohio, U.S.
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
MLB statistics
Games managed
3,658
Managerial 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 No. 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 manager in Major League Baseball who managed the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers from 1954 through 1976, signing 23 one-year contracts with the team.[1] Regarded as one of the greatest managers in baseball history, Alston was known for his calm, reticent demeanor, for which he was sometimes referred to as "the Quiet Man."
Born and raised in rural Ohio, Alston lettered in baseball and basketball at Miami University in Oxford. A journeyman whose MLB playing career consisted of only one game–two innings played, and one at-bat with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1936–Alston spent 19 years in the minor leagues as a player, player-manager and non-playing manager. His service included a stint as manager of the 1946 Nashua Dodgers, the first U.S.-based integrated professional team in modern baseball. After six successful seasons as manager of Brooklyn's Triple-A teams, the St. Paul Saints and Montreal Royals, Alston was promoted to manage the Dodgers in 1954.
As a major league manager, Alston led Dodger teams to seven National League (NL) pennants and four World Series titles, including the only championship title won while the club was still in Brooklyn. After 23 seasons, Alston retired with over 2,000 career wins and had been selected as Manager of the Year six times. He also managed NL All-Star teams to seven victories. Alston's number 24 was retired by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1977. In 1983, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame but was unable to attend his induction ceremony after suffering a heart attack that year and being hospitalized for a month. He never fully recovered and died in Oxford, Ohio, on October 1, 1984.[2]
^Elderkin, Phil (October 5, 1984). "Walter Alston's 'one-year contract' added up to seven pennants". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
^"Alston dies at age 72". Milwaukee Sentinel. October 2, 1984. p. 2, part 2.
Walter Emmons Alston (December 1, 1911 – October 1, 1984), nicknamed "Smokey", was an American baseball manager in Major League Baseball who managed the...
years from 1954 to mid-1996, the Dodgers employed only two managers, WalterAlston and Tommy Lasorda, both of whom are in the Hall of Fame. During this...
pitched the minor leagues. His lack of pitching experience caused manager WalterAlston to distrust Koufax who saw inconsistant playing time during his first...
in one game Campanella assumed the managerial duties after manager WalterAlston was ejected. Campanella was the first African American to manage White...
Royals' players of note include Duke Snider, Don Drysdale, Chuck Connors, WalterAlston, Roy Campanella, Johnny Podres and the winningest pitcher in the history...
Series for three-time World Champion Bruce Bochy, who was looking to tie WalterAlston and Joe Torre for fourth on the list of World Series victories for managers...
history. On June 4, 2023, Bochy won his 2,041st career game, surpassing WalterAlston for 10th place on the all-time managerial wins list. On October 23,...
624 Al Dark Lost 1962 World Series Los Angeles Dodgers NL 102 63 .618 WalterAlston Finished 2nd in NL 1963 New York Yankees AL 104 57 .646 Ralph Houk (2)...
Player Johnny Podres TSN Manager of the Year Award WalterAlston TSN Executive of the Year Award Walter O'Malley TSN Major League Player of the Year Award...
Andy Messersmith won twenty games, and Don Sutton won nineteen games. WalterAlston was in his 21st year as manager of the club. AL Oakland Athletics (4)...
went down in late April for the season with a broken ankle. Manager WalterAlston promptly called up 12-year minor league veteran Lou Johnson from Spokane...
masterful three-hitter at Dodger Stadium in his complete-game win. Manager WalterAlston called Drysdale's performance "one of the greatest pitched games I ever...
American League 1954 Leo Durocher (3) New York Giants National League 1955 WalterAlston (1) Brooklyn Dodgers National League 1956 Birdie Tebbetts Cincinnati...
Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved January 6, 2011. "Hall of Famers: WalterAlston". National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved January 6, 2011...
mid-June 1976 San Bernardino Sun-Telegram article, which prompted manager WalterAlston to call a team meeting. At this meeting, Garvey said, "If anyone has...
plays its home games at McKie Field at Hayden Park in Oxford, Ohio. WalterAlston lettered three years for Miami in both baseball and basketball. He played...
play in Game 7 of the World Series. He missed the game because manager WalterAlston decided to play Gilliam at second and Don Hoak at third base. That season...
Brooklyn Dodgers WalterAlston 4–3 New York Yankees Casey Stengel 1956 New York Yankees Casey Stengel 4–3 Brooklyn Dodgers WalterAlston 2000 New York Yankees...
that Campanis had participated in the decision over who would replace WalterAlston as the manager of the Dodgers. It had been a choice between the two...
coach on the staff of Hall of Fame manager WalterAlston, serving four seasons. He was widely regarded as Alston's heir apparent and turned down several major...
a historic milestone for the franchise, it was a chance for manager WalterAlston to evaluate players under game conditions, especially catchers, following...
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