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Walter Emmons Alston
Los Angeles Dodgers
Manager
Born: December 1, 1911, Venice, OH
Signed: Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent in 1935
Major League Teams: St. Louis Cardinals 1936
As a Manager: Brooklyn Dodgers 1954-1957; Los Angeles Dodgers 1958-1976
Died: October 1, 1984, Oxford, OH (age 72)
Hall of Fame Induction: 1983
As a player, Walter Alston had one at-bat with the 1936 Cardinals, striking out against Cubs pitcher Lon Warneke.
In his 23 seasons managing the Dodgers, Alston led the team to seven National League pennants and four World Championships in 1955, 1959, 1963 and 1965. Alston's Dodgers finished with winning records in 19 of those 23 seasons and his 2,040 wins as a manager led to his induction into the Hall of Fame in 1983. The three-time National League Manager of the Year (1955, 1959 and 1963) was known for his use of statistical analysis and for signing 23 one-year contracts, eschewing any long-term deals with the Dodgers.
With a few games left in the 1976 season, Alston stepped down as the Dodgers manager, handing over the job to Tommy Lasorda who would manage the team until 1995. Alston's #24 was retired by the Dodgers in 1977.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1956 Topps blog.
March 27, 2020 from Cincinnati, OH - Card #88
This is one of seven cards I purchased from Dean's Cards in Cincinnati (via eBay) during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic and in the midst of the first few weeks of the worldwide quarantine. (That's a sentence I can't believe I actually just wrote.)
After purchasing four commons for reasons I've explained in the posts for Cal Koonce (#34), Nate Oliver (#59), Gary Kolb (#287) and Nelson Mathews (#87), I decided I had some money left over in my eBay purchasing budget and started hunting for a few semi-star cards. This Alson card fit the bill along with the cards of Elston Howard (#350) and the mysterious (to me) Zoilo Versalles (#157).
Doug was more excited with the two boxes of 2020 Topps Gypsy Queen I bought on an impulse than he was with these cards when they arrived, but he was still glad to add a few cards to our growing set. I'm assuming these will be the last cards I purchase for our 1965 set for a little while.
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| 1966 Topps #116 |
Alston was still at the beginning of a run within Topps flagship sets that would see him appear in every Topps set between 1960 and 1976. You can get a better look at the spectators behind him with his 1966 Topps card as Topps used a photo from the same session for both Alston's 1965 and 1966 Topps cards. I'd guess the photo was taken during spring training in 1964.
Flipping the card over, the bio would be outdated following the end of the 1965 season as Alston guided the Dodgers to their fourth World Series title under his watch. There would be two more N.L. pennants to come in 1966 and 1974. His minor league managerial career is mentioned in his bio, and his 13 years in the minors were split between the Cardinals organization (1940-1942) and the Dodgers organization (1944-1953).
Dodgers Team Set
1965 Season
Alston's Dodgers won the N.L. pennant with a record of 97-65 and they defeated the Twins in the 1965 World Series in seven games. The Dodgers spent most of the season in first place, but they fell as far as third place as late as September 15th. Over the final 16 games of the season, the club went 15-1 to clinch the pennant. Don Drysdale (#260) and Sandy Koufax (#300) were each responsible for four of those eight wins.
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First Mainstream Card: 1956 Topps #8
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (19): 1956, 1958, 1960-1976
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2019 Diamond Kings #7
222 - Alston non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 4/6/20.
Sources:
1956 Topps Blog
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
SABR
The Trading Card Database
In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year. Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.
Prior Card: #216 Al Worthington - Minnesota Twins
Next Card: #218 Dick Schofield - Pittsburgh Pirates
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