ALSTON, WALTER

born Dec. 1, 1911, Venice, Ohio, U.S. died Oct. 1, 1984, Oxford, Ohio in full Walter Emmons Alston, byname Walt, or Smokey, Alston professional National League baseball manager whose career with the Los Angeles (formerly Brooklyn) Dodgers was the third longest for managers after Connie Mack and John McGraw. Alston earned his nickname Smokey as a pitcher for his high-school team. At Miami University (Oxford, Ohio; B.S. 1935), he was a hard-hitting infielder. He was signed to a contract by the St. Louis Cardinals as a shortstop, played on their minor league teams (193540), and managed in the minor leagues (194042). In 1944 Alston moved to the Dodgers' organization as a minor league player-manager (194447) and manager thereafter until 1953, when he became the Dodgers' manager. As a minor league manager he developed such later Dodger stars as Don Newcombe, Roy Campanella, Carl Erskine, and Junior Gilliam. He had managed every player on his first 25-man roster. As a Dodgers manager he won seven pennants and four of the seven World Series they played in. The 1955 World Series victory was the Dodgers' first. Alston retired after the 1976 season. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983.