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Walter Alston


Wow! Seven pennants and four World Series titles, all with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1954 through 1976 - what an amazing career! Alston's managerial record of 2040 - 1613 with five ties resulted a winning percentage of .558. Currently ninth in all-time managerial wins, he only had four losing years. Truly amazing!

What's also interesting about Alston is he signed 23 one-year contracts with the team. His MLB career consisted of one game and one at-bat with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1936. He spent 19 years in the minors as a player and/or manager before beginning his major league HoF career. Alston managed the National League All-Star team to seven victories, and he was selected Manager of the Year six times.


Top row: 67, 70, and 71 Topps cards.

Middle row: Topps 73 and 74 cards with (then future) HoFer Tommy Lasorda; and a 75 Topps team card.

Bottom row: 87 Baseball Immortals (SSPC HoF); space; and a 2001 Fleer Greats of the Game card.

You might think "only one page of cards for Walter Alston"? Well, my minimum goal for my National Baseball Hall of Fame collection is to collect at least one card of each HoFer, so I met that goal with Alston. Adding more is not something I'm actively trying to do, but when I come across a good card and a good deal (at least to me) then I go for it.

So it's not a personal slam against the manager of the team that was the Reds arch-rival back in the 70's. It was a period when the Reds and Dodgers were both in the NL West and both were among the best in the major leagues.

Thanks for visiting!

CinciCuse Bill
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Comments

  1. night owlJanuary 4, 2020 at 4:15 PM

    That empty pocket is bothering me: I'm sure I have an extra Alston card to send you if you email me your address.

    Remember the Reds-Dodgers rivalry well. It was so long ago. I used to dislike the Reds so much.

    ReplyDelete
  2. CinciCuse BillJanuary 5, 2020 at 7:41 AM

    I never thought an empty pocket would cause that reaction - but I like it! Another Alston card would most definitely be welcomed, especially one from The Night Owl! Much appreciated!

    ReplyDelete

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