#24 Walt Alston MG - Los Angeles Dodgers

Walter Emmons Alston
Los Angeles Dodgers
Manager

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  195
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

World Series Appearances:  1955-1956, 1959, 1963, 1965-1966, 1974
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.

Building the Set / Card #86
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)

In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.  My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set.  That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon.  I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.

This is the ninth of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York.  My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside.  After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far.  With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298.  The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing me not much more than $2.  If I stick to composing posts five times a week, which may slip through the summer months, I should go through the stack and be caught up by the week of January 22, 2024!

The Card / Dodgers Team Set / Accuracy Index +1

Topps recycled the same photo used for Alston's 1967 Topps card, just cropping it closer here.  The photo was likely taken during spring training in 1966.  The back of the card highlights the six pennants won by Alston, and he'd add a seventh in 1974.  Finally, the Hall of Fame manager is Walt on the front and Walter on the back.

Accuracy Index:  The repeat photo drops Alston's card to a +1.  He scored five for featuring him in an accurate uniform, which would have been hard to mess up given his long Dodgers tenure, and then lost four points for the recycled photo.

1969 Season
The Dodgers finished in fourth place in the N.L. West with a record of 85-77, eight games behind the division-winning Braves.  Center fielder Willie Davis (#65) was one of the team's top contributors offensively, batting .311 with 23 doubles, 11 home runs, 59 RBIs and 24 stolen bases.  Right fielder Andy Kosco (#139) led the team with 19 home runs and 74 RBIs.  Claude Osteen (#528) and Bill Singer (#575) were both 20-game winners, with those work horses pitching 321 and 315 2/3 innings respectively.  Don Sutton (#216) was a 17-game winner and closer Jim Brewer (#241) recorded 20 saves.

1956 Topps #8

1960 Topps #212

1963 Topps #154

1967 Topps #294

1974 Topps #144

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1956 Topps #8
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (19):  1956, 1958, 1960-1976
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2022 Panini Diamond Kings #13
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  277 in the Beckett online database as of 5/7/23.

Update Cards

For my 1965 Topps blog, I used the team card posts to come up with five or six candidates per team for an imaginary update series.  With no team cards in the 1969 Topps set, I'll use each manager card for this exercise, and come up with a list of deserving cards to be included in an 8th/update series.

• Maury Wills (ss) - On June 11th, the expansion Expos dealt former Dodger Maury Wills (#45) and Manny Mota (#236) to Los Angeles in exchange for Ron Fairly (#122) and Paul Popovich (#47).
• Manny Mota (lf)
• Ted Sizemore (2b) - Regular second baseman Ted Sizemore has a Rookie Stars card (#552) in the set, but I'd give him his own card in my update set.
• Bill Russell (of) - Bill Russell made his Dodgers debut on April 7th, and he'd spend the next 18 seasons playing for the club.
• Pete Mikkelsen (rhp) - Reliever Pete Mikkelsen appeared in 48 games, all in relief, and would never appear as a Dodger in a Topps set.
• Dodgers Rookie Stars - Steve Garvey / Bill Buckner / Bobby Valentine - Why not?  These three players, with Garvey the oldest at 20, appeared in a combined nine games for the Dodgers.  Valentine pinch-ran in five times and scored three runs.  Garvey went 1 for 3 as a pinch-hitter and Buckner was 0 for 1 as a pinch-hitter.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference - Alston / Baseball Reference - 1969 Dodgers / SABR

National Baseball Hall of Fame
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1956 Topps Blog / 1965 Topps Blog

#23 Lew Krausse - Oakland Athletics / #25 Roy White - New York Yankees