The
next "missing" All-Star manager to get a card, the skipper who led the
A.L. for the 1975 game, Alvin Dark of the Oakland A's:
Once
again, based on his leading the A's to a pennant in 1974, Dark was the
manager for the American league for 1975's Midsummer Classic, getting
him this card in the 1976 set.
When
you think about it, why did Topps not bother with an All-Star card for
the managers between the years of 1975 and 1981, when the All-Star
call-out was on the base card of the player (or manager), the way I
thought it SHOULD be?!
Dark
took the team to a 90-72 record that season, and eventually to the
aforementioned third straight championship for the Oakland franchise
since taking over managerial duties after Dick Williams headed South to
manage the California Angels after guiding them to their first two
Series wins.
Funny enough, after the 1975 season that had Oakland win 98 games, Dark
was let go as manager after the team was beaten in the A.L. Championship
series by the Boston Red Sox, and with Free Agency looming, the Oakland
A’s would see themselves go from elite team to cellar-dwellers
overnight.
As a player, Dark cannot be overlooked, as he was a versatile player who played almost every position throughout his 14-year Big League career, winning the 1948 Rookie of the Year Award while finishing third in MVP voting.
He’d end up collecting over 2000 hits, hitting .289 and scoring 1064 runs, all while entering the league at the age of 26 (after 15 games in 1946) because of World War II. If not for the war he had a decent shot at 3000 hits, among other milestones like 1500 runs and 500 doubles.
A true baseball "lifer".As a player, Dark cannot be overlooked, as he was a versatile player who played almost every position throughout his 14-year Big League career, winning the 1948 Rookie of the Year Award while finishing third in MVP voting.
He’d end up collecting over 2000 hits, hitting .289 and scoring 1064 runs, all while entering the league at the age of 26 (after 15 games in 1946) because of World War II. If not for the war he had a decent shot at 3000 hits, among other milestones like 1500 runs and 500 doubles.
