Good day all.
On
the blog today, we fill in the gap left by Topps regarding "missing"
all-star cards for managers, with today's card a 1976 All-Star card for
Los Angeles Dodgers legendary manager Walt Alston:
Alston
led the National League to a win in the 1975 game, leading the Senior
League based off his 1974 pennant which saw the Dodgers lose to the
three-peat Oakland A's.
Alston,
whose playing career totaled one single at-bat in one game for the St.
Louis Cardinals in 1936, parlayed his knowledge into a Hall of Fame
managerial career that began in 1954 with the (then) Brooklyn Dodgers.
Over the next 23 years he brought home seven pennants, four world championships, and 2040 wins, with 10 90+ win campaigns.
Think about this: the man average 89 wins a season over almost a quarter of a century! Incredible!
Of
course, Alston managed legends from Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella
to Duke Snider and Gil Hodges to Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax right
through to Steve Garvey and Ron Cey. What a tenure.
1976 would be his last season as manager, handing off to another lifer, Tommy Lasorda for the 1977 season.
In
his last season of 1976, Alston won 90 games and had the Dodgers in
second place, his 15th season of either a first or second place finish.
In 1983, his stellar career was topped off when he was voted into the Hall of Fame.