59 Facts About Alvin Dark

Alvin Dark was a three-time All-Star and a two-time World Series champion, once as a player and once as a manager.

Alvin Dark played baseball, basketball, and football at Louisiana State University before transferring to Southwestern Louisiana Institute to engage in officer training for the United States Marine Corps.

Alvin Dark spent 1947 in the minor leagues, then was named the major leagues' 1948 Rookie of the Year after batting.

Alvin Dark spent most of 1958 and all of 1959 with the Cubs, then played for the Phillies and Braves in 1960 before retiring as a player.

Alvin Dark was fired following the 1964 season, in which the Giants narrowly missed the pennant.

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Alvin Dark only lasted two years with Kansas City before getting dismissed over a dispute with Charlie Finley about a player suspension.

The Indians finished third place in the American League in 1968 but had losing seasons the next three years, and Alvin Dark was fired in mid-1971 even though there were still two years remaining on his contract.

Alvin Dark led the team to its third straight World Series win and another playoff berth in 1975.

Alvin Dark moved to Easley, South Carolina, in 1983, where he lived before dying of Alzheimer's disease in 2014.

Alvin Dark was born in Comanche, Oklahoma, the third-oldest of four children of Ralph and Cordia Alvin Dark.

Malaria and diphtheria prevented Alvin Dark from being able to attend school until he turned seven, but by the time he reached high school, he was playing baseball, basketball, and football.

Alvin Dark was briefly sent to Saipan to be part of a machine-gun outfit, but after one day, he was sent back to Pearl Harbor because the military wanted him on the Marine Corps football team.

Alvin Dark spent four months doing this, but he and his squad did not realize that one of the towns they passed through was Communist-controlled.

Alvin Dark preferred baseball over football and Ted McGrew, a scout for the Boston Braves, was impressed with Dark's "tenacity and competitive spirit in all sports, " according to Eric Aron of the Society for American Baseball Research.

Alvin Dark signed a $50,000 contract with the Braves on July 4,1946, joining them 10 days later when his military service ended.

In 1947, Alvin Dark hoped to be the Braves' starting shortstop, but manager Billy Southworth elected to go with the veteran Sibby Sisti at the position.

Alvin Dark was sent to the Milwaukee Brewers, an American Association team that was the Braves' top affiliate, for the only season he would spend in the minor leagues.

Alvin Dark led the league in runs scored and doubles, ranking among the league leaders in hits and stolen bases.

Alvin Dark was named the MLB Rookie of the Year in 1948, the second winner of the award and the last winner before the Baseball Writers' Association of America started giving separate awards for the best rookie in the American League and the National League.

Alvin Dark finished third in MLB MVP voting in 1948 after playing a vital part of the Braves' run to the pennant, their first since 1914.

Alvin Dark's nine stolen bases tied with Stanky's total for eighth-best in the NL.

In May 1951, Alvin Dark had four-RBI games on the first, the fifth, and the ninth, racking up four hits in each of the latter two contests; the Giants won each of the games.

Alvin Dark made the NL All-Star team for the first time in 1951.

Alvin Dark led the NL in putouts for the second straight year, with 324.

Once spring training was underway, there were reports that Alvin Dark was playing indifferently at second base, hoping to force the team to move him back to shortstop.

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John Drebinger of The New York Times doubted that Alvin Dark had played indifferently, noting that his worst day as a fielder in spring training occurred in a game in which he was playing shortstop, a game he had insisted on playing even though he was "not feeling well" that day.

Alvin Dark led the NL in at bats and ranked among the leaders in runs scored, hits, and doubles.

Alvin Dark led the NL in at bats as well as games and finished seventh in hits.

Alvin Dark had three hits and scored two runs in Game 4 as the Giants pulled off the sweep to win their first championship since 1933.

Alvin Dark hit only four home runs in 1957, three of which came against the Giants.

Alvin Dark started the year at shortstop but, after making two errors in his first four games, was moved to third base in favor of Ducky Schofield.

Musial did not see Alvin Dark's throw and tried to go to third base, having seen Anderson's ball fly over the second baseman's head.

On January 11,1960, Alvin Dark was traded with John Buzhardt and Jim Woods to the Phillies in exchange for Ashburn.

Alvin Dark began the year as Philadelphia's starting third baseman.

Alvin Dark was traded back to the Giants for Andre Rodgers on October 30,1960, a move made so the team could hire Alvin Dark as their new manager.

Alvin Dark had a rocky relationship with Orlando Cepeda, one of the Giants' most popular players.

In 1964, Alvin Dark named Willie Mays the captain of the Giants, making Mays the first African-American captain in Major League Baseball.

Alvin Dark later wrote in his autobiography that his relationship with Stoneham had been rocky ever since Stoneham discovered in 1963 that the manager was having an affair.

Alvin Dark believed, after talking to several of the other players, that Krausse had been playing little pranks on Athletics broadcaster Monte Moore, who then falsely reported to Finley that Krausse used "deplorable language" when talking to a pregnant woman on the flight.

Alvin Dark eventually concluded that the same person should not hold both roles, because the general manager's job is to make the player think he is worth less money, while the manager's job is to make him think he is more valuable to the team.

Alvin Dark's hiring was met with resentment by some of the Athletics coaches, such as Irv Noren, the third base coach, who had hoped to be hired as manager himself.

Alvin Dark had trouble earning the respect of Athletics pitchers such as Vida Blue and Ken Holtzman.

Alvin Dark spent 1976 out of baseball for the first time in 30 years.

Alvin Dark was hired as a coach for the Cubs in 1977, working under Herman Franks, who had coached under and later replaced Dark as the manager of the Giants.

Alvin Dark's contract called for him to manage for two years, but general manager Buzzie Bavasi was replaced with Bob Fontaine Sr.

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Alvin Dark went beyond traditional statistics in evaluating players, using a point system to determine who his best were.

Later in his managerial career, Alvin Dark stopped using the system, not wanting to cause resentment.

Alvin Dark was thrilled that the White Sox were hiring former major league players to coach minor league teams, something not often seen at the time.

In 1976, Alvin Dark was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.

Alvin Dark Avenue, located just south of LSU's campus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is named after him.

Alvin Dark made an uncredited appearance in The Kid from Cleveland in 1949, as one of the Boston Braves shown in the film.

The divorce was finalized early in the 1970 baseball season, and Alvin Dark married Jackie the same day he signed the last divorce papers.

Alvin Dark used to present his Christian testimony at churches, though he quit doing so from 1963 through the early 1970s because of his divorce.

Finley once instructed Alvin Dark to "lay off the Bible, " but the unpredictable Finley once asked Alvin Dark to talk about his faith at a Chicago restaurant.

Alvin Dark was a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Alvin Dark was good friends with Stanky, his roommate when the two played together on the Braves and Giants.

Alvin Dark started the Alvin Dark Foundation, which gives money to Christian ministries.

On November 13,2014, Alvin Dark died at his home in Easley, from Alzheimer's disease, at the age of 92.

Alvin Dark was survived by his second wife, his children, 20 grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.