Alvin Dark

Alvin Dark
Alvin Dark circa 1953
Shortstop / Manager
Born: (1922-01-07)January 7, 1922 Comanche, Oklahoma
Died: November 13, 2014(2014-11-13) (aged 92) Easley, South Carolina
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
July 14, 1946, for the Boston Braves
Last MLB appearance
October 2, 1960, for the Milwaukee Braves
MLB statistics
Batting average	.289
Hits	2,089
Home runs	126
Runs batted in	757
Managerial record	994–954
Winning %	.510
Teams
As player Boston Braves (1946, 1948–1949) New York Giants (1950–1956) St. Louis Cardinals (1956–1958) Chicago Cubs (1958–1959) Philadelphia Phillies (1960) Milwaukee Braves (1960) As manager San Francisco Giants (1961–1964) Kansas City Athletics (1966–1967) Cleveland Indians (1968–1971) Oakland Athletics (1974–1975) San Diego Padres (1977)
Career highlights and awards
3× All-Star (1951, 1952, 1954) 2× World Series champion (1954, 1974) Rookie of the Year (1948)

As player

As manager

Alvin Ralph Dark (January 7, 1922 – November 13, 2014), nicknamed "Blackie" and "The Swamp Fox", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) shortstop and manager. He played fourteen years for five National League teams from 1946 through 1960. Dark was named the major leagues' 1948 Rookie of the Year after batting .322 for the Boston Braves.

Dark was an All-Star for three seasons. He hit .300 or more three times while playing for the New York Giants, and became the first NL shortstop to hit 20 home runs more than once. His .411 career slugging average was the seventh highest by an NL shortstop at his retirement, and his 126 home runs placed him behind only Ernie Banks and Travis Jackson. After leading the NL in putouts and double plays three times each, he ended his career with the seventh most double plays (933) and tenth highest fielding percentage (.960) in league history. He went on to become the third manager to win pennant championships managing both National and American League (AL) teams.

Dark was born in Comanche, Oklahoma. He was raised in Louisiana. Dark studied at Louisiana State University where he was a brother of Phi Delta Theta and at the Southwestern Louisiana Institute, now named the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he completed his bachelor's degree in 1947.