Local Legends: Smokey and the pennant
Legendary baseball manager Walter "Smokey" Alston made his home in Darrtown. His family had roots across Butler County.
While passing through Darrtown, it's easy to see how proud the town is of one of its former residents, Walter “Smokey” Alston. This pride is nothing new. After Alston’s 1955 World Series win, a local newspaper quoted the owner of the Hitching Post, “Too bad we don’t have a flagpole here … if we did, up would go that pennant right away.”
Although Alston made his home in Darrtown, his roots were from all over Butler County. Alston’s father, William Emmons Alston, was born in Symmes Corner, a small town now in the center of the City of Fairfield. His mother, Leanore (Neanover) Alston was from Seven Mile.
Alston’s parents were married in Hamilton County in February 1911, and his birth followed on Dec. 1 of the same year. Alston was born in Venice, now Ross, but the family moved to Somerville not long after before again relocating to Darrtown.
Alston graduated from Milford Township High School, where he was a star pitcher on the baseball team, as part of the Class of 1929. He went on to attend Miami University where he lettered three years in both baseball and basketball.
The St. Louis Cardinals organization drafted Alston upon his graduation from Miami in 1935, beginning his thirteen-season career in the minor leagues. He did relatively well in the minors, with a .268 batting average, 1,344 hits, and 176 home runs across his career at multiple minor league levels.
However, he didn’t do very well when he finally got called up to the bigs. Entering a game at first base for the St. Louis Cardinals on Sept. 27, 1936, he struck out in his only Major League at bat, giving him a career .000 batting average. It got worse. In the two innings he played, he erred on one of two plays at first.
Unrelenting in his pursuit of a major league baseball career, Alston continued to play in the minors through the 1947 season, while also managing seven seasons between 1940 and 1947. Also in this period, he taught and coached baseball at the high school level in New Madison and Lewiston, Ohio.
In 1948, he gave up playing and exclusively switched to managing. Alston was at the helm of the AAA St. Paul Saints from 1948 to 1949 followed by the Montreal Royals from 1950 to 1953.
Alston married Lela Vaughn (Alexander) Alston in 1930. The couple soon had their child, Doris L. “Dodie” (Alston) Ogle. Alston returned home to Darrtown with his wife and daughter in 1952, buying a lot from his father for 55 cents and building a brand new house on it the same year.
Known as a quiet and calm professional of solid character, it wasn’t Alston’s style to yell, demand, and brag. This was unlike Chuck Dressen, who’s job of managing the Brooklyn Dodgers was surprisingly given to Alston ahead of the 1954 season.
Because Alston was relatively unknown, the baseball world didn’t know what to make of this move at first, however, they wouldn’t have to wait long to see results. Alston brought home the first World Series pennant in the history of the Dodgers franchise in 1955, defeating the formidable New York Yankees.
Known for only signing one year contracts, Alston remained the manager of the Dodgers for 23 seasons. During that time, he oversaw the move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, retooled to team to be strong on pitching, managed several hall of fame players — including Jackie Robinson, Sandy Kofax, Don Drysdale, Pee Wee Reese and Don Sutton — and secured three more world series pennants in 1959, 1963 and 1965.
Leaving an indelible mark on baseball, Alston retired after the 1976 season. His number, 24, was retired by the Dodgers the following year, and he was inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983.
In his retirement, Alston traveled back and forth between Darrtown and Vero Beach, Florida. He died in Oxford on Oct. 1, 1984 after a heart attack and is buried at Darrtown Cemetery.
Legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully said of Alston after his death, “He was very quiet, very controlled. He never made excuses. He gave the players the credit and he took the blame. He was so solid, so American.
Brad Spurlock is the manager of the Smith Library of Regional History and Cummins Local History Room, Lane Libraries. A certified archivist, Brad has over a decade of experience working with local history, maintaining archival collections and collaborating on community history projects.
