» June 5, 1948:
Richie Ashburn of the Phillies hits safely in a 6-5 win at Chicago. It is his 23rd consecutive game starting May 9, a 20th-century NL record for a rookie (Jimmy Williams had streaks of 27 and 26 games in 1899). Alvin Dark will tie it this year and Mike Vail will match it in 1975.» July 9, 1948: At Boston, Johnny Sain becomes the National League's 1st 11-game winner, beating Robin Roberts and the Phils, 13–2. Alvin Dark has three hits running his hit streak to 21 games. In the 4th inning Dark triples off the reliever Ken Heintzelman, then steals home.
» December 14, 1949: In a major trade, the Giants get Alvin Dark and Eddie Stanky from the Braves in a swap for Willard Marshall, Sid Gordon, Buddy Kerr, and Sam Webb.
» September 9, 1950: Sal Maglie of the Giants hurls his fourth consecutive shutout, tying a major-league record, and beats the Dodgers 2–0. Alvin Dark’s two HRs provide the runs.
» June 17, 1951: The Giants top the Phils, 8–5, with reliever George Spencer earning the win. Al Dark and Wes Westrum each collect four hits to edge New York nine in back of Brooklyn.
» August 9, 1951: With possible baseball commissioner Douglas MacArthur looking on, the Dodgers top the Giants again, 6–5, for their 12th win in 15 games between the two rivals. The two teams combine for a National League record 24 walks. Campanella hits two homers, but sustains an injury the 9th inning when Whitey Lockman crashes into him: "The hardest I've ever been hit in a ball game." Campy will miss four days but the bone chips will hamper him the rest of the season. Clyde King wins his 2nd win in two days and shortstops Pee Wee Reese (19) and Alvin Dark (17) keep their hitting streaks alive. The Dodgers lead by 12 1/2 games.
» August 14, 1951: In a night game at the Polo Grounds—the last of 14 night games this year—the Giants righty George Spencer beats the Dodgers, 4–2. Erv Palica takes the loss, as the Giants jump on him early. Al Dark doubles and comes home on Don Mueller's homer. An out later, Whitey Lockman homers and Palica doesn't make the 2nd inning. The Dodgers score in the 8th on successive homers by Cox and Snider.
» September 1, 1951: OF Don Mueller hits three home runs in an 8–1 Giants' win over the Dodgers. His first homer comes against Ralph Branca, coming off two consecutive shutouts, and Mueller hits his 3rd home run, a two-run shot off Phil Haugstad. Sal Maglie is the winner, giving up seven singles and hits Robinson on the wrist in the 3rd to force home the only Dodger run. Whitey Lockman gets plunked twice for New York. Al Dark and Eddie Stanky combine in the 5th on a triple play off a liner by Reese. The Dodgers' lead over the Giants is now down to six games.
» September 16, 1951:
The visiting—and rampaging—Giants sweep the Pirates, 7–1 and 6–4. Larry Jansen wins his 19th and Sal Maglie collects his 23rd. It is Maglie's 11th straight win over the Bucs. The Giants collect 29 hits in the two games, including six by Al Dark, in handing losses to Howie Pollet and reliever Murry Dickson. The Dodger lead of four 1/2 is their slimmest since July 4th.
» October 3, 1951: The Giants' Bobby Thomson hits the most famous home run in history, off Ralph Branca. His "shot heard round the world" with two runners on and trailing 4–2 in the bottom of the 9th defeats Brooklyn 5–4 and sends the jubilant Giants into the World Series. For Branca, it is his 6th loss of the season against the Giants, who have now hit 11 home runs off him this year. Whitey Lockman sets up Thomson's blast by hitting a double off Don Newcombe with Al Dark on 3B and Don Mueller on 1B. Mueller breaks his ankle sliding into 3B and is carried off the field.
» May 23, 1952:
Sal Maglie wins his 8th without a loss, stopping the Braves, 5–3. Maglie tires in the 9th, giving up three hits, including a 2-run homer by Ebba St. Claire. Al Dark's 2-run homer in the 5-run 4th is the big blow for the Giants, who stay a half-game in back of the Dodgers.
» August 26, 1953:
Giants OF Dusty Rhodes, hitting just .167, connects for three HRs in a row at the Polo Grounds in a 13-4 win over the Cardinals. Teammate Al Dark goes 5-for-5 with his own HR.
» May 28, 1954: At the Polo Grounds, the Giants whip the Dodgers 17–6 with a 6-HR barrage. Four of the home runs come in the 8th as Davey Williams, Alvin Dark, Monte Irvin, and Billy Gardner connect off Ben Wade. Whitey Lockman, in the 1st, and Willie Mays, in the 2nd account for the other two. Brooklyn scores a run in the 6th when Giants P Marv Grissom balks home Rube Walker from 3B. Catcher Ray Katt is at fault, having called a time out when Grissom is in his windup.
» July 11, 1954:
Giants OF Don Mueller hits for the cycle, getting his hits off four different pitchers in a 13-7 rout of the Pirates. Five other HRs are added, three in the 3rd as Monte Irvin, Whitey Lockman, and Alvin Dark
connect.
» September 2, 1955:
After sitting out since August 7th with a broken rib,
SS Alvin Dark of the Giants falls and breaks his shoulder
in a game against the Phillies.
» June 14, 1956:
The Cards trade future Hall of Famer 2B Red Schoendienst, C Bill Sarni and P Dick Littlefield to the Giants for SS Alvin Dark, OF Whitey Lockman, C Ray Katt and P Don Liddle.
» May 20, 1958:
The Cards trade SS Alvin Dark to the Cubs for relief P Jim Brosnan.
» June 30, 1959: At Wrigley, a bizarre play occurs in the 4th inning when two balls are put into play. On a 3–1 count, Bob Anderson's pitch to Stan Musial is wild and bounces back to the screen. Catcher Sammy Taylor ignores the ball, assuming it ticked off Musial's bat, but Cubs 3B Alvin Dark rushes in to retrieve the wild pitch/foul tip. The bat boy tosses the ball to field announcer Pat Piper, and Dark finally retrieves it from him. Meanwhile home plate ump Vic Delmore has handed a second ball to Anderson. Through all this, Musial reaches first with what he thinks is ball four, and then streaks for 2B. Simultaneously, Dark and Anderson fire to the bag. Anderson's throw goes into CF, but Dark's to Banks catches the sliding Musial. Stan ignores the tag and rambles to 3B as play is stopped. Delmore then rules Musial is out at 2B, while Al Barlick rules Stan safe at 1B. Both managers play the game under protest, but the Cards drop theirs after dropping the Cubs, 4–1. The National League will drop Vic Delmore at the end of the season.
» January 11, 1960: The Cubs send infielders Alvin Dark, #B and Chicago-native Jim Woods, and P John Buzhardt to the Phillies for OF Richie Ashburn. Ashburn hit .259 last year.
» June 23, 1960: The Braves acquire Alvin Dark from the Phils for infielder Joe Morgan and cash. The cash they keep; Morgan they sell to the Indians in August.
» October 31, 1960: The Giants trade IF Andre Rodgers to the Braves for SS Alvin Dark, then sign Dark to a 2-year contract as manager. Dark does not plan to be a playing manager.
» April 13, 1961: Alvin Dark pulls all the right strings to give the Giants a 6–5 win over the Pirates. Joey Amalfitano, hitting for cleanup man Willie McCovey in the 8th, singles in Willie Mays for a 4-4 tie; new catcher Hobie Landrith homers in the 11th to tie at five apiece, and Harvey Kuenn's single in the 12th wins it.
» June 29, 1961: With three round-trippers at Philadelphia—one a 10th-inning shot to win 8–7—Willie Mays becomes the 4th ML player with three or more home runs twice in one season. Manager Gene Mauch's efforts to conceal his starting pitcher and force Al Dark's hand has a Phillie lineup including hurlers Don Ferrarese (batting leadoff, playing CF), Jim Owens (3rd, RF), Chris Short (7th, C), and Ken Lehman (9th, P) against San Francisco. When Dark sends a lefty to the mound, Mauch replaces Ferrarese. Dark then replaces Billy O'Dell with Sam Jones. Mauch replaces Lehman with Dallas Green after two batters. All the maneuvering takes three hours and 20 minutes. The Giants then take the nitecap, 4–1, as Mays triples and doubles home two runs and completes a DP with a throw home.
» July 27, 1961:
The Giants Juan Marichal fires his first shutout of the year, stopping the Pirates, 2–0, on five hits. Manager Alvin Dark says before the game that "Marichal will go all the way" and keeps his relief pitchers in the dugout to emphasis the point.
» August 11, 1962: The Dodgers protest the wetting down of the field at Candlestick, a tactic they claim is to stop Maury Wills. Billy Pierce then hands 21-game winner Don Drysdale his 5th loss, and the first after 11 straight wins, as the Giants win 5–4 to take the 2nd game in their series. Willie McCovey's pinch-homer with two on is the big blow off Drysdale. The watering ploy earns Giants manager Alvin Dark the sobriquet "The Swamp Fox."
» September 10, 1963:
At New York, the Giants trail 3–0 after 7 innings when manager Alvin Dark sends up consecutive Alous to bat in the 8th. Pinch hitter Jesus Alou grounds out, pinch hitter Matty Alou strikes out, and leadoff hitter Felipe Alou bounces back to P Carlton Willey. The Giants lose, 4–2. Willie McCovey's 38th homer and Orlando Cepeda's 29th account for the SF scoring.
» October 4, 1964:
Alvin Dark (90-72) is fired as manager of the Giants and replaced by Herman Franks. The Giants will finish in 4th places three games off the pace.
» November 28, 1965: Haywood Sullivan (54-82) resigns as A's manager to become director of player personnel for the Red Sox. Al Dark replaces him.
» September 15, 1966:
Seven pitchers are used by Al Dark's A's in an 11-inning, 1–0 shutout of the Indians. Kansas City wins its 7th straight game.
» August 3, 1967: Reports of rowdyism on an Athletics flight reach owner Charlie Finley and will result in the release of outfielder Ken Harrelson and firing of manager Alvin Dark.
» August 20, 1967: Within 24 hours, Alvin Dark (52-69) is fired, rehired, and fired again as manager of the A's. Luke Appling becomes interim manager.
» July 20, 1969: San Francisco's Gaylord Perry connects for his first hit of the year, and his first ML homer to beat the Dodgers, 7–3. The victim of Perry's dinger is Claude Osteen. Last year, Alvin Dark had remarked to sports writer Harry Jupiter about Perry's hitting, "They'll put a man on the moon before he hits a home run." Perry's homer comes about 20 minutes after the club house receives word that Neil Armstrong has set foot on the moon.
» July 30, 1971: The Indians, with a 42-61 record, fire manager Alvin Dark. Johnny Lipon takes over, but the team goes 18-41 the rest of the season.
» October 17, 1975: The A's fire manager Alvin Dark.
» May 28, 1977: Alvin Dark replaces John McNamara as the Padres manager.
» March 21, 1978: The Padres fire manager Alvin Dark, replacing him with pitching coach Roger Craig. Dark becomes the second manager after the Cubs' Phil Cavarretta in 1954 to be fired during spring training.
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