Former Giants, Athletics Manager Alvin Dark Dies; Won World Series As Both Player And Manager
EASLEY, S.C. (CBS SF) — Alvin Dark, manager of the San Francisco Giants in the 1960s and the Oakland Athletics in the 1970s following a stellar career as a player - has died at the age of 92.
Dark passed away Thursday at his home in South Carolina according to a local funeral home.
Dark guided the Oakland A's to the team's third straight World Series win in 1974. It was his second stint as manager of the A's, the first in the mid-60s when the team was based in Kansas City. He also managed the Giants during the team's first World Series appearance after moving from New York in 1962.
Saddened to hear of the passing of 1974 WS Champ Manager Alvin Dark. He was a true baseball man. Our condolences. pic.twitter.com/kaq5foaMJE
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) November 13, 2014
Dark was also the 1948 major league Rookie of the Year playing for the Boston Braves and a three-time All-Star shortstop for the New York Giants in the early 50s, and was a World Series winner with the Giants in 1954.
In a 1969 poll, Giants fans selected Dark as the greatest shortstop in the team's history.
In 1962, he was nicknamed the 'Swamp Fox' for reportedly having the infield basepath at Candlestick Park watered down to slow down the Los Angeles Dodgers' speedy Maury Wills.