The Bright Baseball Career of Alvin Dark Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Before his professional career began, Alvin Dark attended Louisiana State University, where he was a standout player in both baseball and football. He was drafted 25th pick in the 1945 NFL draft by which team?

Answer: Philadelphia Eagles

The wrong answers did not exist as NFL teams in 1945. The 1945 NFL Draft yielded 5 eventual Hall of Fame players: Charley Trippi, Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch, Pete Pihos, Tom Fears, and Arnie Weinmeister. Alvin Dark was serving in Asia during World War II; he chose to pursue a baseball career and debuted for the Boston Braves in 1946.

He was traded to the New York Giants after the 1949 season, where he ended up spending most of his career.

2. Alvin Dark made his major league debut on July 14, 1946 for the Boston Braves. What delayed the start of his baseball career?

Answer: Military obligations

Let's not forget that many baseball players interrupted or delayed their careers to serve in the military in World War II and the Korean War. After an Allied victory was declared in the summer of 1945, Dark was sent to China in December to support the Nationalists against the Communists. He was dispatched to an outpost south of Peking (now Beijing) to guard the railroad and help transfer supplies. Dark signed with the Braves as an amateur free agent for $50,000: a $45,000 bonus, and $5,000 to complete the season with Boston. The date was July 4, 1946. Dark's obligations to the Marines prevented him from joining the Braves until July 14.

After the 1947 season, Dark returned to Southwest Louisiana Institute to complete his degree in physical education. Dark came to the major leagues for good in 1948, making the Braves' Opening Day roster.

According to noted baseball writer and statistician Bill James, Dark may have lost a Hall of Fame career due to his debut being delayed by his military service during World War II.

3. In 1947, this award was offered for the first time and Jackie Robinson was the winner. In 1948, the winner was Alvin Dark. Which award was this?

Answer: Rookie of the Year

1947 and 1948 were the only years that there was one combined Rookie of the Year Award for the American and National Leagues. Thus, Jackie Robinson and Alvin Dark were the only two winners of the combined award - quite distinguished company. Since 1949, separate Rookie of the Year awards have been given in the American and National Leagues. Dark also finished third in Most Valuable Player (MVP) voting in 1948, helping the Boston Braves win their first National League pennant since 1914.

But Dark had a tough World Series, recording only 4 hits in 24 at bats as the Braves lost to the Cleveland Indians.

4. 1951 was a banner year for Dark and his team, the New York Giants. Three of the events below happened in 1951; one did not. Which is the odd one out?

Answer: Dark won his first World Series

As part of a remarkable run to the pennant near the end of the 1951 season, the Giants won sixteen consecutive games (from August 12th to August 28th), the longest winning streak in the National League since 1935. The season ended with New York Giants snatching the National League pennant from the clutches of their rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers, after Bobby Thomson hit the infamous "shot heard 'round the world" on October 3, the last day of the season.

In the World Series, Alvin Dark homered in Game 1, helping the Giants to a 5-1 win. The Giants took Game 3 also but lost the next three games, losing the World Series to the New York Yankees 4 games to 2. Dark only became a World Series Champion in 1954. Dark made his first All-Star game appearance in 1951, and was the starting National League shortstop in 1951, 1952, and 1954.

5. In 1951, a famous teammate of Alvin Dark won the same award that Dark had won three years before. Name this teammate.

Answer: Willie Mays

At only 20 years of age, Willie Mays won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1951. Interestingly, he earned an annual salary of "just" $7,500 that year. As the team's primary centerfielder, he was joined in the outfield by Negro League great Monte Irvin, who ended up being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973, several years before Mays. Mays accumulated some very impressive numbers over a 22-year baseball career.

He was the first-ever 30/30 player (30+ home runs with 30+ stolen bases in a single season) in National League history in 1956. Mays repeated the feat the next year. No other National Leaguer made 30/30 until Hank Aaron in 1963. Mays won two MVP awards and shares the record of most All-Star Games played (24) with Hank Aaron and Stan Musial. Mays ended his career with 660 home runs, third at the time of his retirement, and currently fourth all-time.

He won a record-tying 12 Gold Gloves in the outfield starting the year the award was introduced - six seasons into his career.

6. Alvin Dark was traded from Philadelphia to Milwaukee, with whom he played his last game on October 2, 1960. What was this team's interesting connection with the Boston Braves, the team with which he began his career?

Answer: It was the same team

Alvin Dark debuted with the Boston Braves in 1946 and played his last game with the Milwaukee Braves in 1960. It was the same franchise - they had moved from Boston to Milwaukee after the 1952 season. Thus, Dark began and ended his career with the same team.

The Braves have been based in Atlanta since the 1966 season. The franchise has been in continuous existence since 1871, when it was founded as the Boston Red Stockings. The club is one of the National League's two remaining charter franchises (the other being the Chicago Cubs).

7. Alvin Dark quickly became a successful manager and took the helm of the Giants after his playing career ended. By this point they had moved to San Francisco. In 1962, he enjoyed his first success as a manager, making it to the World Series. Which team was the eventual champion?

Answer: New York Yankees

As was the case many times in the previous several decades, the Yankees were the last team standing, winning the series 4 games to 3. The Yankees won their first World Series in 1923; 1962 marked the Yankees' 20th World Series win in 40 years. The series was quite evenly matched, with teams alternating wins. In 1962, the Giants had a higher cumulative batting average and lower earned-run average, hit more home runs, triples, and doubles, yet lost the Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series in 1963, defeating the Yankees 4 games to 0. As for the Mets, they first came into existence in 1962 and set a record of futility in their first season, winning 40 games and losing 120.

The 1962 Giants featured five future Hall of Fame players: Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and Gaylord Perry (who made 13 appearances for the team earlier in the season as a rookie, but did not play in the World Series).

Ralph Houk managed the Yankees, who triumphed over Dark's Giants. They share an interesting connection. When Houk passed away in 2010, Dark became the oldest living baseball manager to have won a playoff series.

8. "They'll put a man on the moon before he hits a home run." This seemingly prophetic and brilliant quote, attributed to Alvin Dark, refers to a pitcher who played for Dark for several years on the San Francisco Giants. Right on cue, the pitcher hit his first home run on July 20, 1969, just an hour after the Apollo 11 spacecraft carrying Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. Who was this pitcher?

Answer: Gaylord Perry

The incorrect choices, like Gaylord Perry, were all future Hall of Fame pitchers that Dark managed. Like most pitchers, Perry was a relatively poor hitter. Here's where history gets a little fuzzy. In 1963 or 1968, Dark is said to have joked about Perry, "They'll put a man on the moon before he hits a home run." There are other variants on the story, but either way, on July 20, 1969, Perry hit the first home run of his career. By that point, Dark was no longer managing the Giants, and thus, he would not have been witness to Perry's home run.

A detailed account of this quote and its attempted verification appears on snopes.com; see http://www.snopes.com/sports/baseball/perry.asp.

9. In 1974, Dark was re-hired by Charlie Finley to manage the Oakland Athletics (he had managed the Kansas City Athletics in 1966 and 1967 under the same owner). What was the result of the Athletics' 1974 season?

Answer: A third consecutive championship

After the Oakland Athletics won consecutive World Series in 1972 and 1973, manager Dick Williams resigned. Finley then re-hired Dark, who guided the A's to a third consecutive World Series win. Dark thus became the third manager to win a pennant in both the American and National Leagues; the previous two were Joe McCarthy and Yogi Berra. Dark was fired again by Finley after losing the 1975 American League Championship Series. Ah, the life of a baseball manager working under a cantankerous owner.

10. In 1980, Alvin Dark co-wrote an autobiography with John Underwood, entitled "When in Doubt, Fire the Manager." Did Dark manage in the major leagues after that?

Answer: No

Dark's last managerial experience in major league baseball was in 1977 when he helmed the San Diego Padres for the second half of the season. He ended his managerial career with 994 wins and 954 losses, having won World Series titles as both a player (1954) and as a manager (1974).

As a player, he recorded a very solid 2,089 hits and a career batting average of .289. As a manager, he mentored several future Hall of Famers, cementing his reputation of fine character and integrity.

Source: Author robert326

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor stuthehistoryguy before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Though obscured by some of his famous teammates, Alvin Dark had quite a career as a baseball player and manager. See if you can relive some of these moments. Some questions may require prior knowledge or research.

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>