Latest / Retro Sports Radio: Classic Games from History / 1956 • Baseball Clip • Alvin Dark Interview - Radio

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1956 • Baseball Clip • Alvin Dark Interview - Radio · Retro Sports Radio: Classic Games from History

• 0:00
  This is Retro Sports Radio. Visit RetroSeasons.com for more sports history.
• 0:07
  This is Alvin Dark. In a few moments you will hear about my greatest sports thrill.
• 0:12
  This is Harry Wismer. What you're about to hear is a transcribed story of one of baseball's outstanding players.
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  And in the event our special guest Alvin Dark considers his greatest sports thrill.
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  And Al himself is here to tell us all about it.
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  But first here is Bill Redick with a message of interest from your United States Air Force.
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  There's a wonderful bond of good fellowship that unites all sports fans, regardless of what particular sport is their favorite.
• 0:50
  And you know this same feeling of friendship exists among airmen in the United States Air Force too.
• 0:56
  The Air Force team is made up of all kinds of men from all walks of life.
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  Each man knows he is important to his country and to the men he's working with.
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  Yes, if you're a young man just out of high school wondering about going into the service,
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  I can assure you that you'll meet airmen in the Air Force who will share your interests.
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  They'll be your buddies for life.
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  So think of the advantages you'll enjoy in this all-volunteer service.
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  Ask your nearest Air Force recruiter about the specialized jobs open to airmen in such important fields as jet propulsion,
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  aircraft maintenance, electronics, transportation, and many others.
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  See for yourself how you can go places faster as an airman in the United States Air Force.
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  Now back to Harry Wismer.
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  In May of 1946, the top officials and head scouts of the Boston Braves got together for an organizational meeting.
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  There was much talk about the Braves purchasing Marty Marion, the St. Louis Cardinals' great shortstop.
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  Ted McGrew, the veteran scout, listened patiently until it was his turn to offer comment.
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  Gentlemen, he said, I've heard all this talk and I know Marion is the best shortstop in baseball.
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  I have only one recommendation, and that is save your money.
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  Wait a couple of years and I'll have someone better than Marty Marion.
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  His name is Alvin Dark, and you've never heard of him.
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  I don't even know where he is except someplace in the Pacific in the service.
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  He isn't playing baseball in service, probably hasn't played in the last two years.
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  But if you want my advice, save your money.
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  Wait for Al Dark.
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  That was ten years ago.
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  Today, Ted McGrew stands vindicated on all counts with perhaps one exception.
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  Al Dark never has approached the octopus-like Marion in the field
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  and doesn't have the arm that the former Mr. Shortstop was blessed with.
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  But when it comes to swinging the bat and running the bases,
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  few, if any, of the modern shortstops are the equal of this quiet-spoken,
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  gentle-mannered, but fiercely determined captain of the New York Giants.
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  Ever since he came to the Giants in 1950, Alvin Dark has been the solid man of the club.
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  He, more than any other player, has been responsible for their success.
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  A world championship, two pennants, and a second and third place finish in six years.
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  He has been called the heart and soul of the Giants, the inspiring force,
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  the glue that has held the club together.
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  From the first day he joined the club, Dark has been the steadiest hitter on the Giants.
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  One of the most scientific batters in the game, Dark has been a consistent 300-hitter
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  ever since he came up with the Braves in 1948.
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  His 23 home runs in 1953 stood as the most ever hit by a National League shortstop in one season
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  until Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs banged 44 in 1955.
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  With the possible exception of Pee-wee Reese of the Brooklyn team,
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  Al Dark has been the standout shortstop in the National League ever since he donned a big league uniform.
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  Few shortstops can deliver day in and day out over a period of years as Alvin Dark has done
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  and promises to do for several more seasons.
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  Al has never been considered one of the game's more graceful players.
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  He has had to do it the hard way.
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  But he makes the plays as he proved so dramatically with his intensely competitive performances
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  in the World Series of 1951 and 1954.
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  A couple of days after the Giants had clinched the 1954 pennant,
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  Leo de Rocher was talking about Al Dark.
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  How that guy has played this year, he said.
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  What a guy he is to have on your ball club.
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  He's the glue that held the club together.
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  Willie Mays has been wonderful, of course, and I'm not taking anything away from him
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  or the pitchers who have been so great.
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  But Dark has been the solid guy, the backbone of the club.
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  The most surprising thing about Alvin Dark is that while at school and in the service,
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  he was known more for his prowess as a football player rather than a baseball player.
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  It was a keen disappointment for the professional football promoters
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  when Alvin decided to risk his future in baseball.
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  Alvin Dark is almost a myth around Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
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  He played only one year of varsity sports at LSU in 1941,
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  then went on to become an All-American at a neighboring institution.
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  Dark was in the service in 1943 and was assigned to Southwestern Louisiana Institute,
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  where he became the talk of the football world in one season.
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  He also did a little running on the track team.
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  A top golfer who shoots consistently in the 70s,
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  Al Dark may be the best all-around athlete in baseball.
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  He has broken 10 seconds in the 100-yard dash.
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  High jump 6 feet, 4 inches, and broad jump 23 feet.
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  Alvin Dark was a standout in any sport he played,
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  not only because he had the natural physical attributes and aptitudes,
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  but because he approached them all with a fierce determination to excel.
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  A devout, gentle-mannered southerner,
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  he becomes a driving killer-type, take-charge guy in the ball field.
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  He is the quiet sort who bottles his emotions deep within him.
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  But nobody hates more to lose or gains more pleasure out of triumph.
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  There may have been short stops with more all-around ability,
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  but nobody had more competitive spirit.
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  Alvin Dark was born on January 7, 1923,
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  not in Louisiana, but in Comanche, Oklahoma.
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  His father moved his family through Oklahoma and Texas
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  before he finally settled down at Lake Charles, Louisiana.
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  It was during his freshman year at LSU that baseball scouts started to take an interest.
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  The most ardent of his pursuers was scout Ted McGrew of the Boston Braves,
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  who exacted a promise from Alvin that when he got out of service,
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  he would talk to him first.
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  True to his word, in June 1946, Dark reported to the Braves for a look.
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  He tried out on the road without over-impressing manager Billy Southworth.
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  Al didn't look like much of a shortstop when first seen,
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  but he was always the first player on the field and the last one to leave.
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  That had its effect on Southworth.
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  At least it indicated that the kid liked the game enough to work at it.
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  Southworth said later, he had one characteristic that made his lack of playing polish seem unimportant,
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  competitive spirit.
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  He was an athlete who could play any type of sport.
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  That was something very much in his favor.
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  I knew he wouldn't choke under pressure.
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  In the spring of 1947, the Braves agreed to give Al Dark a $40,000 bonus
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  and found him out to Milwaukee.
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  One year later, after leading the American Association in practically everything
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  and voted the league's Rookie of the Year,
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  Dark was back, securely installed as the first string shortstop
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  for the strongest Braves team in 34 years.
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  In his first full season, 1948, Dark played a great role in the Braves' drive
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  to their first pennant since 1914.
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  He batted a rousing 322 and was voted the National League's Rookie of the Year.
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  In 1949, luck by dissension, the Braves finished third.
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  The following winter, Dark was the leading man in a gigantic six-man trade between Boston and New York.
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  On December 14, 1949, the Braves dealt Al Dark and Eddie Stanky to the Giants
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  for Sid Gordon, Willard Marshall, Buddy Kerr and Sam Webb.
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  One month later, Brinks was robbed of $2 million.
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  There is some difference of opinion as to which constitutes the greatest robbery in Boston's history.
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  Now before you meet our special guest, Alvin Dark in person,
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  in an interview from the Polo Grounds and hear about his greatest sports thrill,
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  here is a message of interest to all young men who want to go places faster.
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  If you're a veteran, chances are you know about the U.S. Air Force re-enlistment policy
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  and the opportunities it offers to all former servicemen,
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  especially those with technical experience and backgrounds and critical skills.
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  But here's important news you may not have heard.
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  The Air Force has now liberalized its policy to bring you even further benefits.
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  Here are some of the important advantages.
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  A wider range of skills is now accepted.
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  There's a choice of U.S. and overseas assignments.
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  Also a paid 30-day delay in reporting if requested.
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  And think about this.
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  If you qualify on the basis of an aptitude test,
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  the U.S. Air Force may be able to guarantee technical training.
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  Yes, guarantee you this even before you enlist.
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  So it makes good sense for a veteran of any service to inquire about this new liberalized Air Force policy.
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  Contact your nearest United States Air Force recruiter now, without obligation of course.
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  See why we say today and tomorrow, you're better off in the U.S. Air Force.
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  Now back to Harry Wismer.
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  Al Dark, what was your greatest sports thrill?
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  Well Harry, in 1951 when Bobby Thompson hit the home run to beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in the playoff game,
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  that was the greatest thrill I've ever received in my life.
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  We had been behind something like 13 and a half games in August,
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  and every night we'd go home after winning a ball game, we'd say,
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  we still have a chance, we still have a chance.
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  Then when it did happen, Bobby hit the home run, we were all so happy and so thankful that all the work we had done wasn't in vain.
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  We were just so happy, I just don't know how to explain it.
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  Al, why did you select shortstop over any other position?
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  Well I don't know Harry, ever since I first started playing baseball,
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  shortstop was the position I liked best, I guess because you were always in the middle of the action.
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  And when you're a little kid, you want to get as many ground balls, pop flies, or anything else that you can get just to be playing.
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  And so I just kept on playing in high school and college.
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  So that's the only position I've ever really played where I know anything about it.
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  What is the toughest play for a shortstop to make?
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  I think the toughest play for any shortstop to make is going to his right on a slow hit ball,
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  and he has to come up throwing the ball and put something on it.
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  Especially when there's a fast runner, the ball just gets by the third base, and then you have to come up really throwing it.
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  Al, tell us a little bit about what goes on out there in the middle of the diamond,
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  when the pitcher has gotten in a jam and the shortstop or another player comes out to the mound to talk to him.
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  Well sometimes shortstop will be just killing time.
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  He'll go up to see if the manager is getting a pitcher warmed up,
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  because a lot of times the pitcher in the bullpen hadn't had a chance to get warmed up,
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  and you're more or less killing time sometimes to give the manager a little time.
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  Other times you're probably trying to find out just how the pitcher's going to pitch to this next hitter.
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  Or sometimes you might be suggesting to him, don't be quite so careful.
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  Don't try to get the ball right on the corner of the plate.
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  Throw it in there and let him hit it. We'll go get it.
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  What helpful hints would you give to a young player to improve his hitting?
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  Well, that has been talked about quite a bit.
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  The only thing I can say here is this, that a fellow has to try.
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  He has to be working on it all the time.
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  You know, a lot of people work on their strong points. I think a person should work on their weak points in hitting.
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  If he isn't a type of fellow that can move the ball around all over the place, the right field, left field, center field,
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  I think he should work on it a little bit. Not necessarily weaken himself to hit the right field or center field,
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  but he should work on it where he can occasionally.
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  Then the fielders can't play you in any certain position, and you always come up with a base hit.
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  But a person has to work quite a bit on his hitting.
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  I think that a 250 hitter can work to become a 350 hitter, but I do think every individual can improve himself.
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  Thank you very much, Alvin Dark, one of baseball's outstanding shortstop.
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  One more thing about Alvin Dark. In the quiet way so characteristic of him, Al sent a check of $1,114,
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  a sizable portion of his 1954 World Series check, to the Trinity Baptist Church at Lake Charles.
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  From other sources, this reached the newspapers, and Alvin was asked about it.
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  When I was a newsboy earning $2.50 a week, I gave 10% of my earnings to God, he explained, and I've just been doing it ever since.
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  Alvin Dark possesses a quality of humility that goes far beyond the requirements of normal amenity.
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  It's part of Alvin Dark's way of life.