Wednesday, April 17, 2013

1964 Topps All Stars - The Managers

1964 Topps Al Dark AS

Alvin Dark made 3 All Star appearances as a player and 4 as a manager. As the manager of the NL Champion Giants in 1962, he was selected to manage the 1963 All Stars.  As manager of the 1974 World Series Champion A's he was picked to manage the 1975 All Stars.

In 1961 the first of 2 All Star games was played in Candlestick Park. Dark was the rookie manager of the San Francisco Giants.  Traditionally the hometown manager is chosen as coach. In 1969 he was selected again as coach. In 1968 he was named Manager of the Cleveland Indians, he took an 8th place team in 1967 and turned them into a 3rd place team. In 1969 however the Indians were the worst team in the league. Even the expansion Royals and Pilots finished with better records than the Indians. 

1964 Topps Ralph Houk AS

The Yankees' skipper returned in 1963 to manage the All Star team. He would also lead the Yankees to their 4th consecutive World Series appearance in 1963 but he would not manage the 1964 All Star team. In 1964 Houk moved to the Yankees front office with Yogi Berra taking the reigns. In 1966 Houk would return to the bench for an aging Yankee team. 1963 was his final pennant but not his final All Star appearance. In 1970 he was selected as an All Star coach. 


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