Al Dark Marquee

He was Rookie of the Year in 1948 for the Boston Braves with 27 of the 48 votes, hitting .322 for a pennant winner. In the ninth inning of the third playoff game in 1951, with New York three runs down, he singled to start the rally that ended with Bobby Thomson's home run.

Fourteen seasons gave him 2,089 hits, 358 doubles, 126 home runs and a .289 average, with three All-Star selections. He had 196 hits and 41 doubles in 1951 and hit .300 or better four times as a shortstop.

He managed for thirteen seasons and took San Francisco to the 1962 World Series and Oakland to the 1974 title. In 1964 Newsday quoted him saying Black and Latin players lacked the mental alertness of white ones; he denied the wording, was defended by Willie Mays and dismissed at the end of that season. Sixteen writers' ballots got him to 80 votes of 432. He died in 2014, at ninety-two.