Biography - Walter Emmons "Smokey" Alston
EARLY YEARS
"Walter Emmons Alston (1911-1984) lived most of his live in Darrtown, Ohio. Walter attended Darrtown High School, where he established himself as a standout athlete (the 1928 Darrtown High School baseball team won the Butler County Championship. Upon graduating from Darrtown High in 1929, Walter enrolled at Miami University in nearby Oxford, Ohio.
After his freshman year at Miami, Walter’s college career was interrupted by the Great Depression. The financial difficulties that beset the entire country forced Walter to drop out of college, as It became necessary for him to earn a living (Walter and Lela Alexander were married in 1930).
In the fall of 1932, Walter re-enrolled at Miami University, where he played varsity baseball and basketball. Walter graduated from Miami University in the spring of 1935 with a teaching degree.
Shortly after accepting a teaching contract (from the New Madison school district in Darke County, Ohio), the St. Louis Cardinals offered Walter a contract to play professional baseball. During several years of playing minor league baseball, Walter taught high school during the winter months."
Webmaster Notes:
Walter "Smokey" Alston grew up in Darrtown, Ohio.
His ability to play baseball led to a professional baseball career that culminated in a 23-year career as the manager of the Dodgers; first in Brooklyn and later in Los Angeles. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983.
Smokey never forgot his Darrtown roots, despite his success and fame as a major league manager. He built a home in Darrtown and lived there, until his death in 1984. Walter Alston was buried in the Darrtown Cemetery.
A monument commemorating the life of Walter Alston was constructed near the center of Darrtown in 2000, by a community-based committee of volunteers (see Events / Page 4).
Throughout his life, Walter Alston remained loyal to Darrtown and Darrtown remains loyal to him.
(The following information is taken from Walter’s biography, “Walter Alston: A Year at a Time” (published by Word, Incorporated; Waco Texas; 1976).
"Smokey" Alston and Basketball - at Miami University
The following images confirm that Walter Alston was a member of the 1932-33 Miami University basketball team. The photos also confirm that another member of that team was Tom Archdeacon, resident of Hamilton, Ohio and graduate of Hamilton Catholic High School.
Teammates, Alston and Archdeacon, who were also roommates, could not possibly have foreseen that their life stories would intertwine some eighty years later, when, in 2012, Tom's son and award-winning sports writer, Tom Archdeacon, Jr., authored a newspaper account describing the accomplishments of Walter Alston. The news story, which was written in conjunction with the May 5, 2012 "Alston Night" at Miami University's baseball field, is available at Walter Alston / Legacy.
The following images of the 1932-33 team were contributed by Tom Archdeacon, Jr. in April 2012.
ABOVE:
Walter Alston is located in the middle row, third player from the left.
Tom Archdeacon is located in the back row, fourth from the left.
Tom Archdeacon
Walter Alston
"Smokey" Alston and Baseball - in Butler County
Sometime, presumably after playing baseball at Darrtown High School and before playing collegiate baseball and basketball at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio), Walter Alston played amateur baseball with at least one Butler County team ... the Thorobreds of Hamilton, Ohio. This is supported by photographic evidence (i.e.- the photo that appears below).
Webmaster notes about the above photo:
Adrian Reiff, of Bradenton, Florida, donated the Thorobred baseball team photo to the Darrtown website, in March of 2022. Adrian, who grew up in Hamilton, Ohio, was the son of Art Reiff, the man who sponsored the Dayton Thorobred baseball team.
Art Reiff, who appears in the above photo at the far right in the front row, operated an automobile tire store in Hamilton. Art's store sold Thorobred tires, which were manufactured by the Dayton Tire Company; hence, the name "Dayton Thorobreds." To learn more about Art Reiff and the Thorobred team, see the Amateur Baseball Sponsors page at this website.
There is a strong Darrtown connection to this team from Hamilton, Ohio ( - not Dayton, Ohio, as one might surmise, from the team name on the players' uniforms). The Dayton part of the team name stems from the team's sponsorship - which is explained in the webmaster notes below.
In the back row, of the above photo, four players were "Darrtown boys." Starting with the second man from the left, we have Stanley "Doc" Alston. The third man from the left is Tom Popst, who was a pretty fair baseball pitcher for Darrtown High School. Fourth from the left, stands Walter "Smokey" Alston, who appears to be rather youthful compared to others in this photo. The man at the far right is Paul Neanover, who was related to Walter Alston, as Walter's mother was a Neanover. And, speaking of family, Stanley Alston was a brother to Emmons Alston, the father of Walter. So, "Doc" was Smokey's uncle.
