The pepperpot player and manager died today at the age of 92. I’m guessing this was expected, considering how quickly his obituary appeared on Robinson Funeral Home site.
Dark had a 14-year career in the Majors, beginning with the Boston Braves in 1946. After a two-year stint in the military, he returned to the Braves, winning the NL Rookie of the Year award. He subsequently played for NY Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, and Philadelphia Phillies before returning to the Braves, who had since moved to Milwaukee. A three-time All-Star, Dark retired with a .289 batting average, 126 home runs, and 757 RBI
He led the San Francisco Giants to a pennant in 1962, although he famously had troubled with many of his Spanish-speaking players. He also skippered the Kansas City Athletics and Cleveland Indians before taking the job with the As again, this time in Oakland, where he won the World Series in 1974. He won the AL West again the following year, but the As lost to the Boston Red Sox in the playoffs and Dark was gone. He had one more managerial shot– 113 games with the San Diego Padres in 1977.
Dark published his memoir, When in Doubt, Fire the Manager
UPDATE: The New York Times‘ obituary by Richard Goldstein.
is available on Amazon.com,
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