DARRTOWN, Ohio — Jim Tracy, a Hamilton native, recently became the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. His appointment left a lot of baseball fans asking, “Jim who?” Another Butler County native, Walter “Smokey” Alston, managed the Dodgers for 23 years. He lived in rural Darrtown.

        “He lived on Cherry Street, a block off the main road, and he was just like anybody else,” said Sally Hansel, who grew up in this unincorporated town in Milford Township. “We all called him Smokey. He and his wife were ordinary people.”

        In August, Gov. Robert Taft approved renaming Ohio 177 in Darrtown as the “Walter "Smokey' Alston Memorial Highway.” In October, the small community dedicated the road and erected a historical marker. Three hundred people attended.

        The marker recalls the man and his accomplishments: four world championships, seven National League pennants,Hall of Fame players such as Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Roy Campanella, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese and Don Sutton.

        Mr. Alston became the Big Red Machine's greatest nemesis. He managed the Dodgers during the early 1970s, when they were Cincinnati's rival. Mr. Alston's team won the Western Division title in 1974, when the Reds' heavy-hitting lineup included Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, Joe Morgan and other stars.

        Mr. Alston managed the Dodgers from 1954 through 1976. But he kept his home in Darrtown and sometimes brought in ma jor-league players for visits.

        The Alston legend isn't lost on Mr. Tracy. He told a news conference, “Hopefully when my time is through here, people will speak of me in the same vein as Walter Alston and Tommy Lasorda.”

        Mr. Alton graduated from the old Milford Town ship High School in 1929 and entered Miami University in nearby Oxford.

        “Smokey stayed right here through all those years with the Dodgers,” said Bob Ison, a Milford Township trustee.

        He retired in 1976 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983. He died a year later.

IF YOU GO

        Take Ohio 4 to Hamilton, and turn left on High Street. Follow High to Main Street and continue to Darrtown, on Ohio 177, north of Hamilton and southeast of Oxford.

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