For 23 straight years from 1954 to 1976, Walter Alston signed a one-year contract to manage the Dodgers. But before then, Alston was a player in the 1930s, primarily in the minor leagues except for spending one season with St. Louis in 1936. As a manager in the Dodgers' system in the early 1950s, the man known as "Smokey" signed this official National League (Frick) baseball while with the Montreal Royals. It is in EX-MT+ condition, signed in black ink on a side panel: "Walt Alston, Montreal" and the signature rates 7/10.