Oakland Athletics History: Alvin Dark Fired, Rehired, Fired Again

In a move that would have made George Steinbrenner jealous, on this day in 1967, Oakland Athletics owner Charlie Finley fired manager Alvin Dark. Then, in a 24 hour span, he rehired Dark, only to fire him again.

Whenever one thinks of a manager who was hired and fired again shortly thereafter, one typically thinks of the four tours of duty that Billy Martin served as manager of the New York Yankees. Yet, Oakland Athletics manager Alvin Dark managed to surpass even Martin, being fired, rehired, and fired again within a 24 hour span.

The reason for the move was quite interesting. As recounted in Dark’s book, ‘When In Doubt, Fire the Manager,’ the incident occurred when Dark attemped to keep owner Charlie Finley from suspending a player. The unnamed player was reportedly drunk and abusive on a team flight, with Dark, a teetotaller, stuck between the owner and the player, defending the drunken member of the team.

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Yet, that wasn’t the point that pushed Finley over the edge. With the potential threat of the first player strike, Dark admitted that he lied to Finley about what happened. During that discussion in Finley’s hotel room, Dark was fired, and then rehired with a pay raise. Unfortunately, he did not quit when he was ahead, and he was later fired once more within a 24 hour time frame.

The tale of the Oakland Athletics and Alvin Dark did not end there. He would return to the bench in 1974, guiding the team to their third consecutive World Series title, before being fired again after losing in the American League Championship Series. Dark did, however, become one of three managers at the time to win a pennant in both leagues, joining Joe McCarthy and Yogi Berra.

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Managers get fired every day, but it does not often happen that one is fired and rehired the same day. Alvin Dark took it to another level by being fired from the Oakland Athletics twice on this day in 1967.