High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Walter Emmons Alston (December 1, 1911 – October 1, 1984), nicknamed "Smokey," was an American baseball player and manager. He was born in Venice, Ohio but grew up in Darrtown. He is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he lettered three years in both basketball and baseball and is a member of the University`s Hall of Fame. He maintained his residence in Oxford and died there in 1984 at the age of 72.