Born in West Springfield, Massachusetts—also the hometown of Baseball Hall of Fame manager Leo Durocher—Dalton graduated from Amherst College and served in the United States Air Force during the Korean War, earning a Bronze Star.

[2] In the autumn of 1965, Baltimore club president and general manager Lee MacPhail departed to become top aide to the new Commissioner of Baseball, William Eckert.

He succeeded Jim Baumer, who had resigned the previous night in a purge which also cost manager Alex Grammas and player development director Al Widmar their jobs.

[9] Dalton filled the managerial vacancy when he named Orioles' pitching coach George Bamberger the Brewers' new skipper two months later on January 20, 1978.

[10] Milwaukee had a group of talented young players, such as Robin Yount, Cecil Cooper and rookie Paul Molitor, but the nine-year-old franchise had never had a winning season.

[11] Dalton, who remained a consultant in the Milwaukee front office through his 1994 retirement, nevertheless was one of the most respected men in baseball, who had trained other successful general managers such as John Schuerholz, Lou Gorman and Dan Duquette, a fellow Amherst alumnus.