Al Lopez, 1908-2005

A nice guy who didn't finish last.

"This man knows the game - inside and out," Stengel once said of Lopez. But Stengel, remembering the years when he managed Lopez, couldn't resist wisecracking: "And why shouldn't he? Didn't he work for me 10 years or so?"

In looking back, Lopez thought of Bill Veeck, the owner of the 1959 White Sox pennant-winners. As Lopez put it to Donald Honig: "Veeck once said that if I had a weakness as a manager, it was that I was too decent. Well, I never took that as a negative comment. I'd like to think I'm a decent guy. Nothing wrong with that, is there?"