Al Lopez: Among the certainties of life for post-war Americans was the supremacy of the New York Yankees baseball team. Between 1949 and 1964 the Yankees captured all but two American League championship pennants. Their hegemony was disturbed only by the 1954 Cleveland Indians and the 1959 Chicago White Sox; both were managed by Al Lopez, who has died aged 97.
Lopez, who was the oldest living member of baseball's Hall of Fame, returned to the media spotlight last month, when the White Sox captured baseball's World Series for the first time since 1917. The franchise had laboured under the supposed curse of the "Black Sox", whose players were paid by gamblers to lose the 1919 World Series.
They had not even appeared in a World Series since, except for Lopez's 1959 team. Lopez did countless interviews as Chicago finished its four- game sweep on October 26th, then suffered a heart attack two days later and died two days after that.
Today's champions bore a striking resemblance to Lopez's "Go Go" Sox. The obvious link was current Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen. The most "go go" of Lopez's team was the speedy Venezuelan shortstop Luis Aparicio, Guillen's compatriot and boyhood idol.
Guillen's team, like Lopez's, was built around speed, fielding, situational "small ball" hitting and a strong rotation of starting pitchers. In Lopez's case these strategies came naturally, reflecting his skills as a player. He was a superior defensive catcher, appreciated for his skills at handling pitchers, but not a power-hitter.
Lopez's parents were Spanish, and they had settled in Ybor City, Tampa's Latino business centre, via Cuba, where his father, Modesto, was a tobacco selector.
Lopez began playing professionally at 16 with the Tampa Smokers of the Florida State League. At 17, he impressed the visiting Walter "Big Train" Johnson, the greatest pitcher of the day, when he was hired to catch for him. He was soon signed with Brooklyn, reaching the big leagues in 1928.
He played 19 seasons, was chosen as an All-Star twice and retired having caught in 1,918 games, a record that stood for more than 40 years.
Immediately after retiring in 1947, Lopez began managing with Indianapolis, Cleveland's top "farm" team.
In 1951 he succeeded Lou Boudreau as manager of the Indians.
In Lopez's battles with the Yankees, he came up against Casey Stengel, his first manager in Brooklyn, who had also managed him in Boston. Both times, he traded Lopez away to less successful teams.
Lopez's Indians immediately finished second to the Yankees for three straight years before winning a record 111 games to take the pennant in 1954.
They are better remembered however for losing the World Series in four games to the New York Giants, whose star centre-fielder, Willie Mays, made a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch of a long drive by Vic Wertz at New York's Polo Grounds, which remains one of baseball's most enduring images.
After two more second-place finishes, Lopez left Cleveland, probably because his style clashed with the new general manager, "Trader Frank" Lane. He went to the White Sox in 1957 and twice more finished second to the Yankees.
In 1959 Chicago owner Bill Veeck reunited Lopez with Hank Greenberg, and a triumph over New York was the result, but again he was beaten in the World Series.
Lopez managed the Sox for six more seasons, including three more second places, before retiring.
His successor, Eddie "The Brat" Stankey, was fired midway through the 1968 season. Lopez returned, but quit for good during the 1969 season because of stomach illness.
His record of more than 1,400 games won is outstanding. He was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in 1977 as a manager. A figure of considerable dignity, he was known as "El Senor".
He retired to Tampa in Florida, where the spring training stadium is named after him. His wife, Connie, died in 1983. His son, Al jnr, survives him.
Alfonso Ramon "Al" Lopez, born August 20th, 1908; died October 29th, 2005