Senate Bill sb1108

    Florida Senate - 2006        (NP)                      SR 1108

    By Senator Miller





    18-739A-06

  1                        Senate Resolution

  2         A resolution honoring the memory of the

  3         legendary Alfonso Ramon Lopez, affectionately

  4         known as "El Senor," recognizing April 20 as

  5         "Al Lopez Day," and dedicating the 2006 Spring

  6         Training Season in Florida to his memory.

  7  

  8         WHEREAS, Al Lopez was born in 1908 in Ybor City, now a

  9  historic district within the City of Tampa, and began his

10  baseball career with the Tampa Smokers in 1924, and

11         WHEREAS, Mr. Lopez broke into the major leagues in 1928

12  and held the record at 1,918 for the number of games caught

13  until 1987, and

14         WHEREAS, Mr. Lopez became manager of the Cleveland

15  Indians in 1951, winning an American League record of 111

16  games in 1954, a record not broken until 1998 by the New York

17  Yankees, and

18         WHEREAS, Mr. Lopez moved on to manage the Chicago

19  "Go-Go" White Sox in 1957, never having a losing season,

20  winning the American League Pennant in 1959 and finishing

21  second place five times, and never posting fewer than 82

22  victories, with his 1954 and 1959 teams being the only

23  non-Yankee clubs to win the American League Pennant between

24  1949 and 1964, and

25         WHEREAS, Mr. Lopez briefly managed additional games for

26  the White Sox, retiring in 1969 with 1,410 wins, ranking 11th

27  on his retirement and, with the 840 wins with the White Sox,

28  ranking second in franchise history, and

29         WHEREAS, Mr. Lopez was inducted into the Baseball Hall

30  of Fame as a manager in 1977, and the Al Lopez Park in the

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2006        (NP)                      SR 1108
    18-739A-06




 1  City of Tampa was named in his honor and a statue of his

 2  likeness was erected, and

 3         WHEREAS, Mr. Lopez died in Tampa on October 30, 2005,

 4  at the age of 97, four days after the White Sox won the World

 5  Series for the first time in 88 years in their first

 6  pennant-winning season since Mr. Lopez led the 1959 team, and

 7         WHEREAS, Mr. Lopez was the oldest member of the

 8  Baseball Hall of Fame and the last living major leaguer to

 9  play in the 1920s, and

10         WHEREAS, Mr. Lopez was and remains Tampa's foremost

11  baseball ambassador, and it is appropriate to pay tribute to

12  the life of this extraordinary individual, NOW, THEREFORE,

13  

14  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:

15  

16         That the Senate warmly welcomes members of the Lopez

17  Family to the Senate as it recognizes April 20, 2006, as "Al

18  Lopez Day" in the State of Florida and dedicates the 2006

19  Spring Training Season in Florida to his memory.

20         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution,

21  with the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to the

22  family of Al Lopez as a tangible token of the sentiments of

23  the Florida Senate, and that an additional copy, with the Seal

24  of the Senate affixed, be presented to the Baseball Hall of

25  Fame in Cooperstown, New York, for display or other use as it

26  may find appropriate.

27  

28  

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31  

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