Leo Durocher was remembered as a nice guy at last on Friday.
About 40 family members and friends, including former players Willie Mays and Bobby Bragan, bid a tearful farewell to the man who built his career on toughness."I can't stress the feeling that I have for this man," Mays said, his voice cracking, during a memorial service at the Old North Church at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills. "All I can say is that I have lost a dear father.
"All the things you heard about Leo, how evil he was . . . he never treated me any way but perfect. So much has happened to me with Leo Durocher, I can't put it into words."
Durocher died Monday at Desert Hospital in Palm Springs, Calif., of natural causes at age 86.
Durocher played for 17 seasons, almost all as a shortstop, with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees, the team he broke into baseball with in 1925.
He managed in the big leagues for 24 seasons and ranks sixth on baseball's all-time managerial list with 2,008 victories.
"He was the greatest manager I've ever heard of," said Bragan, a member of the Texas Rangers front office who delivered the eulogy before introducing Mays. "It's a real injustice he's not in the Hall of Fame.
"He did step on some toes, (but) his accomplishments overshadowed the negatives. Only five managers have more wins, but being sixth on the list isn't enough."
"He was a nice guy, compassionate," Bragan said.