Alfred Anthony "Al" LaMacchia, born July 22, 1921 in St. Louis, Missouri, entered eternal rest on September 15, 2010 in San Antonio, Texas. The youngest son of nine children born to Giovanni and Marietta Polillo LaMacchia, family was always an important part of who he was and a source of great pride. Despite settling down thousands of miles away in San Antonio to ultimately start a family of his own, Al remained true to his Italian American heritage and his childhood in St. Louis. A long-standing member of San Francesco di Paola Church and the related Christopher Columbus Italian Society, Al reveled in stories of the old country and treasured his few trips to Italy in search of family ties. LaMacchia made his major league baseball debut on September 27, 1943 for his hometown St. Louis Browns and played a total of 16 big-league games for the Browns and the Washington Senators from 1943, 1945 and 1946. He went on to play another 14 seasons in the minor leagues, moving briefly to manager and finally to professional scout in 1956, where he spent the bulk of his professional baseball career and left an indelible mark on the game. As a scout, Al worked with the Philadelphia Phillies, Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays and the Los Angeles Dodgers, with whom he remained until his death. Having been with the Blue Jays since their inception in 1976, Al was instrumental in building the franchise that captured back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993. The organization made him a Vice President of Scouting in 1984 and later established the Al LaMacchia Award for dedication and excellence in the field of scouting. In a career that spanned just one year shy of nine decades, Al had many professional accomplishments. Among them were numerous awards and recognitions, most notably the Midwest Scout of the Year in 2001, the Texas Scouts Association Hall of Fame Award in 2000, the Lifetime Achievement Award in Scouting from the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation in 2008 and the Jackie Moore Lifetime Achievement Award from the Round Rock Express in 2009. While with the Browns in 1942, LaMacchia came to San Antonio to play for the Browns AA team, the San Antonio Missions. In that season, Al pitched a nine-inning game in 1 hour and 7 minutes, the fastest game in Texas League history. It was the love of the game that brought Al to the Alamo City, it was the love of his life, Annie Monaco, that made him stay. Married on January 9, 1944, Al and Annie celebrated 66 wonderful years together and had many adventures along the way. Having opportunities to travel across the country and some international, Annie was just happy to be in the stands behind home plate right next to Al. He was a loving husband and father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He loved to tell stories, never met a stranger and had a larger than life personality. He will be greatly missed.