Tommy Lasorda, the longtime coach and manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers, died Thursday night at the age of 93. Until this past Tuesday morning, Lasorda had been hospitalized with heart issues since November. He suffered a cardiopulmonary arrest at his home last night and was taken back to the hospital; he was pronounced dead less than one hour later. Lasorda managed five different minor league teams in the Dodgers organization for eight years before serving as Walter Alston’s third-base coach from 1973 to ’75. He managed the team from 1976 to 1996, winning four pennants and two World Series titles (in 1981 and 1988). Lasorda was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum by the Veterans Committee in 1997.
Along with the likes of Babe Ruth, Yogi Berra, and Casey Stengel, Lasorda was one of the most colorful figures in the history of Major League Baseball. The son of Italian immigrants, Lasorda was a Dodgers’ lifer, He spent virtually his entire baseball life in the organization, dating back to his minor league playing days for the franchise when it was in Brooklyn, New York. A left-handed pitcher, Lasorda spent most of his playing years with the Montreal Royals, the team’s AAA affiliate. He pitched parts of three MLB seasons in Brooklyn and with the Kansas City Athletics, logging a 6.48 ERA in 58.1 innings from 1954-56.
Lasorda managed the Dodgers and lived life with vibrancy and joy. Lasorda’s arms raised and deliriously happy facial expression after Kirk Gibson’s improbable walk-off home run in Game 1 of the ’88 World Series is one of the indelible images of that classic baseball moment.
Like contemporary skippers Earl Weaver and Billy Martin, he was known for his heated face-to-face arguments with MLB’s umpires, the “men in blue.” He also battled with opposing team mascots: his altercation with the Philly Phanatic is the stuff of legend.
Tommy had a penchant for generating great video (watch him tumble to the ground when coaching third base for the N.L. All-Stars in 2001). He was not only a TV producer’s dream but also a beat reporter’s best friend; Lasorda always had something to say. One of my favorite Lasorda locker room tirades was his colorful response (putting it mildly) to a reporter’s question about Dave Kingman’s “performance” after the Cubs’ slugger hit 3 home runs with 8 RBI, including a game-tying blast in the 9th inning and go-ahead tater in the 15th. (Warning: this is R-rated but it will make you laugh).
Other than Berra, there’s likely no other figure in baseball history with more famous quotes than Tommy Lasorda. One of the most famous is apropos today, as we mourn his loss: “I bleed Dodger blue and when I die, I’m going to the big Dodger in the sky.”
Cooperstown Cred: Tommy Lasorda (Manager)
- Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997 (by the Veterans Committee)
- Los Angeles Dodgers (1976-96)
- Career as MLB manager: 1,599-1,439 (.526)
- Led Dodgers to four N.L. pennants (1977-78, 1981, ’88) & two World Series titles (1981, ’88)
- Won 8 N.L. West titles in 21 seasons with Dodgers (including 2nd half 1981)
- Manager of 2000 Gold Medal-winning U.S. Olympic baseball team
(cover photo: Los Angeles Dodgers/John SooHoo)
Please enjoy these links for more on Tommy Lasorda:
Baseball Almanac: Tommy Lasorda quotes
Tribute from USA Today’s Steve Gardner
Tribute from The New York Times’ Richard Goldstein
Tribute from the Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett
Tommy Lasorda’s Hall of Fame page
Tommy Lasorda’s Hall of Fame Speech
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What do you think was Tom Lasorda’s biggest thrill in baseball? I’ll tell you what the man himself said. In late September of 2000, at the Olympic Games in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, I attended the game for the Gold Medal in baseball between the USA and Cuba. Team USA won the game for what is still their only Gold Medal in baseball. While I was getting Roy Oswalt and some other players from Team USA to autograph my baseball Tom Lasorda was up on the stage being interviewed by Matt Lauer. Mr Lasorda declared this Gold Medal win to be “my greatest thrill ever in baseball. It was even greater than my two World Series wins with the LA Dodgers because this is the only true World Champion team that I have ever managed.”
Throughout his baseball life Tom Lasorda was somewhat of a loose cannon with his mouth. Most baseball writers have probably forgotten that he ever uttered this statement. But it rang true to me. In an era when all the best professional baseball players are allowed to compete in Olympic baseball; and Cuba, in particular required their best baseball players to play on their Olympic baseball team, Team USA really were the TRUE world champions in baseball in 2000 even though the best Major League players were not present on the team. Only Team USA competed against and beat the best baseball teams put up by the other nations of the world competing in the Olympic Games.